repatriation

Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney, Australia returned 16 human skulls to Papua New Guinea last week. The human skulls were taken during the 1876-77 expedition of the Rai Coast by Russian scientist Nickolai N. Miklouho-Maclay. He took the…

The Netherlands government has announced the repatriation of 113 Benin Bronzes from its collection to Nigeria. In a press statement on February 19, it was announced after a request from the Nigerian government, Eppo Bruins (Minister of…

A museum in Münster, Germany returned the head of an ancient marble statue to Greece. The stone head belonged to a complete marble statue of a man, dated around 150 CE. Research conducted by the Archaeological Museum of the University of…

A museum in Copenhagen, Denmark has returned a sacred cloth of the Tupinambá tribe to Brazil, after 300 years. The cloak, nearly six-foot-long, is estimated to have been made using 4,000 feathers belonging to scarlet ibis. There are less…

The Parthenon Museum in Nashville, Tennessee returned 250 Mexican artifacts to their home country. Most of the objects are over 500 years old, dating to the pre-Columbian era. They include tools, clay toys, ceramics, and musical…

The Stanley Museum in Iowa has become the first museum in the US to return Benin Bronzes to its rightful owners. In a ceremony held on July 15 at the Benin Palace in Nigeria, members of the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art…

The Art Institute of Chicago has returned a 12th-century column featuring Krishna to the Kingdom of Thailand. The rectangular wall column, specifically known as a pilaster, depicts the Hindu god Krishna lifting the Govardhan mountain to…

Last week, Chilean authorities returned 117 fossils, confiscated from smugglers, to Morocco. The ceremony was held on Monday at the National Library of Chile in Santiago. The event was attended by representatives of both countries,…

The British Museum has been accused of silencing the online demands to return Easter Island statues. Recently, the British Museum unveiled a new exhibit that features 10 ‘recovered’ artifacts. Soon after, Mike Milfort – a Chilean social…

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that they will return 16 Khmer artifacts to Cambodia and Thailand. The artifacts were one of the numerous works once sold by disgraced art dealer Douglas Latchford. The late dealer was convicted…