RETRIEVING CULTURAL ARTEFACTS
Among the items is the so-called “Lombok treasure” said to be taken by Dutch soldiers from the Tjakranegara Palace and surrounding villages on Indonesia’s Lombok island after the end of the Lombok War in 1894.
The repatriated artefacts also include those from the Puputan Badung war collection taken during the Dutch military intervention in Bali.
The 132 Pita Maha collection, which was not looted but part of an art exhibition in the Netherlands since 1948, has also formally been returned to the Indonesian government.
The handover is seen as a cultural achievement for Indonesia, said observers, adding that it underscores the commitment by both sides to preserve their shared heritage.
The Indonesian government has vowed to continue its efforts in retrieving other cultural artefacts believed to be still located abroad.
A repatriation committee was established in 2021, and the process has paid off. Returned in batches over two years, 828 cultural items have been sent back to Indonesia as of mid-December, according to the Indonesian Heritage Agency.
Prior to that, in January 2020, the Netherlands returned 1,500 artefacts that used to be held in the Nusantara Museum in Delft to Indonesia, four years after an agreement was made with the Education and Culture Ministry.
The Nusantara Museum was the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated specifically to art and cultural objects from Indonesia, which shut its doors in 2013 due to budgetary constraints.
