The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Repatriation Problem Is Only Getting Bigger

JAN 20, 2023 – Despite ongoing arrangements for its return, a stone relic looted from a Nepalese shrine in the 1980s is still on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The eleventh-century artifact featuring the Buddhist and Hindu god Vishnu was donated nearly thirty years ago from the personal collection of Steven Kossak, a former curator in the museum’s Asian art department whose dealings are now being scrutinized by academics, activists, and museum officials.

“This is the third thing that the Met is returning that was donated by the Kossaks,” Erin Thompson, an associate professor of art crime at John Jay College of Criminal Justice told ARTnews, referring to the wooden strut and stone statue that were returned last year.

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“The museum not only has donations from the family, but it has at least eight loans from them,” she said, adding that the Vishnu relic currently sits in a gallery near an exhibition including other Asian artifacts donated by the Kossaks through their Kronos Collection. “Once you know that someone is acquiring artifacts without looking too closely as a source, the first thing you should do is look deeper.” 

 

In a Nod to Changing Norms, Smithsonian Adopts Policy on Ethical Returns

May 8, 2022 – The Smithsonian Institution announced Tuesday that it has adopted a policy that will formally authorize its constituent museums to return items from their collections that were looted or were otherwise once acquired unethically.

The institution’s leaders said the policy, which took effect Friday, represents a shift away from the stance long taken by it and other museums, who had held the view that the legal right to own an item was sufficient justification to keep it.

 

Global Hunt for Looted Treasures Leads to Offshore Trusts

Oct 5, 2021 – Cambodia wants its religious artifacts returned. Dozens tied to indicted collector remain in the Met, other prominent museums.

 

British Museum to return Buddhist heads looted in Afghan war

July 8, 2019 – Fourth-century Buddhist terracotta heads probably hacked off by the Taliban and found stuffed in poorly made wooden crates at Heathrow are to be returned to Afghanistan where they will be star museum exhibits.

 

U.K. Museum Offers Ethiopia Long-Term Loan of Looted Treasures

April 4, 2018 – Treasures taken by British troops 150 years ago could be returned to Ethiopia on a long-term loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, the institution’s director said.

 

France’s President Has Promised to Return Africa’s Heritage

Mar 8, 2018 – Macron’s historic statement, which came as a surprise to many in Europe and Africa, marked a huge shift in the stance held by the French government, which for many years closely guarded the “inalienable” right to its national collections.

 

South Korea Can Keep Buddhist Statue Stolen From Japan, Court Says

Jan 26, 2017 – Upbeat monks at Buseoksa, in the west coast city of Seosan, prepared for the statue’s homecoming. The temple’s chief monk, the Venerable Wonwoo, hailed the ruling as a milestone that should inspire South Koreans to try to bring home what he claimed were 70,000 ancient Korean artifacts that had been looted and brought to Japan. Buddhists and other South Koreans have rallied behind Buseoksa’s campaign.

 

Stolen Buddha Head Displayed at Museum of China in Beijing

Mar 3, 2016 – After learning that what he had received was the head of a Buddhist sculpture from the Youju Temple in Lingshou County in Hebei Province, the Buddhist master immediately announced his intention to return the relic to its place of origin.

 

Museums and Looted Art: the Ethical Dilemma of Preserving World Cultures

Jun 29, 2015 – In April, homeland security agents relieved the Honolulu Museum of Art of seven ancient Indian artefacts believed to have been acquired through Subhash Kapoor, a New York-based art dealer.

Kapoor, who currently languishes in police custody in India, presided over a vast criminal operation whose full scope authorities are still trying to understand. An ongoing investigation dubbed Operation Hidden Idol spans four continents in trying to untangle Kapoor’s network. For decades, he funnelled stolen antiquities from India and south-east Asia to private collectors and major museums in the west to the tune of over $100m (and perhaps even more than that).

 

Antiquities Coalition Appeal to the International Criminal Court

March 6, 2015 — after we learned of the alleged bulldozing of Nimrud by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — the Antiquities Coalition wrote Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to open an investigation into ISIS’ war crimes against cultural heritage in northern Iraq.

 

Why Archeologists Hate Indiana Jones

Sep 9, 2014 – Archeology is rife with tales of looters and researchers clashing over stolen artifacts whose proliferation is among the largest illegal markets in the world (behind, but often connected to, drugs and guns). People don’t talk much about it, but antiquity looting is a major source of cash for global criminals.

 

Vision of Home: Repatriated Works Back in Their Countries of Origin

Apr 17, 2014 – In recent years, museums across the United States and Europe have begun returning objects to their countries of origin.

 

Thai Police Vow Crackdown on Buddha Statue Thieves

Nov 25, 2009 – At least 20 heads of Buddha statues have recently been reported stolen from temples in the World Heritage province of Ayuthaya, which was the kingdom’s capital from 1350 to 1767, said deputy national police chief Jongrak Juthanond.

“We believe there is a rise in demand in the antique markets abroad where people like to decorate their living rooms with these images,” Jongrak told Reuters, a day after he visited the province.

 

A Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor

Mar 21, 2005 – "We need protection from the looters, but where are we to get it?" asked Mr. Sin Sokhorn as he showed the bas-reliefs.

One of the astonishing aspects of the Angkor sites is their diminished nature at the hand of modern man. Amid the grandeur, empty pedestals, headless carvings and missing lintels cast an aura of indelible loss.

 

Stolen from Patan in January, a precious Buddha figure has been found in Vienna

May 17, 2002 – "As soon as we got the Internet attachment, I checked with three other stolen Patan Buddhas, and it was very clear that it was one of ours," an ecstatic Shakya told us. "We only hear about idol thefts, we rarely hear of stolen religious artifacts being recovered. It is a big victory and a very happy day for us."

 

UNESCO: Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property

In some cases, the 1970 Convention does not apply formally: either the States involved have not ratified this instrument or one condition if application is not fulfilled (as non-retroactivity). Other solutions are therefore sought so that Parties concerned can find a mutually acceptable agreement. Even if they do not reflect a strict application of the dispositions of the Convention, these solutions are often adopted in accordance with the spirit and the principles contained in this treaty.