ER
INDONESIA has returned six cultural artifacts from the United States (US). Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono has handed over the six objects of cultural heritage (ODCB) to Minister of Culture Fadli Zon.
The objects consist of five bronze statues and one stone relief, which were returned by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in New York in cooperation with the New York District Attorney (DANY).
“These six ODCBs are historical objects of high cultural value, much higher than their nominal value,” Sugiono said during the handover in Jakarta on Friday (12/13), 2024.
A written statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received on Saturday (12/15), 2024, said the event was an important milestone in Indonesia’s efforts to protect and reclaim national cultural heritage rights and to strengthen international cooperation for this purpose.
“In the future, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Indonesian missions abroad, will continue to strive to bring back Indonesian artifacts scattered around the world,” Foreign Minister Sugiono said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture Fadli Zon viewed the handover of the objects as a sign of cooperation between the two ministries to promote the repatriation of Indonesian cultural heritage to the country.
As for the continuation of the six ODCBs, the Indonesian Ministry of Culture (Kemenbud) will then hand them over to the National Museum in Jakarta for further study and research.
“Today’s handover of the ODCBs can be seen as the beginning of cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture in the coming years,” Fadli said, as quoted by antaranews.
Earlier on December 5, Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said that Indonesia would receive important cultural artifacts from the Netherlands before the end of the year, including important collections from the Volkenkunde Museum in the Netherlands and several other museums.
Among the artifacts that have been prioritized for repatriation are the keris of Prince Diponegoro, known as Dapur Nogo Siluman, and the keris of Teuku Umar. In addition, keris from Madura and keris from the Balinese Puputan that have not yet returned to Indonesia are also a priority.
The first wave of repatriation of Indonesian artifacts from the Netherlands will take place in mid-2023, while the second wave, which will return 288 objects related to the 1906 Puputan Badung and Hindu-Buddhist statues from Java, will take place in October 2024. [antaranews]
