via DW, 01 February 2024: European museums face growing calls to return artifacts taken from Southeast Asia during colonial times, with potential soft-power benefits for the EU. Initiatives include France’s pledge to return Khmer artifacts and the Netherlands’ restitution of Indonesian and Sri Lankan items. Legal challenges persist, but repatriation could enhance EU-Asia relations.
A new wave of calls for the return of stolen antiquities began in December when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York said it would return 14 sculptures to Cambodia and two to Thailand that it had procured from the British art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was charged with trafficking looted antiquities in 2019.
Brad Gordon, a legal advisor to Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and who played a prominent role in returning the artifacts last year, said he is in contact with museums in Britain and Paris about their extensive Cambodian antiquities collections.
Several Austrian museums have also asked his team to review their collections, and a “major museum” in Berlin has also been in contact.
“We know of Cambodian artifacts in Germany, France, Italy and Scandinavia, which we have added to our database and are interested in learning more about,” Gordon said.
“In addition, we are compiling information on a number of private collections across Europe. We are in the survey mode at this time and welcome any inquiries from museums and collectors.”
Several museums contacted by DW refused to comment.
