In July, the Netherlands returned hundreds of looted works of art to Indonesia. Now Sri Lanka is also getting back six objects that wrongly came into Dutch hands during the colonial occupation. It is the first time that the Netherlands has returned looted art to the country.
These include a bronze cannon, partly covered with silver and gold, and set with rubies. That cannon was once presented to Sri Lanka by the Netherlands, but later came back into Dutch hands: during a military campaign in 1765, the Dutch captured their own gift. They then donated it to Stadtholder Prince William V for his cabinet of curiosities in The Hague.
Salutes were fired from the cannon to welcome visitors to the king of the Sri Lankan city of Kandy. On the barrel are the symbols of the king: a sun, a crescent moon and the Sinhalese lion. The cannon, like the other five items being returned, are currently still in the possession of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. These are gold and silver ceremonial swords (kastanes), two rifles and a Sinhala knife. The objects are originally from Kandy.
Agreement
On Monday, Secretary of State for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu will sign an agreement in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo to officially return the six objects to the South Asian country. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science expects that the objects can actually be transferred to Sri Lanka in a few months’ time.
The return of the looted art was announced at the beginning of July. On 10 July, the Netherlands returned looted cultural objects to Indonesia. This involved more than 470 looted objects, including 335 art treasures from Lombok, four statues from Singasari and a kris (sword) from Klungkung. With the restitution, the government is complying with an earlier request from Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It also follows the advice of the Commission for the Return of Colonial Collections, which has examined this issue.
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