Treasures in Trusted Hands

Van Beurden Van TREASURES IN TRUSTED HANDS This pioneering study charts the one-way traffic of cultural “A monumental work of and historical objects during five centuries of European high quality.” colonialism. It presents abundant examples of disappeared Dr. Guido Gryseels colonial objects and systematises these into war booty, (Director-General of the Royal confiscations by missionaries and contestable acquisitions Museum for Central Africa in by private persons and other categories. Former colonies Tervuren) consider this as a historical injustice that has not been undone. Former colonial powers have kept most of the objects in their custody. In the 1970s the Netherlands and Belgium “This is a very com- HANDS TRUSTED IN TREASURES returned objects to their former colonies Indonesia and mendable treatise which DR Congo; but their number was considerably smaller than has painstakingly and what had been asked for. Nigeria’s requests for the return of with detachment ex- plored the emotive issue some Benin objects, confiscated by British soldiers in 1897, of the return of cultural are rejected. objects removed in colonial times to the me- As there is no consensus on how to deal with colonial objects, tropolis. He has looked disputes about other categories of contestable objects are at the issues from every analysed. For Nazi-looted art-works, the 1998 Washington continent with clarity Conference Principles have been widely accepted. Although and perspicuity.” non-binding, they promote fair and just solutions and help people to reclaim art works that they lost involuntarily. Prof. Folarin Shyllon (University of Ibadan) To promote solutions for colonial objects, Principles for Dealing with Colonial Cultural and Historical Objects are presented, based on the 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. They are part of a model to facilitate mediation in disputes about them. Europe, the former colonisers, should do more pro-active provenance research into the acquisitions from the colonial era, both in public institutions and private collections. CLUES is an international scientific series covering research TREASURES IN TRUSTED HANDS in the field of culture, history and heritage which have been written by, or were performed under the supervision of Sidestone NEGOTIATING THE FUTURE OF COLONIAL members of the research institute CLUE+. CULTURAL OBJECTS ISBNSidestone 978-90-8890-439-4 Press Jos van Beurden ISBN: 978-90-8890-439-4 VOLUME 3 9 789088 904394 S S INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN CULTURE, HISTORY AND HERITAGE TREASURES IN TRUSTED HANDS Sidestone Press TREASURES IN TRUSTED HANDS NEGOTIATING THE FUTURE OF COLONIAL CULTURAL OBJECTS Jos van Beurden © 2017 Jos van Beurden Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden www.sidestone.com Imprint: Sidestone Press Dissertations Lay-out & cover design: Sidestone Press Photographs cover and parts: © Jos van Beurden ISBN 978-90-8890-439-4 (softcover) ISBN 978-90-8890-440-0 (hardcover) ISBN 978-90-8890-441-7 (PDF e-book) + RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR CULTURE, COGNITION, HISTORY AND HERITAGE Contents Preface 9 About this book 11 Acknowledgements 13 PART I - INTRODUCTION 16 1. A neglected issue in an evolving world 17 1.1. Decisive experiences 17 1.2. Changes that matter 19 Box: Incidental returns of colonial cultural objects 24 1.3. Main questions 28 Box: Research methodology 30 2. On colonial cultural objects 33 2.1. Return 33 2.2. Cultural objects 35 Box: Other frequently used concepts 38 2.3. Typology of colonial cultural objects 40 2.3.1. Gifts to colonial administrators and institutions 41 2.3.2. Objects acquired during private expeditions 42 2.3.3. Objects acquired during military expeditions 44 2.3.4. Missionary collecting 45 2.3.5. Archives 47 Box: Archives back to Suriname 47 PART II - COLONIALISM AND CULTURAL OBJECTS 52 3. Colonial expansion 53 3.1. Early migration of objects to Europe 55 Box: War booty during colonial expansion and its present whereabouts 58 3.2. Meagre protection 60 4. Settler and exploitation colonialism 63 4.1. Peak in migration of objects 64 Box: Ancient Indonesian gifts dispersed 66 Box: Relocating to preserve better: from Papua New Guinea to Australia 68 Box: Cyprus and Dun Huang expeditions 69 Box: War booty during settler and exploitation colonialism 72 4.2. Protection and preservation measures 77 5. Decolonisation, the first claims and the ongoing seepage of objects 81 5.1. Whimsicalities in collecting 83 Box: Examples of loot and arson/punitive expeditions during 84 decolonisation 5.2. Early (calls for) returns 87 Box: (Pre-)independence returns 88 5.3. Drain of cultural objects before and after independence 89 5.4. Decolonisation, an unresolved conflict 91 Box: Five generations of conflict researchers, a critical review 92 PART III - COLONIAL CULTURAL OBJECTS AND THE LAW 98 6. Increasing protection? 99 6.1. Hard law international instruments 99 Box: The relevance of two conventions 100 6.2. Soft law international instruments 103 Box: Cases dealt with by the ICPRCP 104 6.2.1. Instruments for the repatriation of human remains 105 Box: Incidental returns of colonial human remains 106 Box: Return-refusals for colonial human remains 108 Box: Successful repatriation of Maori heads 109 6.2.2. Instruments for the restitution of Nazi-looted art 111 Box: Four soft law instruments for dealing with Nazi-looted art 112 6.2.3. A human rights and a justice perspective 114 PART IV - AMBIGUITIES BETWEEN THE NETHERLANDS 122 AND INDONESIA 7. The 1975 Joint Recommendations 123 7.1. Cultural heritage policy until 1949 123 7.2. Negotiations between 1949 and 1975 125 Box: Papua culture in safety 128 7.3. Towards an agreement 137 Box: Early returns to Indonesia 138 Box: Luwu insignia 142 7.4. Dynamics of the agreement’s implementation 144 Appendix: Joint recommendations by the Dutch and Indonesian 150 team of experts concerning cultural cooperation in the field of museums and archives including transfer of objects 8. The Joint Recommendations revisited 155 8.1. New research findings 155 Box: Thomas Raffles and Indonesia’s heritage 156 Box: Return of Diponegoro’s pilgrim’s staff 160 Box: Evidence of migration of objects in the first period 162 Box: The missing kris of Diponegoro 163 8.2. The 1975 agreement: lessons for other bilateral negotiations 163 Box: Returns to Indonesia 1949 – 1978 170 PART V - APPROACHES IN OTHER BILATERAL AGREEMENTS 176 9. The 1970 agreement between Belgium and Congo 177 9.1. Cultural policies up to independence 178 Box: Lucien Cahen, director with two hats 180 9.1. Deliberations and transfer of objects 181 Box: Repatriations and gifts to Congo 184 10. Nordic model for Denmark, Iceland and Greenland? 187 10.1. Scandinavian colonialism 187 10.2. Danish colonial collecting 191 Box: Cultural objects from non-Scandinavian colonies 192 10.3. Ancient sagas back to Iceland 193 Box: Repatriation by Denmark to Faroe Islands 196 10.4. Peculiar agreement with Greenland 196 11. Melanesian model for Australia and Papua New Guinea? 201 11.1. Colonial collecting in Papua New Guinea 202 Box: Papua New Guinean objects in foreign museums 204 11.2. The return process 206 Box: Returns to Papua New Guinea 210 12. The Benin Dialogue (2010 – ….) 211 12.1. Dispersal over Europe and North America 212 12.2. Prelude to the Dialogue 213 Box: Benin treasures in the Netherlands 214 Box: Return requests between 1972 and 2008 215 Box: Returns between 1937 and 2014 216 12.3. The dialogue 217 12.4. Elements for the model 221 Appendix: Benin Plan of Action 225 PART VI - NEW INSIGHTS, A NEW APPROACH 230 13. The neglected effect of colonialism 231 13.1. Towards an overview of colonial one-way traffic 231 13.2. Overview of returns so far 235 13.3. Returns and other categories of contested objects 237 Box: Objections against return offers 238 14. A new commitment and a new approach 241 14.1. Principles for dealing with colonial cultural and historical objects 241 14.2. A model for negotiating the future of colonial cultural objects 244 Box: Phases in negotiations about colonial objects 245 Box: Address (in)equality 248 Appendix: 1998 Washington Principles adapted for Colonial Objects 252 Sources 255 Index 279 Preface Thirty years ago, I met a poet. Me’aza made poems about her dream – self-deter- mination for her country and the whole of Africa. She knew them by heart, had never written down a single line and made new verses on the spot. People loved Me’aza. I met her in the eroded mountains of Northeast Africa. Her hamlet was under control of rebels. We had walked all night, as it had been too cold to lie down and sleep. The double local whiskey that she offered us at six in the morning was, in more than one sense heart-warming. I estimated her age between 60 and 70. When I asked how old she was, Me’aza answered that she was four! Four? Yes, four! How come? ‘Four years ago, I really started my life. I became aware of what was going on in the world. I began to make poetry. So it was then, that I was born.’ At the age of four, one watches the world as something that is still unknown, and that is yet to be conquered, while being both threatening and thrilling. One is explorer, open-minded, self-confident and naive. I am now of the same age as the poet then was and I have a dream too. On top of a round table stands a cultural object, acquired in the European colonial era and far removed from its place of origin. Its major stakeholders sit around the table. They talk about their involvement with the object and help to compose its biography. The exchange can be tough, but in the end they jointly decide about the object’s future and choose where the object will be in trusted hands.

Load more