Repatriation
Parthenon Marbles: is a breakthrough in sight?
Plus, Afghan culture in crisis and Kiki Smith’s New York murals
The Netherlands returns more than 200 pre-Hispanic artefacts to Mexico
In all, 223 pre-Hispanic objects have been repatriated to Mexico by the Dutch government, largely through the power of social media
Secret talks between British Museum and Greece to return Parthenon Marbles in 'advanced stages'
If a deal is finalised, the contested sculptures are expected to be returned to Greece in early 2023, and will be displayed at the Acropolis Museum in Athens
National Museum of Scotland to repatriate looted totem pole
The museum will transfer the totem pole to the Nisga’a Nation of British Columbia
Canada’s museums urged to overhaul practices to empower Indigenous peoples
Country’s museums association says institutions must involve Indigenous people in “every element” of their work
Massachusetts museum repatriates Wounded Knee Massacre artefacts to Lakota and Sioux nations
The Founders Museum, a small institution housed in a library, returned a variety of tribal objects to their rightful owners in South Dakota
Alleged Native American scalp seized from auction house specialised in Confederate and Nazi memorabilia
Authorities received an anonymous tip regarding an object listed for sale on the auction house’s website and described as a Mescalero Apache scalp
Manhattan district attorney returns 187 artefacts tied to disgraced dealer Subhash Kapoor to Pakistan
The objects associated with Kapoor, along with another five pieces returned to Pakistan, were cumulatively valued at $3.4m
Three decades ago, US museums were told to report all Native remains in their collections—so why are they still there?
American institutions have catalogued 208,698 entries since the law went into effect in 1990—but less than half of those holdings have been repatriated
Stolen statue linked to antiquities trafficker Doris Wiener repatriated to Cambodia
The sandstone vishnu statue was stolen from a seventh-century temple and smuggled to Manhattan in 1995, when it was sold to a private collector
Anthropologist opposed to Indigenous repatriation sues university for alleged threats to her free speech
Professor Elizabeth Weiss has filed a lawsuit against San José State University claiming she was disciplined for expressing her view that repatriation favours religion over science
Trove of Benin bronzes in US museum collections repatriated to Nigeria
The National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum marked the return of the sculptures with a ceremony in Washington, DC
London's Wellcome Collection returns remains of death camp victim to Denmark
Research carried out in 2019 helped identify the remains as Preben Holger Larsen, a 26-year-old artist and member of the Danish resistance
FBI returns 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic discovered in Los Angeles to Italy
The mosaic, which features a portrait of Medusa and had been cut into 16 pieces, was returned to Rome by the FBI’s Art Crime Team
‘Return Rosetta Stone to Egypt’ demands country’s leading archaeologist Zahi Hawass
The former Egyptian antiquities minister leans into the current restitution conversation, calling again for the return of three prized antiquities from European museums
The Metropolitan Museum returns two looted artefacts to Nepal
The two works, given to the museum in the 1990s, were looted from temples in Kathmandu according to recent internal provenance research
National Museum of Scotland urged to return First Nations totem pole stolen by Canadian anthropologist
The pole was stolen in 1929 and, if returned, would be only the second totem pole to be repatriated to a First Nation by a European institution
US museums and Indigenous tribes receive $2m grant to boost repatriation efforts
The National Park Service has awarded grants totaling $2.1m to 20 museums and nine tribes
British Museum proposes new ‘Parthenon partnership’ with Greece in bid to end deadlock over Marbles
Officials will loan the ancient sculptures only if they are returned to London
Oxford and Cambridge universities approve returning 213 looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria
Charity Commission could veto the decision to repatriate objects from Ashmolean Museum and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Pope Francis addresses forced assimilation in Canadian tour amid calls for repatriation of Indigenous artefacts from Vatican Museums
Francis delivered a speech in Maskwacis as part of a week-long visit to apologise for the role of the Catholic church in the cultural genocide of Indigenous communities
Copies of the Parthenon Marbles—carved by a robot—to go on show in London
Project by Oxford’s Institute for Digital Archaeology fuels debate about restitution of controversial sculptures
Political pressure and protest at British Museum keeps Parthenon Marbles restitution issue in the spotlight
Clamour grows for reunification as Acropolis Museum in Athens marks 13th anniversary
Artefacts long held by the Smithsonian will go on view at new Mi’ kmaw cultural centre in Nova Scotia
The $50m centre is scheduled to open in 2025 and showcase works on long-term loan from the National Museum of the American Indian
Canadian First Nation calls for portion of controversial $789m museum budget to be spent repatriating Indigenous artefacts
The province’s enormous expenditure to rebuild the Royal British Columbia Museum should include funding repatriation efforts, the Tseshaht First Nation says
Leaked report reveals Harvard holds remains of nearly 7,000 Indigenous and 20 enslaved people
The unfinalised report is being developed by a steering committee formed last year to address repatriation concerns at the Ivy League university
What has happened to France’s grand plans to return Africa's heritage?
Five years ago President Macron took the museum world by surprise when he announced a then-revolutionary restitution plan. Now the country’s politicians are at odds about how to implement it
Britain's Royal Albert Memorial Museum returns artefacts to Siksika First Nation
Exeter museum has held various objects belonging to the 19th-century Blackfoot leader Chief Crowfoot since 1878
Smithsonian adopts new ‘ethical returns policy’ to handle artefacts with problematic histories
The new policy, adopted by all Smithsonian museums on 29 April, will allow each institution to tailor it to their particular collections and provenance considerations
FBI repatriates smuggled artefacts, artworks and other objects to Peru
The returned objects include artefacts from the collection of amateur archaeologist Donald Miller, the subject of a high-profile raid in 2014