Repatriation
US revises law governing repatriation of Indigenous remains and burial objects
The effort, conducted in consultation with Native American tribes and nations, would enable greater enforcement of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The US and Nigeria sign cultural property agreement
The five-year memorandum of understanding comes at a moment when Nigeria is taking increasingly proactive measures to secure its patrimony and recover artefacts that were looted and stolen
UC Berkeley returns Wiyot human remains and burial objects
The university still holds one of the largest collections of Indigenous human remains and sacred objects in the US
US customs agents return ancient cuneiform writing implements to Iraq
The millennia-old prism and tablet were found to lack proper paperwork—one after its owner’s death, the other following an online auction
Indigenous man allegedly fired for refusing to discard bones and artefacts unearthed at Texas construction site
The San Antonio-based chef and site manager was dismissed after being instructed to destroy the discoveries to avoid delaying the renovation of a restaurant
Hamburg shows its Benin artefacts before restituting them to Nigeria
Ethnological museum in the port city has one of Germany's largest collections of Benin treasures
US customs officials return more than 900 stolen artefacts to Mali
The objects, which include vessels and funerary urns, where intercepted in Houston in 2009 then sat in limbo for years
The Met repatriates looted Benin works
Two 16th century brass plaques and a 14th century Ife head have been returned to Nigeria
Petition calls on Christie’s to return sacred Taino artefacts to Indigenous lands
Some artefacts in Christie’s Pre-Columbian Art & Taino Masterworks sale on 10 November in Paris are estimated to sell for up to £250,000
Looted Gilgamesh tablet returned to Iraq
The ancient cuneiform, once fated to be displayed at the Museum of the Bible, was sold by Christie’s for $1.7m to the owners of the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby
Report condemns two University of Pennsylvania anthropologists for ‘gross insensitivity’ in handling of human remains from a 1985 police attack
Investigation recommends a review of Penn Museum practices while clearing the two individuals of unethical conduct
'There has been a generational shift': Belgian government to collaborate with Democratic Republic of Congo to return colonial-era loot
Bilateral accord to include projects to conserve, research, and store restituted items
US hands over two stolen ancient lintels to Thailand after retrieving them from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Dating from the ninth and tenth centuries, the objects are thought to have been looted from sacred sites in the late 1960s
How a ceremonial shrunken head, held by a US university for decades, was finally returned to Ecuador
A newly published research paper explains the authentication and repatriation process for a tsantsa once housed in Mercer University’s natural history collection
Penn Museum apologises for allowing the use of human remains of Black Philadelphians in an online class
The statement follows a petition condemning the institution and calling for a public investigation
Penn Museum announces recommendations for repatriation of human skulls
The museum holds a collection of more than 1,000 remains amassed in the mid-19th century to uphold theories of racial superiority
After criticism, Harvard's Peabody Museum will revise its policies on repatriating Native American objects
The Association on American Indian Affairs issued an open letter accusing the institution of failing to fulfill its legal obligations
Lintels at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to return to Thailand
Museum director says Justice Department’s legal case only served “to cloud the respectful and serious process of deaccession and repatriation”
Accord between US and Turkey to counter illicit trade in artefacts divides historians and preservationists
Critics say Turkish government polices give short shrift to religious minorities’ cultural heritage
Artist discovers looted statue in Canadian museum and returns it to India
The 18th-century work was stolen by the museum's namesake from an active temple over 100 years ago
Minneapolis art museum criticised for keeping ancient Indigenous objects
University of Minnesota graduate students have joined Native nations in a long repatriation fight for Mimbres funerary objects controversially held by the Weisman Art Museum
US presses for return of two Thai lintels from Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to Thailand
Federal attorneys file a civil complaint, but museum says repatriation was already in the works
Dutch government committee recommends return of colonial-era artefacts
The report calls for a new panel to advise the minister on repatriations and a new provenance research centre
Trial of Quai Branly protestors in Paris centres on ‘political’ aspect of activist action
Court erupts after attendee shouts that African funeral pole "belongs to us"
California may grant repatriation rights to unrecognised Native American tribes
A new state bill expands federal rights for Indigenous groups to reclaim human remains, burial objects and other sacred artefacts from institutions
Digital Benin: a milestone on the long, slow journey to restitution
When British troops plundered the Royal Palace of Benin in the 19th century, at least 3,000 objects were dispersed internationally. A new online database is bringing them together
New guidelines for UK museums will kickstart nation's long-overdue restitution debate
Arts Council England will release a document that addresses the ethical and practical issues around restituting cultural objects, planned for autumn 2020
Penn Museum hands over fragments of 387 ancient clay tablets to Iraqi Embassy
Archaeologists say the tablets, unearthed nearly a century ago, are akin to receipts
'A major step forward for Britain’s colonial museums': Manchester Museum returns objects to Indigenous Australians
Move might pave the way for repatriation of sacred artefacts from other UK institutions
German states establish help desk to handle artefacts acquired in colonial era
An open letter from scholars and curators, including Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr, demands greater transparency on collections