Restitution

Museum of the Bible in Washington returns around 5,000 disputed biblical objects to Egypt

Institution has been faulted for a lack of oversight in determining what artefacts were legally exported and sold

An arms dealer casts a shadow over Kunsthaus Zurich

Petition calls for more transparency in planned display of the collection of Emil Georg Bührle, who bought Nazi-looted art with a fortune built on weapons

Lawnews

Art lawyer Frank Lord opens private practice in New York

As well as working on high profile restitution cases, the former Herrick Feinstein partner has a PhD in art history

Spitzweg drawing from Gurlitt hoard returned to Jewish publisher’s heirs

The musical scene was seized by the Gestapo in 1939 from Henri Hinrichsen, who died at Auschwitz

Dresden poster campaign draws attention to looted Benin bronzes in city’s museum

Initiative by the Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh is supported by Dresden’s state museums

Johnny Eskenazi: from wannabe theatre director to leading Eastern art dealer who rescued stolen Afghan ivories

Top Indian sculpture dealer warns against a too rigid interpretation of the 1970 Unesco Convention

Congolese activist who tried to seize an artefact from the Louvre is fined €5,000

Mwazulu Diyabanza says that “museums do not deserve respect” as restitution debate intensifies

French restitution bill passes final hurdle in parliament

Vote by National Assembly paves the way for the return of 27 colonial-era artefacts to Benin and Senegal within one year, but “will not create a legal precedent”

French Senate and government lock horns on restitution

Deputies rejected senators' proposal for a national council to advise the government on future restitution claims

Amsterdam court rejects heirs’ claim for Kandinsky painting in the Stedelijk Museum

Ruling upholds controversial decision by the beleaguered Dutch Restitutions Committee but counters an independent review

'Humboldt Forum must have a clear policy that only objects of proper provenance can be used'

The question of restitution as well as a new order of north-south relations should be top of the agenda, says George Abungu an international adviser to the project

Dutch policy on Nazi-looted art should be more humane and transparent, panel finds

The government's treatment of claims for art plundered by Nazis has come under fire for placing interests of museums over "legal redress for injustice"

Africaanalysis

'Restitution is important but it is not essential': the African museums building a homegrown cultural revival

Though African institutions want looted artefacts to return home, they are more preoccupied with promoting living artists and treasures

Podcastspodcast

Is the future of museums in Africa?

We speak to museum experts András Szántó and Sonia Lawson. Plus, Dan Hicks on the legacy of colonial looting and National Gallery curator Christopher Riopelle on the Polish painter Jan Matejko

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

Museums 2020: the year of crashing revenues and anti-racism disputes

Turbulent year draws to a close with sector wracked by pandemic lockdowns and Black Lives Matter challenges

Chair of Dutch Nazi-loot committee resigns ahead of report on restitution policy

Alfred Hammerstein’s departure follows criticism of Dutch committee’s decisions

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

Jewish collections looted by the Nazis to be examined and traced in new database

The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project will begin with a pilot scheme focusing on the Old Masters collection of Adolphe Schloss, which was seized by the Gestapo

French Senate votes unanimously for restitution to Benin and Senegal in 'act of friendship and trust'

Senate approves bill to return 27 colonial-era artefacts from museum collections to Africa within one year

Australia pledges millions towards repatriation of Aboriginal artefacts from overseas collections

Government extends pilot project to return objects to Indigenous peoples—including those held by private collectors

Congolese collector Sindika Dokolo reportedly dies in Dubai diving accident

Tributes pour in for “defender of African art”—who was also being investigated by Angolan authorities

Historic Book of Lismore returns to Ireland from Britain

Medieval vellum manuscript has been donated to University College Cork by Chatsworth, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire

Man tries to take artefact from Louvre—just two weeks after being charged for the same crime at Quai Branly

Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, fined €1,000 earlier this month, will go to court again later today

Mondrian’s heirs file US suit to recover four paintings worth $200m from a German museum

The complaint also demands compensation for four further works by Mondrian no longer at the Krefeld museum

Black Lives Matter movement is speeding up repatriation efforts, leading French art historian says

Bénédicte Savoy—co-author of the Sarr-Savoy report that recommends France return its African artefacts—warns of "collective amnesia" over restitution debates that happened 40 years ago

Nazi-looted Dutch Old Master to be auctioned in settlement between heir and current holder

The Golden Age work by Aelbert Cuyp was looted from Jacques Goudstikker and acquired by Hermann Göring

Francenews

Congolese activist fined €1,000 for trying to seize African funeral pole from Paris museum

Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza and the other activists who removed the object from display at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac say their actions are a protest against colonial looting

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

Book Clubinterview

Q&A | ‘The looting was a chaotic free-for-all’: Dan Hicks on the pillaging of the Benin Bronzes and colonialism in museums

The curator and University of Oxford professor tells us about his new book, The Brutish Museums, which details how museums themselves were “used as a unique type of weapon”