THE HAGUE, Netherlands —
Indonesia has asked
the Netherlands to hand back at least eight art pieces and natural history
collections that were acquired during the colonial era, including the remains
of a landmark hominid known as “Java Man”.
اضافة اعلان
Identified as the first-ever example discovered of a
Homo erectus, a forerunner of anatomically modern humans, “Java Man” is the centerpiece
of an important collection at the Naturalis museum in Leiden.
It comprises a femur and most of a cranium,
discovered on the Indonesian island of Java by Dutch anatomist and geologist
Eugene Dubois in 1891-92, when Indonesia was still a colony of the Netherlands.
Asked about Jakarta’s request, Dutch education and
science ministry spokesman Jules van de Ven on Tuesday said that Indonesia made
the request “during the summer”. Ven said a government-appointed commission
will start a probe in December and make recommendations to Dutch deputy culture
minister Gunay Uslu, adding that he could not give a timeline for the work.
Other pieces sought by Indonesia in the Dubois
collection include the horse-riding reins of Prince Diponegoro, a Javanese
royal who opposed Dutch colonial rule in the 19th century, and the so-called
“Lombok treasure” of golden artefacts, the Dutch daily newspaper Trouw
reported.
Ven added that the Dutch government had had “very
constructive” discussions with their Indonesian counterparts. “Not only did we
speak about returns, but also about cooperation in scientific studies and
exhibitions,” he said.
The Naturalis museum told Trouw it “understood the
Indonesian claim” but was surprised that Indonesia viewed objects of natural
history in a similar vein as historical artifacts.
The Java skull would not have been found if it
wasn’t for Dubois, it added.
Indonesia’s approach to its former colonial master
follows that of African countries in pressing Britain, France, Germany and
Belgium to return historic or cultural items that were looted during their
rule.
In recent years, the Netherlands has finally started
to grapple with the legacy of its colonialism in the former Dutch East Indies.
The archipelago declared its independence in August
1945 after being under Dutch rule for three centuries. Dutch recognition took
place in 1949 after four years of bloody fighting.
The Netherlands apologized in February after a study
found that the Dutch army used “systematic and extreme violence” during the independence
war.
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