In recent years, there’s been a notable and promising trend of voluntary cultural property repatriations by museums, particularly in the United States. This isn’t primarily about Nazi-looted art or Native American human remains and other cultural items, which are separate categories. These cases rather focus on antiquities and other artifacts that are increasingly being returned to their country of origin. It’s important to distinguish between voluntary repatriation, where a museum and/or country of origin initiates the return under ethical (not legal) considerations, and situations involving the intervention of police. More and more, institutions are proactively addressing the complex histories of their collections.
What’s Driving Voluntary Repatriations?
While the issue of repatriation is complex, several factors appear to be driving this shift.
- Proactive Examination of Collections: Museums are increasingly examining their collections and collecting histories. Institutions are encouraged to be proactive and fund research on objects where provenance is incomplete or uncertain. The most notable forerunner is the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which was the first major U.S. museum to hire a full-time staff provenance researcher.
- Recognition of Provenance Research: There’s a growing recognition of the importance of provenance research in understanding an object’s ownership history and identifying items that may have been acquired at a time when collecting practices were different than they are today.
- Open Collaboration: Museums are finding value in collaborating with countries of origin. These partnerships are seen as crucial for returning objects to their home and fostering mutual understanding.
- Ethical Considerations: Some major institutions, most notably the Smithsonian Institution, are developing policies focused on ethical returns and exploring concepts like shared stewardship, where there is collective responsibility for the management of objects.
- Activism: Some of the repatriations are being driven by activists like Lost Arts of Nepal and a small team of researchers supported by Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. NGOs like the Museum of Looted Antiquities, Open Restitution Africa and the Antiquities Coalition are also increasing public awareness about cultural property thefts and trafficking, some framing the issue through the lenses of social justice and restitution.
Recent Voluntary Returns by Major Museums
We’ve seen several examples of this trend unfold recently. In February, The Metropolitan Museum of Art conducted intense provenance research that led to the repatriation of a Greek cast-bronze sculpture of a griffin head. This object was found to have been stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Olympia in the early 1930s.
Earlier this year we learned the Cleveland Museum of Art will return a headless Greco-Roman bronze statue that was pillaged from the ancient city of Bubon in south-central Turkiye. Even though law enforcement action prompted the research, the museum undertook scientific testing (presumably at its own expense) to determine the place of origin for the statue. The bronze will remain on display at the museum through July 8, after which it will return to Turkiye.
In March, the Art Institute of Chicago announced it would voluntarily return a 12th-century sculpture to Nepal after discovering it had been stolen from Guita Bahi in the Kathmandu Valley. The museum emphasized that this action reflects the importance of provenance research and their proactive outreach and collaboration with Nepal. This example is only the latest in several high-profile returns to Nepal in recent years. Other examples include the Yale University Art Gallery and Ruben Museum of Art.
The Positive Outcomes of Provenance Research and Collaboration
While repatriation is a significant outcome, collaborating with countries of origin can lead to several positive results not always involving the permanent return of the object. In fact, this engagement can bring significant benefits to the museums themselves:
- Continued Public Trust: By being transparent and addressing difficult histories, museums can maintain and enhance public trust. It shows that the work they are doing is ethical and reflects positively on the local community. A robust provenance can also help prove authenticity of objects that might otherwise be questioned.
- Reciprocity: Some countries of origin simply want the power to decide what happens to their own (cultural) property and heritage, not to “take everything back.” Being collaborative can foster valuable reciprocity that can include facilitating research permits, arranging loans of objects (see next point), and encouraging professional exchanges.
- Loan Agreements and Continued Display: Returning agency to countries of origin can sometimes result in special agreements structured to allow museums to keep items on display through long-term loans. For example, following its repatriation, the Greek bronze griffin will return to The Met next year for a special exhibition.
The Worcester Art Museum reached a unique agreement in January to return two antiquities that had been illegally taken out of Italy. The agreement allows the museum to keep the objects on display as a long-term loan with new labeling identifying their history. The agreement also involves recurring rotating exchanges of comparable antiquities from Italian museums after the initial loan period.
Significant Challenges to Voluntary Returns
The way many museums are now proactively approaching repatriations is a sea change, but certainly challenges remain. High-quality provenance research can be expensive, requiring dedicated staff who are knowledgeable in the resources and strategies for conducting these investigations. Likewise, most institutions simply cannot afford the cost of conducting expensive scientific analyses.
Museums may also face internal concerns or push-back from executive boards or sponsors who may have donated objects now facing scrutiny. There are misconceptions that engaging in this work will lead to the “emptying of our museums” and the resulting loss of related programming and public engagement.
A significant complexity also arises when museums do not own the objects outright. The case of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and their collection of Benin Bronzes demonstrates this; the museum recently announced it was unable to unilaterally repatriate most of the objects because they were not owned by the museum but were part of a gift from a private donor.
Despite years of negotiations with the donor, the museum’s failure to obtain ownership prevented the repatriation from moving forward. As a result, most objects will be returned to the donor. As the museum’s senior curator for provenance stated, “”we do not own them, and therefore we don’t have control over them.” This highlights that a museum’s legal title to an object is crucial for deciding its fate in repatriation cases.
Being Prepared and Proactive
Despite these hurdles, the increasing focus on provenance research and voluntary repatriation represents a positive evolution in how museums understand their responsibilities to the past and engage with the global community. It highlights a move towards greater transparency, ethical stewardship, and a recognition that understanding the full journey of an object can enrich its meaning and foster deeper international relationships. It also puts museums on firmer ground when they receive a claim seeking return of an object.
For museums looking to begin this provenance journey, the most practical and cost-effective first step is to engage an outside firm to research and advise on your highest priority objects.
Smaller institutions with limited budgets could pool resources on a single contract. Partnering with the experts at Argus Cultural Property Consultants ensures your institution is prepared to respond to potential claims–at a fraction of the cost of hiring new staff.
Museums that are proactive about investigating object histories and collaborating with countries of origin can also reap the benefits of voluntary returns without the complications (and stigma) of police intervention. The legal and foreign affairs staff at Argus can offer the critical guidance and connections you need to get started.