How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Switzerland recently returned three significant Mesopotamian cultural artifacts that had been illegally imported from Iraq. However, many stolen items remain in the Alpine country.
Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said Switzerland is collaborating with various countries to negotiate further restitutions.
The question of how Western countries should address contentious legacies is now widely debated, so we want to hear from you. What’s the situation like in your country? How are museums and governments handling the process of returning, or recovering, looted artifacts? Do you think countries have a duty to return stolen artifacts?
Join our debate and let us know.
History is often poorer by returning objects which often were not stolen but saved from destruction.
In the case of Australia some bones and objects were returned and are now lost because the aborigines who claimed them do not want anyone to know about origins and the possibility of DNA linking people movements. They claim to be the oldest civilisation but there is no proof of who were the original occupants or where they came from. There is proof that there were a number of different settlement periods. Only in the last few days there was news of very old cave paintings (42000BC) from Indonesia. Were these the same people as those in Australia? There is clear evidence that aborigines came from PNG around 3000BC.
In 2020, Algeria succeeded in recovering the skulls and remains of several Algerian resistance fighters from France. However, to this day, it is still struggling to return dozens of looted monuments and artifacts that are displayed in museums around the world.
We Algerians especially hope to return the Baba Marzouk cannon from France, which is located in one of the squares of the city of Brest. It is one of the archaeological symbols of the Ottoman era.
عام 2020 نجحت الجزائر في استرجاع جماجم ورفات عدّة مقاومين جزائريين من فرنسا. لكنها ما تزال إلى اليوم تناضل من أجل إعادة عشرات الآثار والتحف المنهوبة والتي تعرض في متاحف العالم.
نحن الجزائريين، نأمل خاصة في إعادة مدفع بابا مرزوق من فرنسا، المنتصب في أحد ساحات مدينة براست، فهو أحد الرموز الأثرية من الحقبة العثمانية.
Thanks for your input and for sharing your country's experience on the topic. I will work on learning more about the loot antiques of Algeria and hope to hear from you regarding the fate of the “Baba Marzouk” cannon.
Thank you very much for interacting and sharing your country's experience with the topic. I will learn more about the looted monuments of Algeria. I hope to hear news from you about the fate of the “Baba Marzouk” cannon.
Thanks for your input and for sharing your country's experience on the topic. I will work on learning more about the looted antiquities of Algeria and hope to hear from you regarding the fate of the "Baba Marzouk" cannon.
شكرًا جزيلاً لتفاعلك ومشاركتك تجربة بلدك مع الموضوع. سأعمل على التعرّف أكثر على آثار الجزائر المنهوبة، وآمل أن نسمع أخبارًا منك حول مصير مدفع "بابا مرزوق".
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