Cultural Restitution
February 19, 2023
COLOMBIA
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COLOMBIA
Updated July 2026
Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made to Colombia, together with other restitution news.
Entries are updated regularly.
July 2026
Over 1,100 pre-Columbian artefacts, all repatriated between 2022 and 2026, are on exhibition for the first time at Bogota's Museo Nacional de Colombia
February 2023
After many years of inaction, the Colombian government is demanding the return of 35 sculptures from the San Agustin culture, currently in the collections of Berlin's Humboldt Forum.
More News
The USA is being urged not to renew a five-year cultural property agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the grounds Egypt has prioritised ‘prestige megaprojects’ and ‘political spectacle’ over site protection and collections management
“Modern morality,” wrote Oscar Wilde, “consists in accepting the standard of one’s age.” But how can museums define the moral standard of this age when constrained by historic rules of stewardship and the absence of a modern ethical framework?
This week’s announcement that Cambridge University has transferred legal ownership of its collection of 116 Benin artefacts to Nigeria could be hugely significant