Cultural Restitution

February 11, 2022
PORTUGAL
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PORTUGAL

Updated February 2024

Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made by Portugal, together with other restitution news. Entries are updated regularly


February 2024

Portuguese politicians and museum curators cannot agree whether or not to return the Kwer'ata Re'esu icon painting, looted by the British at Maqdala in 1868

The Art Newspaper


September 2023

An early 16th century icon of the suffering Christ, looted from Ethiopia by Richard Holmes, the British Museum representative at the battle of Maqdala, has been traced to Portugal

The Art Newspaper


November 2022

Following a recent inaccurate report on Portugal's plans for the restitution of objects and human remains, the country's Minister of Culture has recommended reflection, discretion and some reserve

Observador


February 2022

Angolan Minister of Culture is seeking to negotiate the return of Angola's cultural heritage held in Portuguese museums

DW.com




More News

Birmingham Museum helps shrink ‘The Elephant in the Room’

July 3, 2025
“Would be nice to have a more frank discussion about how objects are collected for the Museum. Saying ‘Donated’ is not enough”

Naga ancestral remains to be returned to their homeland

June 17, 2025
Last week, a delegation of Naga people signed a declaration that will lead to the return of 41 Naga ancestral remains currently held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Campaign to repatriate Maya artefacts to Belize escalates

May 24, 2025
Village leaders at San Benito Poité in southern Belize, formerly British Honduras, are claiming that an important collection of artefacts removed from the ancient city of Pusilha is not the lawful property of the British Museum