In March 2019, the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands released , Return of Cultural Objects: Principles and Process that publicised its intention to consider claims for return of cultural objects under three criteria, an initiative that seeks to pro-actively address the complex and entangled histories of its collections. The initiative emerged as part of a changing set of conditions across Europe and within museums as both nations and institutions have drawn historical precedents and developed provenance to attempt new understandings of what can and should be achieved as regards questions of restitution, repatriation and return. Considering the varied initiatives underway in the Dutch context, national historical precedents, and considering different European governance structures, this presentation will seek to situate this initiative in the evolving debate. Benefitting from current research on military collections current it will also address the question of provenance methodologies, variously underway across Europe, many of which substantially from those that have been used to consider the question of spoliation. Although provenance research creates a finer grained understanding of the micro-histories of object transfer, it begs questions regarding the nature and use of evidence when questions of legality, but most particularly legitimacy, are at stake.
BIO: Henrietta Lidchi is Head of Research and Collections at the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Leiden, the Netherlands. Prior to working in the Netherlands she worked at the British Museum and at National Museums Scotland. Her research includes Native American art and material culture looking at collections histories and museum practices of collecting and display, as well as contemporary artistic practices. Her publications include: Surviving Desires: Making and Selling Jewellery in the American Southwest (British Museum/University of Oklahoma Press); Visual Currencies (National Museums Scotland Press); Imagining the Arctic (British Museum/University of Washington Press) and more recently Dividing the Spoils: Military collections and the British Empire (Manchester University Press) co-edited with Stuart Allan.