Renewing the ‘Special Relationship’ and Rethinking the Return of Cultural Property: The Netherlands and Indonesia, 1949–79

Abstract

This article questions how the return of cultural property from metropolitan centers of former colonial powers to the successor states of former colonies have been considered positive – if rare – examples of post-colonial redress. Highlighting UNESCO-driven publicity about the transfer of materials from the Netherlands to Indonesia, and tracing nearly 30 years of diplomacy between these countries, demonstrates that the return of cultural property depended on the ability of Dutch officials to vindicate the Netherlands’ historical and contemporary cultural roles in the former East Indies. More than anything, returns were influenced by the determination of Dutch officials to find and maintain a secure cultural role in Indonesia in the future. This article also considers how Dutch policies were initially independent from, but later coincided with, the anti-colonial activism that emerged within the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) around the issue of cultural property return to former colonies. Yet, rather than reveal a mediating role for UNESCO, this article re-positions the return debate within a broader framework of shifting post-colonial cultural relations negotiated bilaterally between the Netherlands – as a former colonial power – and the leaders of the newly independent state of Indonesia.