While delivering his remarks at a public lecture here on Wednesday, he revealed that the government has located Indonesia's historical artifacts, which are scattered across the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and India.
"Many of our kris, ancient sculptures, and other cultural artifacts remain scattered overseas," the minister said.
Zon, who graduated from the Russian Studies program of the University of Indonesia, said that his ministry is overseeing the repatriation of several historical artifacts, which are expected to arrive in Indonesia by November or December 2024.
He added that the British government is resisting Indonesia's call to return cultural objects belonging to the country, and Indonesia will continue to pressure the United Kingdom on the subject.
"Cultural assets of the Indonesian nation must be returned to Indonesia," he stressed.
The latest repatriation of Indonesian historical artifacts was from the Netherlands last October. The returned objects included 284 artifacts from the Puputan Badung war collection, taken during the Dutch military intervention in Bali in 1906, and four Hindu-Buddha statues from Java.
The repatriation agreement involved intensive cooperation between the Indonesian and Dutch governments, according to the then director general of culture at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Hilmar Farid.
The two governments also carried out an in-depth provenance study to ensure the authenticity and origin of each object before repatriation, he added.
The return of the 288 artifacts followed the first repatriation of Indonesian cultural objects from the Netherlands in mid-2023. Artifacts from Sri Lanka were also returned by the Netherlands during the 2023 repatriation.
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Translator: M Zulfikar, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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