There have been various high profile cultural property repatriation cases in recent years that have been resolved by the return of the artefacts in question. In many cases though, once the initial publicity dies down, it drops below the radar, as it is no longer a news item.

This article takes a look at some of the recent cases & what has happened to the artefacts since their return.

The Euphronios Krater, displayed in Rome

From:
New York Times

Vision of Home
Repatriated Works Back in Their Countries of Origin
By RACHEL DONADIOAPRIL 17, 2014

AIDONE, Sicily — The ruins of the ancient Greek city of Morgantina sit high on a hill in eastern Sicily. There are cherry trees, wildflowers and total stillness, save for the sound of bird song. The area has long been sacred to Persephone; legend has it that Hades pulled that goddess into the underworld by a nearby lake.

It was here at Morgantina, just outside the modern town of Aidone, that in the late 1970s or early 1980s, a breathtaking statue of a goddess, draped in a windswept robe and standing over seven feet tall, is believed to have been found. First thought to be Aphrodite and now widely considered to be Persephone, the statue, which dates to about 425 B.C., has become one of the most contested artworks in the world.
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Although some of the reviews of it haven’t been that great, the film Monuments Men has done an amazing job of raising awareness for the issue of disputed artefacts.

In this article, Chika Ezeanya looks at the many African Artefacts that have ended up in the museums & institutions of the West.

A series of African sculptures in the Yale collection

From:
Think Africa Press

It’s Time for Africa’s Stolen Artefacts to Come Home
Africa’s history has for too long laid scattered across Western museums and private collections, out of the reach of their true owners’ hearts, minds and memories.
Article | 4 April 2014 – 11:33am | By Chika Ezeanya

In a recently-released film, The Monuments Men, in which a group of Second World War soldiers embark upon a mission to save pieces of art before they are destroyed by the Nazis, Lieutenant Frank Stokes, played by George Clooney, notes: “You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they will still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, if you destroy their achievements, then it is as if they never existed.”

While in London to publicise the film, this basic premise was given contemporary significance as the all-star cast touched a sensitive nerve by suggesting it was time for Britain to return the so-called Elgin Marbles to Greece. Some British commentators hit out at the actors’ suggestions of repatriating the huge marble sculptures and pieces of architecture ‘acquired’ by Lord Elgin from Athens in the 19th century, while the Greek government expressed their “heartfelt thanks” for the show of solidarity.
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Two years after the agreement to return artefacts was made, and many years after Peru first started petitioning for their return, the final artefacts from Yale University’s Peabody Museum have returned to Machu Picchu. These final artefacts form the last part of an extensive restitution process of over 35,000 items that has been happening over the last year an a half.

From:
BBC News

13 November 2012 Last updated at 03:05
United States returns to Peru last Machu Picchu artefacts

The last of the artefacts taken from Machu Picchu by American archaeologist who rediscovered the Inca citadel have been returned to Peru.

More than 35,000 pottery fragments and other pieces were flown from Yale University to the Andean city of Cusco.
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Many of the cases of illegally trafficked antiquities occur across the borders of multiple countries. To unravel these cases, often requires the cooperation of various different national police forces. A new body intends to make this easier, encouraging cooperation between the law enforcement agencies, Interpol & UNESCO amongst others.

From:
NBC News

14th November 2012
New ‘intelligence’ body set to fight illicit trade in world’s priceless treasures
By Ian Johnston, NBC News

LONDON — Ancient statues from Nigeria and Cambodia, colorful cloaks from Peru, ceremonial furniture from Haiti before Columbus and clay tablets inscribed with writing thousands of years old: The illegal trade in looted cultural artifacts is vast, poorly policed and highly profitable.

But NBC News has learned that a new international body to gather “intelligence” about the illicit sale of some of the world’s most beautiful and historic objects is set to be established.
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When one hears about looted Peruvian artefacts, the tendency is to assume that we are always talking about Inca treasures, such as the ones recently returned by Yale University. The country has cultural heritage the dates from ancient times to the later years of the Spanish colonial period however – none of which is immune to being smuggled out of the country destined for private collections.

From:
Immigration & Customs Enforcement

News Releases
July 12, 2012
Washington, DC
ICE returns stolen and looted art and antiquities to Peru

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned 14 stolen and looted cultural paintings and artifacts to the government of Peru at a repatriation ceremony at the Embassy of Peru in Washington, D.C. The items were recovered in five separate investigations by special agents of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York; West Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware; and Austin and Houston, Texas.

Returned to the Peruvian people were nine religious paintings, a monstrance and four archaeological items that date back more than 2,000 years. The return of this cultural property is the culmination of a long, hard fight by HSI, INTERPOL and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices from the District of Delaware, the Southern District of New York, and the Southern District of Texas. Participating in today’s repatriation were ICE Director John Morton, Peruvian Ambassador to the United States Harold Forsyth and U.S. Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General James Cole. Also in attendance were INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams and representatives from the Southern District of New York and District of Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Offices; U.S. Department of State Cultural Heritage Center; Smithsonian Institution; and HSI special agents from the respective investigative offices.
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After many years of campaigning, false starts & re-iterated demands, agreements were finally reached between Yale University & the Peruvian government for the return of various disputed artefacts collected by Hiram Bingham. These have been gradually been arriving back in Cusco.

From:
NPR

Finders Not Keepers: Yale Returns Artifacts To Peru
by Diane Orson
January 1, 2012 from WNPR

High in the Andes Mountains, Peruvians have been lining up to see a collection of antiquities that have finally returned home. The objects from the Inca site of Machu Picchu spent the past 100 years at Yale University in Connecticut, where they were at the center of a long-running international custody battle.

Now, the university is giving back thousands of ceramics, jewelry and human bones from the Peabody Museum in New Haven to the International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture.
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More coverage of the return of artefacts to Peru by Yale University.

From:
Fox News

Antiquities from Yale’s Collection Arrive in Peru’s Highlands
Published June 23, 2011
EFE

Lima – A first batch of 350 artifacts removed from Machu Picchu and held by Yale University for almost 100 years have been returned to the highland Peruvian city of Cuzco, ancient capital of the Inca empire.

The arrival of the pieces on Wednesday ended a long custody battle over the antiquities, which left Peru on loan in the early 20th century. It also marked the start of festivities in Cuzco to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the “discovery” of the famed Inca citadel by U.S. academic and explorer Hiram Bingham.
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An interesting look at 10 different cases (some well known, some more obscure) where countries are involved in disputes over the ownership of looted cultural property. Some of the cases have been resolved, but many are still no closer to reaching a conclusion than the day after the artefacts were originally taken.

From:
Business Insider

10 Ancient Artifacts That Countries Are Still Fighting Over
Vivian Giang | Jul. 14, 2011, 7:51 PM

Legendary historical artifacts have traded hands from conquerors to thieves and ended up thousands of miles from their origin.

The question of ownership is extremely murky.

With a black market in looted art worth as much as $6.3 billion a year, the mantra of “finder’s keepers” can be tempting. Past and present owners, however, may claim an object, sometimes leading to disputes and wars between nations.
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Following Peru’s agreement with Yale University, the first of the returned artefacts have now arrived in the country.

From:
BBC News

31 March 2011 Last updated at 00:56
Peru welcomes back Inca artefacts from Yale University

Peru has given a lavish welcome to hundreds of Inca artefacts returned by Yale University in the US, nearly a century after they were taken from the famed citadel of Machu Picchu.

A convoy of trucks escorted by police carried the remains from the airport to the presidential palace in Lima.
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An in-depth article in three parts, looking at the decision made by Yale University to return Inca artefacts to Peru.

From:
Yale Daily News

Returning to Machu Picchu
Yale and Peru
By Sarah Nutman
Senior Reporter
Monday, February 14, 2011

This is a three-part series exploring Yale’s decision to return artifacts from Machu Picchu to Peru: the history behind it, the negotiations leading up to it, and its ramifications. Part 1 investigates the century-long conflict between the University and Peru over the artifacts, which Hiram Bingham III 1898 brought to Yale nearly 100 years ago. (Read part 2 and part 3.)

The corner of Room 188 in building A21 on Yale University’s West Campus is filled with crates marked “fragile” and destined for Peru. Over the next weeks and months, between now and the end of 2012, thousands of objects excavated from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago will be carefully packed. In March, the first set of objects will be shipped by plane to Lima. By July 24, the 100th anniversary of Hiram Bingham’s III 1898 arrival at Machu Picchu they will be in Cusco, capital of the former Inca empire, and the waypoint for travelers headed to the great citadel.
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Following the return of artefacts from the Peabody museum at Yale to Peru, a centre run jointly by both parties has opened in Cusco, Peru.

From:
Yale News

Peru-Yale Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture opens
By Kianti Roman
October 6, 2011

Yale officials attended the opening ceremony for the UNSAAC-Yale International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture in Cusco, Peru. Provost Peter Salovey and Professor Richard Burger of Yale joined Susana Baca, Cultural Minister of Peru; Victor Raul Aguilar, rector of Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco (UNSAAC); and other officials at the new Center in Casa Concha, a historic Inca palace.

“Yale is very pleased to be UNSAAC’s partner in this project, and is delighted by the progress we have made together so far,” Salovey said. “We expect Yale faculty and students to travel often to the museum for research projects involving these objects, and we are very impressed by the beauty of Casa Concha and the way the objects will be housed and displayed there.”
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More coverage of Yale University’s decision to return various artefacts to Peru, from the Peabody Museum

From:
Sciencemag

Yale Agrees to Return Machu Picchu Artifacts to Peru
by Antonio Regalado on 14 February 2011, 2:51 PM

Ending a bitter dispute over the repatriation of archeological artifacts, Yale University will return to Peru thousands of items excavated from Machu Picchu by 20th Century explorer Hiram Bingham, the university said in a statement.

Peru has been demanding the return of the artifacts for several years. It had sued the university, and last November Peruvian President Alan Garcia led a protest march through Lima, calling Yale’s refusal to return the artifacts a “global crime.”
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