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Dutch delegation here to oversee return of Kandyan Kingdom loot
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Golden Kasthane
By Yomal Senerath-Yapa
The Dutch State Secretary for Culture and Media, Gunay Uslu, will arrive in Sri Lanka today on a five-day visit leading a delegation to sign the legal document transferring the ownership of the cultural artifacts that will be returned to Sri Lanka later this year.
The decision was taken by the Government of the Netherlands in July to return, to Sri Lanka, cultural artifacts seized during the colonial period: including the famous Lewke canon, two Gold kastanes (ceremonial swords), Sinhalese knive, Silver kastanes and two guns.
In 2021, the Dutch government acquiesced that “indigenous populations of colonial territories were served an injustice through the involuntary loss of objects that formed part of their cultural heritage”
In December 2022, the government appointed an independent commission, the Advisory Committee on the Return of Cultural Objects from Colonial Context, chaired by Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, to assess and facilitate the return of colonial objects to their respective countries of origin.
A team of researchers from both the Netherlands and Sri Lanka confirmed these items were taken as loot by Dutch from the Kandyan Kingdom during the siege of the Palace, in 1765.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands in a press release said, “the return process is expected to form the basis for further cooperation between the two countries and the cultural institutions concerned. The cooperation will mainly be focused on the exchange of technical expertise, knowledge sharing and education”.
The official delegation includes Barbera Wolfensberger, Director General Culture and Media in the Netherlands, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (Chairperson Dutch Colonial Collections Committee) and Alicia Schrikker (member of the Committee).
One of the looted cultural artifacts: Leuwke’s Cannon
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