News
Manhattan DA’s Office Returns Three Antiquities to Mexico
The office’s sixth repatriation to the nation included a Nayarit sculpture seized from The Met and an Aztec stone previously possessed by a convicted antiquities trafficker.
Repatriation
Interview
Inside the Mind of an Antiquities Looter
"The Man Who Stole the Gods" author Matthew Campbell discusses Western collectors' rapacious hunger for ancient Cambodian art and the sheer violence it took to satiate it.
News
Smithsonian to Return Three Looted Bronzes to Indian Government
The sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers were stolen from Tamil temples and smuggled out of India in the mid-20th century.
Video Games
A Video Game Lets You Take Back Looted Artifacts
An indie game studio in South Africa has developed a heist adventure that reframes play, memory, and repatriation.
News
Met Museum Returns Buddhist Painting Taken During Korean War
It’s the latest in a series of high-profile repatriations for the New York institution.
News
Decades After “Heartbreaking” Thefts, Santa Ana Pueblo Recovers Stolen Artifacts
The repatriation effort is significant not just for the amount of time that has elapsed, but also because it is completely organized and funded by the Pueblo itself.
News
A Giant Vulva Is Walking the Streets of Europe
Dressed in flowing pink robes, artist and activist Dee Mulrooney — or “Growler” — is urging the British Museum to return a Síle na Giġ statue back to Ireland.
News
A Looted Greco-Roman Statue Goes on Display Before Its Return
After a months-long legal battle, the sculpture is on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art ahead of its repatriation to Turkey, with newly added context about its provenance.
News
Antiquities Looted by Notorious Smuggling Ring Returned to Nepal
Works linked to the disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor are among the 20 objects seized by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit.
News
Art Institute of Chicago Returns Sacred Buddha Statue to Nepal
The sculpture was identified by the online heritage activist group Lost Arts of Nepal as matching one stolen from Kathmandu.
News
Netherlands to Repatriate 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
It’s been described as the single largest return to date of the famous Benin antiquities looted by the British military.
Film
New Documentary Gives a Voice to Benin's Looted Treasures
Mati Diop's Dahomey centers on the repatriation of 26 stolen Beninese objects and how it could shape the African country’s future.