10 Mar, 2015

Australia to return questionably-procured cultural artefacts to China, India

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The Australian Government has agreed to return two prized cultural artefacts originating in India and China to their home countries. Both were found to have been procured under questionable circumstances and are to be returned in accordance with the principles and legal obligations of the Australian Best Practice Guide to Collecting Cultural Material. Two media releases and official statements issued are reproduced below. The move could facilitate action to pursue the return of hundreds of such artefacts in many museums worldwide to their countries of origin.

Culturally significant Chinese statue returns home

5 March 2015, Statement by the Attorney-General for Australia, Minister for the Arts Senator George Brandis QC – Today the Australian Government returned a valuable and culturally significant Qing dynasty statue of the Goddess Guanyin to Chinese authorities in a display of cultural cooperation between Australia and China.

The stone statue was exported from China in breach of Chinese cultural laws. After being purchased on eBay from a dealer in the United States of America, the statue was seized by Australian Customs and Border Protection when it arrived in Australia.

Under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986, Australia can return illegally exported cultural heritage property to its country of origin if a foreign government makes a request.

The return demonstrates the shared commitment of the Australian and Chinese governments to protecting and preserving cultural objects, as noted in our Memorandum of Understanding on the Protection of Cultural Property 2009.

It builds upon strong economic ties between our two countries and our common desire to foster cultural understanding and artistic relationships.

The return of the Goddess Guanyin follows previous returns of items of cultural significance including fossils and dinosaur eggs to China, Iron Age ornaments to Cambodia and antiquities to Peru and Egypt.

Today’s ceremony at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China demonstrates Australia’s commitment to the protection of cultural heritage and the excellent cooperation by the Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in discovering, identifying and seizing the stone sculpture and facilitating its return.

This return builds on the Australian Government’s enthusiastic support for cultural exchange with China, including tours of China by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and The Australian Ballet, and funding for a Symphony Cultural Bridge between the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

I welcome the opportunity to return this important cultural artefact to China.

Find out more about the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage.

Seated Buddha settlement

Friday 6 March 2015 — The National Gallery of Australia has negotiated a settlement for an ancient Indian sculpture in its collection.

Through its Asian Art Provenance Research project, the Gallery has determined that the ownership history of the second-century sculpture Seated Buddha is unclear and has negotiated a settlement with the Nancy Wiener Gallery of New York, from whom the National Gallery originally purchased the sculpture.

The National Gallery will also be working with the Nancy Wiener Gallery to return the sculpture to India where it can go on public display.

The full text of the National Gallery’s Seated Buddha media release is below:

Friday 6 March 2015 – The National Gallery of Australia (the “NGA”) and the Nancy Wiener Gallery, Inc. (the “NWG”) today announced that they will voluntarily donate an ancient sculpture, a Seated Buddha, to India.  The NGA purchased the red sandstone sculpture from the NWG in 2007 for AU $1,266,268.00 (approximately equivalent to US $1,080,000 in 2007).  The work, from the Mathura region of Uttar Pradesh, was made during the Kushan period (2nd century BCE-3rd century CE).

Discussions about a possible return of the sculpture began between the NGA and the NWG in October of 2014.  In 2007, the NGA regarded the information available about the sculpture as adequate at the time of its purchase with documented provenance outside India in 1964-66. As a result of new research undertaken by the NGA, particularly in light of the recently published Australian Government Guidelines for Collecting Cultural material, the NGA considers it unclear as to whether the work’s export from India complies with current Australian law.  Given the passage of time, the NGA is of the view that further clarification on this issue is unlikely. Accordingly, the NGA and NWG have agreed that the best course is to donate the work to a museum or other cultural institution located in India.

While the NWG affirms its confidence in the provenance of the Seated Buddha, it is dedicated to its relationship with the NGA. Therefore, the NWG has offered to refund the purchase price of the sculpture to the NGA, and to join with the NGA in donating the work to an appropriate Indian cultural institution.  Both parties are now working collaboratively in the spirit of goodwill and with Indian officials to determine an appropriate destination in India for this great work.

Since the late 1960s, the National Gallery of Australia has been developing its collection in order to share the rich cultures of its Asian neighbors with its audience. “However, under the new guidelines for collecting cultural material, we have decided that it is best to give the Seated Buddha to India,” said NGA Director, Gerard Vaughan. Both parties believe that the pending donation to a cultural institution in India is the best possible outcome, and the NGA has publicly acknowledged the exceptional cooperation of the NWG.

“The NWG understands the situation, and we appreciate and respect the new policies at the NGA and the new standards of the Australian government towards the stewardship of antiquities,” said Nancy Wiener, President of NWG. “We have endeavored to find an agreeable resolution for both parties.”

The transfer of the Seated Buddha is expected to occur in 2015.

Statement by the Attorney-General for Australia, Minister for the Arts Senator George Brandis QC

6 March 2015 – I welcome today’s announcement that the National Gallery of Australia has negotiated a settlement for an ancient Indian sculpture in its collection.

Through its Asian Art Provenance Research project, the Gallery has determined that the ownership history of the second-century sculpture Seated Buddha is unclear and has negotiated a settlement with the Nancy Wiener Gallery of New York, from whom the National Gallery originally purchased the sculpture.

The National Gallery will also be working with the Nancy Wiener Gallery to return the sculpture to India where it can go on public display.

Cultural items from overseas will continue to be an important part of our national collections for the understanding and appreciation they bring of the many cultures in our region.

I congratulate the National Gallery of Australia’s commitment to sustaining a national art collection that meets high ethical and international standards.

To support Australia’s public museums, galleries, libraries and archives when acquiring or borrowing objects or works of art, I released the Australian Best Practice Guide to Collecting Cultural Material in 2014. The guide outlines key principles and legal obligations that apply to our collecting institutions when acquiring or borrowing cultural material.