Keynote Address | Biographies & Restitution of Hindu and Buddhist Objects from Java, Sumatra & Bali
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2022-05-20

Opening Remarks
Shane McCausland, Head of the School of Arts, SOAS University of London
Lesley Pullen, Symposium Convenor, Independent Art Historian, SOAS

Keynote Address – Discussant: Nick Barnard, Curator, South and South-East Asia, V&A Museum

Pieter ter Keurs, Professor for Museums, Collections and Society, LUCAS, University of Leiden
Collecting Hindu-Buddhist Antiquities in the Netherlands East-Indies: On colonial practices and postcolonial tensions

Biographies and Restitution of Hindu and Buddhist Objects from Java, Sumatra and Bali was recorded on 18th May 2022.

This symposium examines the life stories of certain Hindu and Buddhist objects which originated from the islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra.

Nine international scholars are being brought together to consider certain issues surrounding such objects now to be found in various locations around the world. In particular, the discussions will focus on the biographies of such objects and the issues of their restitution.

This symposium addresses why certain objects were selected to be moved from their find-spots, how such objects passed from one location to another, and who were their major agents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Finally, it will touch on the various ethical issues surrounding such objects which occupy our deliberations today in the early 21st century.