Returning the Gods to the People: Heritage Restitution in Nepal

Abstract

Since late 2021, a new development has been taking place in Nepal. Like many governments around the world, the Nepalese authorities are also fully invested in asking for the return of their looted art held in foreign collections. Yet the policy is no longer to keep these in the country’s main museums, but rather to bring them back to the communities of origin, where they can fully take up their role as “living Gods”. With this move – which fully prioritizes intangible heritage values over tangible – a unique process is taking place that allows for reflection on what the restitution of stolen objects could be all about. In this way the case of Nepal demonstrates that the trafficking of art and its placement in museums abroad, as well as its “typical” return to museums in the source countries, are strongly influenced by Western concepts of art and conservation, often ignoring the local values of this heritage.