1,500 artefacts repatriated to Indonesia from Netherlands hinh anh 1Indonesian Ministry of Culture's Director General of Culture Hilmar Farid observes an artefact (Photo: Antara) 
 
Jakarta (VNA) – Some 1,500 of Indonesia’s pre-dated artefacts have been returned to the island country for the first time from the Netherlands after an agreement between the two countries was reached four years ago.

The collections earlier had been displayed at Museum Nusantara in Delft, the Netherlands, said Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture's Director General of Culture Hilmar Farid in a press conference on January 7.

The 150-year-old museum was used to be the only in the Netherlands displaying cultural and historic artefacts originated from Indonesia during the Dutch colony’s occupation of the Southeast Asian nation. The museum was closed in 2013 due to financial difficulty.

Before the repatriation, the Indonesian government had been negotiating with the Government of the Netherlands since 2015, Farid explained.

He expected more of Indonesia's heritage items to return home in the future.

Indonesia’s National Museum director Siswanto said the repatriated collections will be exhibited in June./.
VNA