US Authorities Return 38 Antiquities to China: A Significant Repatriation Gesture
On the same day that US president Joe Biden called for a tripling of tariffs on imports of some Chinese steel and aluminium, American and Chinese officials gathered for a ceremony at China’s consulate in New York City marking the repatriation of 38 antiquities. Attendees underscored the importance of continued coordination between the two countries on cultural heritage matters, even as economic, political, and military tensions remain high.
“We recognize two important aspects of cultural heritage—one is a reminder that we have more in common than you might think from headlines, and the second is that we have more in common when returning these antiquities where they belong because that’s our only goal,” said Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the antiquities trafficking unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The objects, dating from the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty, include wooden sculptures, ivory carvings, fragments of murals, and more. Most of them are Tibetan Buddhist artifacts. They were seized by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in March and will be transported back to China at a later date.
The ceremony was attended by officials from both countries, including Li Qun, China’s deputy minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Huang Ping, China’s consul general in New York.
“China has always been committed to preventing and combating the illegal trafficking of cultural property through expanding government cooperation,” said Wen Dayan, director general of the international cooperation department at the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China.
China and the US first signed a memorandum of understanding to prevent the trafficking of Chinese artifacts into the US in January 2009. The agreement was extended for a third time in January of this year, marking the first repatriation since then. In May last year, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned two 7th-century stone carvings to China that had belonged to collector Shelby White.
Bogdanos emphasized the ongoing work needed in cultural heritage protection, stating, “It’s a celebration of what we have done, but it’s also a reminder of how much we still have to do, because for every antiquity returned, there are dozen more waiting to be found, seized, and returned to their country of origin.”
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Elara Voss, graduated from the Royal College of Art in London with a Master’s in Fine Art. She specializes in contemporary sculpture and installation art, exploring themes of nature and human interaction. Elara’s works have been featured in several group exhibitions across Europe, and she is currently working on her first solo show.