Small antique sculptures that have been collecting dust in an Albuquerque storage box are coming home to Mexicowhere they are intertwined with the identity of indigenous communities.
The Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrated the repatriation of a dozen sculptures in a ceremony Wednesday. The local Mexican consulate accepted Olmec greenstone sculptures, a figure from the city of Zacatecas, bowls that were buried with tombs, and other clay figurines dating back thousands of years.
The event came as indigenous and African communities have pushed for museums, universities and other institutions to repatriate items that are important parts of their cultures and histories.
Andrew Rodgers, the foundation’s president and CEO, said returning the sculptures, which have been in storage for 15 years, was the right thing to do. The foundation’s board agreed. But some outside of his organization had a different idea.
“We ran into a couple of people who suggested ‘Oh, you should sell these’… ‘They might not be worth a ton, so keep them’ or ‘Mexico doesn’t really care about this kind of stuff.’ Rogers said.
Mexico, however, is very concerned.
“We appreciate and acknowledge the actions taken by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation to voluntarily return these archaeological pieces to the Mexican nation,” said Norma Ang Sánchez, consul of Mexico, in a statement. “They are important elements of memory and identity for our native communities, and we are pleased that they are recovered.”
The effort to investigate the origins of the artifacts began more than five months ago when they were discovered in a box in storage. Rodgers’ assistant obtained the original appraisal form when a donor provided it to him in 2007.
“Immediately, alarm bells started going off in our heads” when they saw the “pre-Columbian” label, Rodgers said.
Playing Internet detective, Rodgers found the original dealer. A New York woman in her 90s still had the original note cards from the sale of the items to donors in 1985. She said they were purchased on the side of a road in Mexico or from dealers in New England.
“I don’t think anyone had bad intentions. I just think there wasn’t a lot of clarity or a lot of transparency in that kind of practice 30, 40, 50 years ago,” Rodgers said.
Archaeologists from the museum of the University of New Mexico and Emory University in Atlanta authenticated the objects before speaking with the local Mexican consulate.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, which will finish with the figures, believes that they were made in western Mexico between 300 and 600 BC.
There has always been a desire to bring back pre-Hispanic culture and artwork, according to Tessa Solomon, a reporter for the online publication ARTnews who has covered dozens of stories on the subject.
When Andrés Manuel López Obrador became president of Mexico in 2018, his administration made artifact recovery a priority. The Minister of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, has tried to stop the sale of cultural objects at auction. The efforts spawned a social media movement called #MyHeritageIsNotForSale.
It is estimated that more than 5,500 archaeological objects from Mexico have been recovered in recent years.
“[Mexican officials]we definitely have the most concerted effort to stop auctions of these pieces,” Solomon said. Placing these objects in a European or American gallery or museum is “creating these gaps in the art history of these places that are difficult to fill. It shouldn’t be up to other countries to create these stories.”
Campaigns to restore artifacts and works of art in a country or a town are taking place all over the world. The US Department of the Interior is considering changes to a federal law that guarantees the repatriation of Native American remains and sacred objects. The proposed revisions include more clarity, specific timelines and harsher penalties for breaking the law.
Indigenous groups in Canada are asking the Vatican Museums to hand over tens of thousands of artifacts and works of art. The Vatican says the feathered headdresses, carved walrus tusks, masks and embroidered animal skins were gifts to Pope Pius XI.
Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement on July 1 to facilitate the return of hundreds of artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes that the British stole from Africa more than a century ago. Hundreds of bronzes were sold to museums around the world.
The Smithsonian had 29 in its National Museum of Africa Art in Washington, DC They will return to the government of Nigeria.
Other Smithsonian museums have been returning artifacts to their rightful owners for more than three decades, said Kevin Gover, assistant secretary for museums and culture. Determining who owns items can be a lengthy process.
“Remember, some of these things are usually very old,” said Gover, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. was acquired… I am impressed that this Albuquerque Museum [Foundation] I did it in six months.
“The public expects more from these institutions,” Gover said. “This is part of maintaining that trust.”