Lankan and Dutch conservators join hands for mutual learning

In a collaborative international provenance research, which was concluded in April 2022, six artefacts from the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam, were confirmed to be of Lankan origin and were returned in December 2023. They are now displayed at the Colombo National Museum for both local and foreign visitors to admire.

- BY RANDIMA ATTYGALLE

A golden and a silver kasthané or sabre, a golden knife, two maha thuwakku or wall guns and Lewke Disave's cannon - all belonging to the Kandyan kingdom, were confirmed to be war booty, obtained by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) during the siege of the palace of Kandy in 1765 when large scale looting of Kandyan objects took place.

The restitution of the six Kandyan artefacts which were looted during the Dutch colonial rule of the island, took place in the wake of the Dutch Government formally apologizing for their historic role in slavery which led to a national policy of restitution of objects in colonial contexts. The restitution marked a significant milestone in the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. The idea of initiating a knowledge exchange between the Dutch and Sri Lankan researchers and conservators which was proposed at that juncture was also a means of solidifying such relations. The objective of this exchange, funded by five organizations in the Netherlands including the Cultural Heritage Agency and the Rijksmuseum, is to ensure the proper preservation of the repatriated objects as well as a wider range of collections and materials.

Knowledge co-creation

The recently concluded Conservation Exchange Programme for Wood and Metal Artefacts which was held at the Colombo National Museum premises, focused on key themes including Material Identification and Deterioration, Conservation Science, Advanced Conservation Techniques, Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Building and Strengthening International Collaboration. The themes were explored through presentations, discussions, collaborative assessments of individual objects and collections as well as hands-onpractice.