When 16-year-old Sunil Shrestha returned from early morning festival celebrations on August 30, 1995 in Dolakha, Nepal, he immediately realized something was wrong. He used to sleep in the worship hall of the family home, sharing the space with an impressive 37-inch golden statue of Vajradhara. The family had been guardians of the 16th century statue for hundreds of years. But now he was missing.
Sunil ran to get his father, who was working with his eldest son at a restaurant two and a half kilometers away. When they returned, the police took Sunil and his father for questioning. They both still bear scars from the physical torture inflicted on them. Nepal was not yet a democracy, but was instead torn apart by armed conflict between Maoist insurgents and government forces – a period marked by human rights violations. Both Sunil and his father were released, but the police followed no other leads to find who was behind the deity’s theft.
Because of the volume of the statue, it would take at least two people to carry it. In their haste, the thieves left behind the statue’s crown, halo and other accessories. At the time of the robbery, only Sunil’s mother, his seven-year-old brother Anup and his grandmother were at home. Obviously, the theft was staged, as the thieves knew exactly when they could enter and leave the family home undetected. But because the police failed to properly investigate the case – one of many instances theft of cultural heritage during a period of massive looting in Nepal — it was impossible to prove the innocence of the family.
For the past 28 years, the Shrestha family has had to bear the guilt and shame that came with the deity burglary. Their community and extended family ousted them, accusing them of selling the statue for profit.
On September 15, 2022, Lost Arts of Nepal, an activist group focused on the identification and repatriation of Nepalese cultural objects held by foreigners, posted a photo of the deity Vajradhara in the Shrestha house – and next to it is a screenshot of a statue given to a Hong Kong-based dealer and offered for sale online. The statues were identical except for a crown that had been replaced. The deity Dolakha had been found.
Making a request for the repatriation of a private or public collection is always a sensitive issue and never simple. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to these cases – sometimes there is overwhelming evidence of looting and other times there is no documentary evidence apart from a witness statement and argument. morale for the return. In the case of the Vajradhara, there were reports, publications and photographic evidence which proved that the statue was taken from Nepal after the country passed the 1956 Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, a national heritage law prohibiting the trade and export of any cultural object, making the statue stolen property. Still, that did not guarantee his return. The statue was located in Hong Kong, a global city known for its (illicit) art trade due to a lack of relevant laws, making a request for government repatriation potentially difficult.
However, after learning that their statue may have been looted, the owner of the Vajradhara contacted their dealer, who then contacted me to request mediation between the various stakeholders. The owner was willing to voluntarily return the deity to the people of Nepal on the condition that he remain anonymous. As a result, the stunning statue was officially handed over at the Consulate of the Government of Nepal in Hong Kong last week, May 5 – an auspicious and very fitting day when Nepalese people celebrate the religious holiday Buddha Jayanti.
This case is one of many recent examples private collectors voluntarily returning cultural objects to their country of origin. THE Bornpal Heritage Recovery Campaign is regularly contacted by private collectors who are proactively seeking to return artwork from their collections to Nepal. They may not have been aware of the exact circumstances of the removal of items from their collections. But as more source countries raise their voices to reclaim their cultural heritage, public awareness of the massive looting, colonial violence and resulting intergenerational damage to the repair of Asian cultural artifacts has grown. Hopefully, this will change the no-questions-asked approach so many in the global art business have taken in the past, prioritizing legality and morality in their quest to satisfy a passion for beautiful objects. .
Vajradhara’s example also shows how some repatriation cases are best handled with discretion and “behind the scenes” mediation rather than a public social media campaign to pressure current owners. Moreover, it highlights the responsibility of scholars like me, who are in a unique position to bridge the gaps between the home communities we work with and the art market. Whereas academics could previously have benefited trade in looted cultural objects, their know-how can now be used to right the wrongs of the past.
The Shrestha family can’t wait to welcome divinity back into their new home after their old home collapsed in the 2015 earthquake. “It’s not just our divinity that’s given back, but also our dignity” , notes the youngest son, Anup. When the Vajradhara returns to the Shrestha house, he will be rededicated and his crown and other accessories will be restored. He can then once again function as the central deity of the Indra Jatra festival, worshiped by the entire Dolakha community.
