24hoursworld

Italy returns to Mexico 43 pre-Columbian archaeological pieces

Italy returns to Mexico 43 pre-Columbian archaeological pieces

RESTITUTION-MEXICO – TELAM Agency

A total of 43 archaeological pieces from the pre-Columbian era that were in Italy will be returned to Mexico, in what the Mexicans described as a gesture of friendship between the two countries, and which coincides with a policy of return of works that other European nations like France and England.

The objects that will return to Mexico belong to the period between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD, and are added to the more than 11,500 archaeological pieces that were recovered through voluntary donations -from countries such as Germany, Sweden, the United States or South Korea- and by canceling auctions in which they were offered.

“Today, we are celebrating. Today, the friendship between Mexico and Italy is crowned with an extraordinary act of generosity, 43 pieces of Mexican history begin the return to their origin, 43 fragments of ancient cultures that are the essence of greatness of our country”, said the Mexican Minister of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, in a ceremony in which the delivery was made, at the Mexican Embassy in Rome.

“In Mexico, this movement, which has gained great strength and is strongly promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is called ‘My Heritage Is Not For Sale,'” the Mexican official explained, according to the DPA news agency.

The Mexican president has criticized on numerous occasions during the last four years the auctions of Mexican historical pieces, which he has come to describe as “immoral.”

In Europe, the initial kick to reveal the presence of objects resulting from colonial looting was given by France, in 2022, through the Senate that approved the restitution of 27 pieces to Benin and Senegal, based on a commitment by President Macron.

Another of the countries that agreed to return art from its former colonies is the Netherlands, which would have some 450,000 pieces, while the British Museum began analyzing the provenance of objects such as the famous Rosetta stone or the Parthenon Marbles, which They arrived in that country from colonial practices and slavery, and that in recent years has led several European cultural spaces to return to their countries of origin pieces arising from these plundering policies.

Source: Ambito

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

Girl raped, 16-year-old convicted

Girl raped, 16-year-old convicted

Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD On the sidelines of a country festival in the Hausruckviertel, there was a sexual assault on a young person in May 2023,