India
At G20 culture working group meet, India pitches for ‘voluntary’ repatriation of displaced cultural artefacts | India News
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KHAJURAHO: Countries must return “displaced” antiquities to their parent countries voluntarily, since cultural artefacts are bereft of meaning outside of their cultural contexts, junior minister for culture and external affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi, said on Thursday at the first meeting of the G20 Culture Working Group (CWG) currently underway in Khajuraho.
Lekhi underlined the importance of repatriating Indian antiquities from any part of the World they have travelled to – a recurrent theme at the CWG meeting – and advocated an “ethical and moralistic” approach to the return of artefacts rather than following legal procedures only.
“To an Indian, for instance, goddess Saraswati is an important deity because she represents wisdom and knowledge. To someone who does not relate to the Indian context, a sculpture of Saraswati will be nothing more than a stone sculpture of a beautiful woman holding a musical instrument. The emotional relationship changes with the change of culture and value systems and so, such artefacts should be return voluntarily. Also, as a lawyer, I can say it is nearly impossible to produce evidentiary value of artefacts that may have been displaced (for instance) a 100 years ago,” Lekhi said.
She also exhorted the CWG to go beyond discussions and said all G20 member countries should use the G20 platform to become an action group to identify impediments in the return of human treasures.
Union Culture secretary Govind Mohan, meanwhile, emphasized the challenges faced by the culture sector due to Covid-19 as well as climate changes. He emphasized the urgent need to work together and protect the shared heritage of G20 nations and added that that culture serves a lever for the inclusion of the most vulnerable people and its inclusion in G20 will help deal with many challenges that the sector faces.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 1st G20 Culture Working Group in Khajuraho MoS Culture and external Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi drew parallels between ‘The Dancing Girl’, a 5000-year-old Harappan bronze, and Kristen Visbal’s ‘Fearless Girl’, the bronze sculpture of a young girl installed in front of the ‘Charging Bull’ on New York’s Wall Street, to highlight India as a confident, yet gentle young woman that has not only believed in gender equality and the centrality of women in the Indian context, but also to project India as a country that uses her heritage and culture as a strategic tool to connect with the World.
“The strength of India is its culture and heritage, which is as old as humanity itself….It is fearless, confident, non-aggressive, self-assured and very graceful….We all should work towards a culture of togetherness, construction, dialogue, and peace, and do away with things that destroy culture,” Lekhi said.
Lekhi underlined the importance of repatriating Indian antiquities from any part of the World they have travelled to – a recurrent theme at the CWG meeting – and advocated an “ethical and moralistic” approach to the return of artefacts rather than following legal procedures only.
“To an Indian, for instance, goddess Saraswati is an important deity because she represents wisdom and knowledge. To someone who does not relate to the Indian context, a sculpture of Saraswati will be nothing more than a stone sculpture of a beautiful woman holding a musical instrument. The emotional relationship changes with the change of culture and value systems and so, such artefacts should be return voluntarily. Also, as a lawyer, I can say it is nearly impossible to produce evidentiary value of artefacts that may have been displaced (for instance) a 100 years ago,” Lekhi said.
She also exhorted the CWG to go beyond discussions and said all G20 member countries should use the G20 platform to become an action group to identify impediments in the return of human treasures.
Union Culture secretary Govind Mohan, meanwhile, emphasized the challenges faced by the culture sector due to Covid-19 as well as climate changes. He emphasized the urgent need to work together and protect the shared heritage of G20 nations and added that that culture serves a lever for the inclusion of the most vulnerable people and its inclusion in G20 will help deal with many challenges that the sector faces.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 1st G20 Culture Working Group in Khajuraho MoS Culture and external Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi drew parallels between ‘The Dancing Girl’, a 5000-year-old Harappan bronze, and Kristen Visbal’s ‘Fearless Girl’, the bronze sculpture of a young girl installed in front of the ‘Charging Bull’ on New York’s Wall Street, to highlight India as a confident, yet gentle young woman that has not only believed in gender equality and the centrality of women in the Indian context, but also to project India as a country that uses her heritage and culture as a strategic tool to connect with the World.
“The strength of India is its culture and heritage, which is as old as humanity itself….It is fearless, confident, non-aggressive, self-assured and very graceful….We all should work towards a culture of togetherness, construction, dialogue, and peace, and do away with things that destroy culture,” Lekhi said.
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