Return to Sender

Abstract

This essay explores two recent examples of claims for the return of objects in the context of larger historical and political struggles: the repatriation of cultural property to indigenous groups, and the restitution of artworks taken from Jews by the Nazis prior to and during the Second World War. The issues hinge on people’s agency to make object return address wider efforts toward self-determination, remembrance, and political redress. Despite important historical, social, and structural differences, these two situations display some startling similarities. I focus here on the discursive construction of the issues–attending to the language of claims for return–as a means of interrogating the term ‘cultural property’ and highlighting some strategies involved in its deployment. I also suggest ways in which the cultural frame of ‘art’ adds significant value to the objects in question, while deflecting attention from some political and economic factors involved in their (e)valuation.

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