By: Boya Hu

On Friday, June 16th, 2023, Germany returned two historically significant masks made by the Kogi people to their indigenous country of Colombia. The masks have been in Berlin’s Museum display for more than a century.

The masks were sun masks, which dated to the middle of the 15th century. Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, received these masks at the Presidential Palace during a visit to Berlin. During a ceremony, German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said that he thinks the masks are a great connection between people and nature.

“I don’t know of a single scientific procedure that would turn a contaminated object in to a harmless object,” says Stefan Simon, who is the director of the Rathgen Research Laboratory. According to Artnet News’, “Germany Just Returned Two Indigenous Masks to Colombia, But Once Treated Them with Toxic Pesticides Making Them a Health Risk” by Brian Boucher, June 20, 2023, the masks may look beautiful, but they may cause health risks to anyone who wears them as intended. According to a report in the Guardian, it indicates that, while held in the ethnological collections in Berlin, artifacts such as these are made of organic materials. Thus, these masks were routinely sprayed with pesticides that can cause breathing difficulties and are suspected of causing cancer.

Germany also stole things from other countries throughout the peak of global colonialism. Germany not only stole 2 masks from Colombia, but they also stole 22 Benin Bronzes from Nigeria. Additionally, the total of 1130 Benin Bronzes were stolen.

Britain also stole things from Nigeria in the colonial times. In fact, Britain has announced that they will return dozens of lost artifacts back to the Nigerian government. The Horniman Museum returned more than 70 artifacts back! That’s a lot of artifacts that were stolen.

Germany’s decision to relinquish the masks comes in the broader worldwide push to return stolen artifacts to their countries of beginning. If this keeps going, more artifacts will be rightfully returned to their home countries.