Pressmeddelande -
Yaqui objects returned - case becomes digital exhibition
On Friday June 3, The National Museums of World Culture returned 24 objects to the Yaqui indigenous people of Mexico. The handover was made by Director General Ann Follin to the Mexican ambassador. In Mexico, the collection will be received and protected by the cultural heritage agency INAH, while the Yaqui prepare a suitable site for it. The story of the case will soon be told in an upcoming Swedish-Mexican exhibition.
The objects, which are linked to dance ceremonies, were acquired during scientific fieldwork in Mexico between 1934 and 1935 and have been part of the collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm. The handover was made with the consent of the Swedish Government and in accordance with Article 15 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention and Article 12 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Declaration aims to protect the special rights of indigenous peoples, and the right to self-determination, as indigenous peoples have historically been deprived of many of their rights.
- For the Museums of World Culture, this is not the end, but the beginning of something new, says Ann Follin, Director General of the museum agency. We will continue to build and disseminate knowledge about indigenous peoples and continue to deepen the dialogue with Mexico and the Yaqui.
- The objects in question were acquired from people who were deported and therefore particularly vulnerable. They are now being returned to a people who are still fighting for their rights. We have understood that the return means a lot, and that access to these items can contribute to the Yaquis' own knowledge of their history.
A digital exhibition about the objects and the return will open this autumn. The exhibition is produced in collaboration with the Mexican cultural heritage agency Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in close dialogue with the Yaqui. Through a digital platform of images, interviews and films, in-depth information will be made available to a wide audience in both Sweden and Mexico.
Since 2019, the Museums of World Culture are also conducting a research project on the return case together with the University of Gothenburg. The work is done in collaboration with researchers and with members of the indigenous community. The project is part-funded by the Swedish National Heritage Board and will submit a final report at the end of the year.
- The journeys of museum objects to Sweden - and in some cases back to their original context - are part of Swedish and international cultural heritage, says Ann Follin. We are very much looking forward to sharing further knowledge about the yaqui case in the upcoming exhibition and research report.
Press contact:
Joakim Skoglund
Communications and Marketing Manager, The Museums of World Culture
joakim.skoglund@varldskulturmuseerna.se
072-201 60 35
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Världskulturmuseerna/Statens museer för världskultur har den svenska regeringens uppdrag att visa och levandegöra världens kulturer. Vår verksamhet bedrivs på Etnografiska museet, Medelhavsmuseet, Östasiatiska museet i Stockholm samt på Världskulturmuseet i Göteborg, där också myndigheten har sitt säte. Tillsammans ansvarar vi för 460 000 föremål och många berättelser - en stor del av det internationella kulturarv som finns i Sverige. Vi dokumenterar och belyser olika kulturers yttringar, villkor och möten. Vi främjar tvärvetenskaplig kunskapsuppbyggnad och har alltid vår publik i fokus. I vårt uppdrag ingår att nå besökare också genom vandringsutställningar och samarbetsprojekt.
