A Spanish citizen returns to Colombia five pre-Columbian pieces acquired in the 90s

A Spanish citizen has decided to voluntarily return to Colombia five pre-Columbian pieces acquired in the 90s considering that it is an asset that does not belong to him but it corresponds to the Latin American country.

The ambassador of Colombia, Eduardo Ávila Navarretehas made this fact known in Spain during the presentation in Madrid of the exhibition ‘Gold and the universe. Indigenous knowledge of Colombia’organized by the Archaeological Museum of Alicante and the Gold Museum of the Bank of the Republic of Colombia.

“The exhibition represents an exceptional opportunity to continue a line of work that we have been promoting decisively. I am referring, in particular, to our commitment to highlighting pre-Columbian heritage and to the processes of return and cultural restitution such as the one recently achieved through the voluntary return of pieces by a Spanish citizenas well as the constant work we carry out so that the Quimbaya collection returns to our country,” he stressed.

Avila Navarrete recently received a set of pre-Columbian pieces that have been returned voluntarily by a Spanish citizen, in a significant gesture for the protection and preservation of Colombian cultural heritage, according to the Colombian embassy in Spain.

This department, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and Historyhave developed a coordinated work that has allowed the identification, appropriate packaging and management of the return process of these pieces. The cataloging and in-depth study of the pieces by specialists will take place in Colombia.

Rosa Castejón, Asturian, 66 years old, At the beginning of the year, he contacted the Colombian Embassy in Spain, as reported by the Colombian media ‘Elspectador’, to inform them that he had been keeping these pieces in his home for decades, which had acquired between July 1990 and June 1991, the year he lived in Colombia after her marriage to a citizen of this country.

Delivery of parts It was formalized at the embassy on March 23. “This isn’t mine, it’s theirs.”the Spaniard then assured the Colombian media that covered the transfer. According to sources from the embassy told Europa Press, it is a restitution.

The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (Icanh) has confirmed, through photographic proof required of the woman, that the restored pieces are objects compatible with pre-Columbian pieces. from the San Agustín area.

It is specifically about five pieces of ceramic: two anthropomorphic figures, both with only one arm; a brown bowl, the pedestal detached from that cup-like bowl, and an intact short-necked vessel painted on the surface.

QUIMBAYA TREASURE

The Colombian ambassador has related this restitution to the claim of the Quimbaya Treasureformally requested from Spain in 2024. This treasure is currently at the Museum of America in Madrid, and Gustavo Petro’s Executive considers that he is there after having been “looted” by “local guaqueros” to the Kingdom of Spain in 1893.

However, the Spanish Government considers that “there are no doubts about ownership or legality” of obtaining this treasure, a set of pieces that “It is part of the collections of the Spanish State.”

“I hope that this exhibition is therefore an authentic opportunity for cultural dialogue between Colombia and Spain, between America and Europeand an invitation to contemplate the world with respect, with depth and with curiosity, and with a firm commitment to the diversity that enriches our humanity,” he said in relation to the exhibition presented this Wednesday in Madrid.