ABSTRACT
The debate on restitution is one of the most pressing socio-cultural issues today. Instead of regarding restitution or repatriation as the solution to all past colonial injustices or as a mere political act, I consider it as part of a larger complex set of issues, deeply rooted in colonial thinking and doing that is having an effect to this day. Until those issues are addressed, the returning of objects to countries of origin is not a repairing or redressing of colonial injustices. By examining the Dutch repatriation debate on Indonesia’s heritage after 1945 in more detail, we gain insight into this coloniality and the step towards this repairing and redress will become clear.
