The Art Institute of Chicago has officially finalized the repatriation of a collection of 13th-century terracotta figures belonging to the Majapahit Empire. These intricate artifacts, which depict daily life and courtly figures of the East Javanese kingdom, were identified during a multi-year provenance research project. The handover ceremony, held in Jakarta, marks a significant step in the strengthening of cultural ties between the United States and Indonesia.
Indonesia's Ministry of Education and Culture hailed the return as a victory for national heritage preservation. The Majapahit Empire was one of the last major Hindu-Buddhist empires of the region, known for its extensive maritime trade networks. The returned figures will be housed in the National Museum of Indonesia, where they will undergo conservation before being put on public display to educate the next generation about the archipelago's rich pre-colonial history.