A bejeweled cannon and other art will head home to Sri Lanka from Netherlands museum

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s foreign minister says his country welcomes the Netherlands’ plan to return a bejeweled ceremonial cannon and other colonial-era artifacts from the Netherlands and is working through how to preserve the items. The Dutch government last week announced that it will return 478 objects of cultural significance to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It said the objects were wrongfully brought to the Netherlands during the colonial period, acquired under duress or by looting. Sri Lanka is to receive six artifacts, currently in the collection of the National Museum of World Cultures and the Rijksmuseum. On Monday, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabry welcomed Netherland’s move, saying “we are very grateful to their gesture” and that the government will set up a way to perserve the items.