15/09/2026
Indonesia is taking a major step in protecting its cultural legacy. The Ministry of Culture has announced that 28,131 items from the collection of paleoanthropologist Eugene Dubois are expected to return to Indonesia in 2026, with the government preparing to designate the entire collection as National Cultural Heritage (C***r Budaya Peringkat Nasional). Minister of Culture Fadli Zon confirmed that the collection will be recognized as a single unified heritage rather than item by item, noting that key pieces such as Java Man and several important femur bones and artifacts have already been repatriated in earlier efforts.
Alongside the Dubois collection, the Pita Maha collection, a body of artwork originally exhibited in the 1930s and successfully brought back to Indonesia, has also been officially designated as national cultural heritage. As of August 2026, the Ministry of Culture has designated or recommended a total of 1,485 cultural items as National Cultural Heritage, reflecting the government’s growing commitment to reclaiming and safeguarding Indonesia’s historical and cultural treasures.