News

NGA returns three sculptures to India

In another ethical win for the NGA, three Indian sculptures have been repatriated on the basis of fresh evidence in the ongoing Kapoor case.

27 Nov 2019

Gina Fairley

Visual Arts

One of the repatriated Indian sculptures handed back to the Government of India by the NGA. Image supplied.

On 5 December 2013, as Australia shut down for Christmas, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) posted a statement on its website acknowledging that the Chola-period Shiva Nataraja was among items alleged to have been illegally exported from India.

It is uncanny, that almost within days of that initial news – which was to change the landscape of provenance and repatriation internationally – the NGA has again released a statement to the media. This time a good news story.

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Gina Fairley

Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina