Identifying art wrongly dispossessed. Facilitating just and fair solutions.

During the nazi era (1933-1945), hundreds of thousands of artworks were systematically looted from Jews and other persecuted groups across Europe. These artworks became dispersed around the world, entering public and private collections. For decades, many victims’ families lacked the resources or documentation to pursue claims. There was little interest in researching the provenance of works acquired in the post-war period. The art market was largely indifferent. The Washington Conference Principles (1998) marked a turning point: 44 countries agreed on non-binding principles urging proactive provenance research, transparency, and “just and fair solutions” for nazi-looted art.

For decades, European colonial powers systematically removed cultural property from occupied territories in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, often under the legal and moral justifications of conquest, scientific inquiry or preservation. The colonial era coincided with the rise of large public museums in Europe and North America, creating a voracious demand for artefacts, antiquities, and sacred objects to fill their galleries. Colonial ideologies of racial hierarchy and cultural superiority portrayed indigenous societies as incapable of protecting their own heritage, thereby framing removal as a benevolent act of rescuing treasures for the civilised world, while systematically erasing local sovereignty and spiritual significance.