Curating the Return: What happens after restitution - a case study from Thailand

Abstract

This paper examines the curatorial strategies employed in the wake of the restitution of two lintels from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (AAMSF) to Thailand in 2021. Much of the debate and analysis on restitution focuses on the process itself. However, far less attention has been given to analysing what happens after objects are returned. For example, where are returned objects being displayed? What types of curatorial narratives are being told? Whose voices are being represented and whose voices are absent? This paper provides one such case study and explores the possibilities and potential that restitution may offer. It first analyses the lintels’ initial display at the Bangkok National Museum and then moves on to look at the subsequent exhibitions in museums in proximity to the respective temples from which they originally came.