Germany hands over 2 Indigenous masks to Colombia as it reappraises the past

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has handed over to Colombia two masks made by the Indigenous Kogi people that had been in a Berlin museum’s collection for more than a century. It is another step in the country’s restitution of cultural artifacts as European nations reappraise their colonial-era past. The wooden “sun masks” date back to the mid-15th century. They were handed over at the presidential palace on Friday during a visit to Berlin by Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The decision to restitute them follows several years of contacts between Berlin’s museum authority and Colombia. The South American country’s government made an official request last year for the masks’ return.