The Indonesian Consulate General In Perth Returns 323 Illegal TekSing Ceramics In Australia

Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Perth, Australia, Listiana Operananta (two left) attended the process of packing a wooden box / DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Perth, Australia, Listiana Operananta accompanied by the Consul for Information and Cultural Social Affairs of the Indonesian Consulate General in Perth, Antonius Prawira Yudianto attended the final repatriation process of 332 Teksing ceramics found on Australia's illegal auction site.

"It is known that a large number of TekSing ceramics were found in Australia in 2019 through an illegal auction site," wrote the official statement of the Indonesian Consulate General in Perth received in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, September 11.

Australian Culture Minister Tony Burke then symbolically handed over the TekSing Ceramic to the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Siswo Pramono on August 17, 2022 for the repatriation process back to Indonesia.

After going through a long process, all the ceramics have been returned to Indonesia on September 8, 2024.

The entire series of repatriation processes is the result of the close coordination between the Indonesian Consulate General in Perth and all parties, especially with the Museum and Cultural Conservation Team of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia.

The Indonesian Consulate General in Perth emphasized that the consulate together with all relevant parties will continue to collaborate to maintain Indonesian cultural assets in the working area.

According to the website of the Directorate General of Culture, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology., the ceramics came from the Chinese Texting merchant ship that sank in 1822 in the waters of the Gelasa Strait, Bangka-Belitung Province, while sailing from Amoy (Xiamen), Hookian, to Batavia (now Jakarta),

Texting is a Chinese horizon ship measuring 50 meters long and 10 meters wide carrying a cargo of 2,000 Chinese immigrants and around 380,000 ceramics.

After hitting the reef, the texting ship, which was translated as the Sejati Star, sank and its carcass was found at a depth of about 100 meters.