The Treasures of Crimea

How an ancient collection from long-lost civilizations became a focal point of one of the world’s major political controversies today. The travelling exhibition “Crimea – Gold and Treasures of the Black Sea” are being held hostage in the cellars of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, and it can’t go back home: since the annexation of Crimea by Putin, the art collection has become stateless. The treasures that were excavated on the peninsula have become a plaything in a power struggle between museums at Crimea and the government in Ukraine. Both parties claim the archeological collection as their own, like roots of their identity. The Netherlands has unwillingly become a referee: to which party should the treasures be given back?