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Colombian justice orders the return to the National Museum of the 63 pieces removed by the Government
The Colombian justice system has ordered the return of 63 pieces removed from the galleries of the National Museum of Colombia on October 15. The 24th Family Court of Bogotá has set a 48-hour deadline for the objects to be returned to their exhibition spaces, in a ruling that questions the procedures used by the government and upholds the constitutional protection of cultural expressions. The decision responds to a legal action filed by Representative Gabriel Becerra of the Historical Pact, along with members of LGBTQ+ groups.
The 38-page ruling consolidates 15 legal actions related to the removal of the objects and orders the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge and the National Museum to return them in suitable conservation conditions. This measure must remain in place while a technical and curatorial evaluation is carried out, involving the institution's Heritage Management Committee and considering criteria for the protection of historical memory, gender perspective, pluralism, equality, and the prohibition of censorship.
The core of the court's decision lies in the absence of a sound technical and curatorial justification for removing the pieces. According to the court, the Ministry announced the creation, in January 2026, of a committee tasked with determining which objects would be part of the permanent exhibitions, but provided no evidence that the decision had been reviewed by this body, nor did it submit a curatorial report explaining the reasons for the exclusion. The internal records of the removal also failed to establish the selection criteria or demonstrate a prior assessment of the measure's impact on the historical and cultural content of the galleries.
The documentation examined by the judge indicates that the transfers were carried out at the request of the Ministry's General Secretariat, headed by Julián David Sterling, and were executed by three officials of the institution. For the court, this circumstance proves the Ministry's direct involvement in an action whose justification was not properly documented.
The resolution also warns that excluding cultural expressions based on their political or ideological content is incompatible with constitutional principles. In this regard, it considers that the removal of the objects, motivated by a rejection of certain historical and political content and without a duly accredited curatorial justification, unjustifiably restricted the public's right to know and appreciate these cultural manifestations.
The ruling pays particular attention to claims related to the recognition of LGBTQ+ struggles, the memory of victims of political violence, and the right of minors to access a pluralistic historical education. The decision does not prevent the museum from reviewing its exhibitions, but stipulates that any modifications must be carried out through the appropriate institutional procedures and with duly substantiated technical and curatorial criteria.
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