A Rembrandt self-portrait and silver coins stolen from Jews by the Nazis, as well as an Indonesian dagger captured by Dutch soldiers, are among the items featured in a new exhibition opening in The Hague on Thursday, AFP reported.

Organized on the initiative of the Mauritshuis Museum in cooperation with German institutions, the exhibition “Loot – 10 Stories” presents the stories of the works whose owners were robbed, with the help of short videos and virtual reality experiences.

According to the Hague museum, the approach is in line with a “period of transition” in the Netherlands, which in recent years has grappled with the legacy of its colonial history and taken steps to trace the origins of works looted by the Nazis.

Also last month, the Dutch handed over title deeds to six colonial-era treasures to Sri Lanka, following the recommendations of a commission set up by the government to investigate illegal Dutch acquisitions during colonisation.

“We are in a period of transition because we realize, for example, that we came too late with the art stolen by the Nazis,” explains Mauritshuis director Martin Gosselink.

“And so we learn from the past, we learn from our previous mistakes, so yes, we want to correct the injustice,” she added to AFP.

The exhibits include a self-portrait by Rembrandt and silver coins stolen from Jews.

Also on display are paintings stolen from the Netherlands by French troops in the 18th century, a bronze from Benin and an Indonesian dagger from the Dutch military campaigns in Bali in the mid-19th century.

The partner museums “made some of their shameful stories available to us,” said Elin Jongsma, curator of the exhibition.

“I think one message in the context of this exhibition is that the visibility of objects in storage is very important in the restitution debate,” she continued.

“Right now, there are huge collections that are not available in these huge repositories in Europe and the United States,” she added.

The exhibition at the Mauritshuis runs until 7 January 2024 and will open at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin in the spring of 2024.