Repatriation and Reparition
Q: Should the cultural artifacts of other nations , which are and have been housed in the museums of other countries , be returned to their countries of origin? or should they remain in their current locations , and have the consumer country pay an allotted fee to the origin country in recompense?
- Origin country : a country who (once) produced artifacts.
- Consumer country : a country who has taken objects from other countries.
There is ,in my opinion, no easy way to answer this question. Of course most people would answer “Yes, of course these objects belong to their countries of origin!”. For the most part i would agree with this sentiment, because why should a country who had no part in making these amazing pieces of art have claim to display them ( some ad infinium)? But then again , recently i have had cause to rethink this opinion.
Because what connections do most of these origin countries share with the ancient cultures who produced those objects anymore? Do modern day Greeks share much in common with the Hellenes of the ancient past? Do the modern Turkish people share anything in common with the Hellene / Persian ( ??) people who formerly resided in their country?
Probably not. with the amount of immigration and political change these modern countries have very little in common with their ancient fore-fathers other than a common location.
Yet , they press on with their claims for these artifacts and monuments. Some countries like Greece, in their pursuit of the return of the famed “Elgin marbles” , have approached the issue peacefully (and passively) building a new state of the art museum in the shadow of the ancient Athenian acropolis and engaging the British museum in negotiations. They have filled the museum with the remaining artifacts from the Parthenon , using plaster casts of the missing pieces of the Parthenon marbles - the originals of which can be found in the London museum. However, the museum was built in an attempt to show that They would be able to not only take care of the marbles properly, but also that they would display them better as well. Though they have , in my opinion successfully proved both of these points the marbles ( taken c.1801-1812) have still not been returned
The Turkish ministry on the other hand have taken a more , active approach in their movement to have their artifacts returned. They have petitioned several countries for the return of their artifacts and have remained vocal in the press about their campaign. Cultural minister Ertugrul Gunay has done many things such as leading legal cases against some museums , boycotting museums refusing to lend them more artifacts and threatening to suspend permits to archaeologists!
Is this justified? I think not. Though its admirable that these two countries have gone to such lengths to show themselves capable of taking care of the priceless artifacts , some of the actions being taken are a bit on the extreme side, with Turkey perhaps asking too much especially in regards to the return of the Pergamon altar.
The great altar of Pergamon , created in the first half of the second century , stands a whopping 200 ft long and approx. 8-10 ft high! This altar has been through quite a bit since its excavation in 1878 , including some damage which the altar sustained after its removal from a German bunker after WWII. The Germans have put a lot of effort into finding the best way to display this magnificent work ( a process which took years , and the creation of a new museum) . And now the Turkish government , disregarding these obvious downfalls inherent to the movement of this altar , want it back. To make it perfectly clear the Turkish museum nearest to the site would not be large enough to fit this work and i am uncertain as to weather or not the Turkish government is willing to postpone receiving the altar until they have made the proper arrangements to house it, or weather they plan to take the altar and then worry about displaying it.
if it was a smaller more movable artifact , i think both of these cases would be a lot stronger. however the fact of the matter is that both Greece and turkey are demanding the movement of objects that are large and old and more fragile than they once were.
But is reparation , essentially throwing money at the problem , any better? What amount of money can equal the loss of some of the most priceless works of history and culture, even if it’s not their own? Also , where does the money go? should it simply be transferred into the coffers of the country for use in whatever way the nations government sees fit? or should the money have some sort of stipulations attached to it, should it be designated for the assistance in transport or education/ cultural management?
My opinion , based on my own knowledge of the facts is this : Turkey should settle for reparation - if only for those artifact that are larger and less mobile, in order to preserve their cultural landmark and protect them from further harm.I also think the money garnered from this repatriation should be put into the nations cultural heritage sector to fund local excavations and to aid the country in their quest to revive their heritage by educating the communities and youth about the countries own history.
Greece , who already has the amenities necessary to care for the should , i think,receive at least some of the marbles back ( i don't think the British museum will settle for losing all of the marbles) and a smaller reparation which would cover the costs of very careful transport.
in conclusion, the topic of repatriation and reparation is a complex one. there are not cut and dry answers but it is a question which deserves a good deal of concentration. because though the consumer countries may claim that the repatriation of all the artifacts located in museums outside of their original countries would result in rather barren exhibits in formerly prosperous institutions , the idea that we should brush this issue under the rug is purely for those reasons is ridiculous. We as “western” consumer nations have taken their history for centuries, now we have to face the consequences of our actions.
now it’s give the objects up or give the money out.
http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-seeks-to-retrieve-its-lost-artifacts/a-16257174
