First, a fun fact: āIt is noted in the report that some 90% of African cultural heritage currently exists outside of the continent and is displayed in major Western museums.ā So keep that in mind when reading these.
Letās get this party started, shall we?
āContrary to the sanctified treatment of objects in these museums, there have been cases in Africa where artworks have temporarily left the museum to be used in rituals.ā
Europeans, clutching their pearls: But it is Art, it cannot be soiled by the hands of the masses who created it!!
Then I read a big long paragraph from a French museum director that in summary reads: Hey everyone, letās start from scratch and pretend colonialism never happened. That good? Does that work for everyone? Awesome.Ā
āā¦cultural objects from the area which is now Iraq are being used to promote BP [Oil], which supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.ā
So yāall just gonna an oil company sponsor an exhibit of dubiously obtained Iraqi artifacts? Cool, cool, no colonialist undertones there.
ā[D]irector of the British Museum Hartwig Fischer said that while the museumās trustees were open to all forms of cooperation, āthe collections have to be preserved as whole.āā
You mean, all those collections donated from wealthy individuals who pillaged the entire world? If you really believe this Iāve got a simple solution for you: return the entire damn collection.
āUnlike Nazi-looted art, what was taken in the former colonies are not recognized as criminally obtained under international law.ā
Hi yeah what the actual fuck
Then thereās the Parthenon Marbles, and if you donāt know, itās a whole big Thing with a near comical backstory. But this post is long enough as is, and I donāt want to bore you. In short: Britain has bunch of the carvings and statues that were left in the Greek Parthenon, and Greece wants them back. Here are some choice bits from the British Museumās current official stance on the marbles:
āArchaeologists worldwide are agreed that the surviving sculptures could never be re-attached to the structure.ā
That is??? Not the issue??? No one is suggesting this???
āacting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authoritiesā
Really? You sure about that? Because it seems like no one else agrees with you on that. Also, even if there was clear permission, saying āThe empire that conquered Greece told us we could take themā doesnāt exactly strengthen your case.
āthe Greek authorities have now removed all the architectural sculptures from the Parthenon to the Acropolis Museum. They have thus completed a process begun by Lord Elgin 200 years agoā
Areā¦ are you suggesting that Greece only wants to preserve its heritage because you wanted to first? Seriously? Iād be damn careful about touting yourself as paragons of historical preservation, Britain.
āThe Museum is a unique resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the worldās public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the connections between them.ā
And how did your collection get so big, might I ask? Oh, you donāt know? Because youāre not willing to do the research on how most of these artifacts were acquired? Fascinating.
āThis display does not alter the Trusteesā view that the sculptures are part of everyoneās shared heritage and transcend cultural boundaries.ā
Guys Iām dying they sound like an entitled white boy in an intro to philosophy class
By the way, this document that is less than 1,000 words mentions that the public can view the them āfree of chargeā no less than 3 times.
