"Imagine your car is stolen. Overnight, you lose your ability to get to work, visit loved ones, or reach a hospital in an emergency. Years later, your car turns up in a different neighborhood. The new "owner" drives it daily. They even landed a better job, with a pay rise, thanks to their new, stolen ride. So, you contact the police and demand its return."
"The British Museum houses one of the world's largest collections of looted and stolen cultural heritage, much of it acquired during Britain's imperial expansion. While museums across Europe and North America are increasingly engaging with repatriation claims, the London institution continues to hide behind the British Museum Act of 1963. This domestic law prohibits trustees from permanently disposing of collections except in narrow circumstances, a convenient shield repeatedly invoked to block meaningful returns under the guise of acting in the "public good.""
The British Museum houses extensive collections of looted and stolen cultural heritage acquired during Britain's imperial expansion. The British Museum Act of 1963 prohibits trustees from permanently disposing of collections except in narrow circumstances and is repeatedly invoked to block meaningful returns while claiming the "public good." The museum's loan policy forbids loans to exhibitions displaying stolen or illegally exported objects while demanding guarantees, including immunity from judicial seizure, for any loans. Long-term loans offered instead of permanent restitution impose conditions, preserve institutional control, and fail to restore agency or acknowledge historical wrongdoing.
Read at Hyperallergic
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