The British Museum is said to house the largest collection of historical artifacts in the world. Founded in 1753, it prides itself on having “two million years of history, across six continents”.
To some, that sounds impressive; how kind and noble of them to keep the world’s history safe. And yet to others, it is a stark reminder of their ancestor’s traumatic past, missing links that form an integral part of their identity, but most brazenly a reminder that the West is supposedly a superior community that knows best.
While some artifacts were donated or excavated, others were looted or purchased under questionable circumstances. An example being the Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Marbles), the ownership of which has been highly controversial. For one, the British Museum would rather lease out a portion of the marbles to Greece instead of returning them and thus relinquishing ownership. This is because, according to the Museum and under British law, they may not remove items from their collection unless they are “unfit to be retained”. Which has been a large talking point considering that from a total of at least 8 million objects, only 80 000 of them are on display. Not to mention that several artifacts have been reported stolen or damaged.
Another highly contested issue with these marbles is the claim that Lord Elgin, a British aristocrat, legally acquired the marbles from the Ottoman Empire, who were the rulers of Greece in the early 1800s. The museum expressly highlights the fact that it would be impossible to reconstruct or reunite the Parthenon marbles with their original structure. This assertion conveniently solidifies their agenda and the narrative that the marbles are better suited in Britain where they can be displayed alongside other historical artifacts of the world. Whether that trumps the call for restitution is still to be decided.
Meanwhile, halfway across the world, 22 Benin Bronzes have been returned to their rightful owners in Nigeria. Although it is only a small fraction of the overall bronze collection scattered all over European museums, it shows great promise for the future. Furthermore, Germany has struck an agreement with Nigeria to return all the Bronzes in their possession. An attempt to do the little they can, in healing the wounds of the past.
The current climate has illustrated that the countries in possession are no longer capable of safeguarding these valuable pieces than their countries of origin – their rightful home. The road to the recovery of looted artifacts will evidently be long and tedious but with enough pressure, there could be significant breakthroughs.
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