The British Museum of “Loot”?
- By Omar Mahboob -
- Jul 07, 2022
Founded in 1753, the British Museum has been home to artifacts from all around the world. Dedicated to human history, art, and culture, it consists of around 8 million pieces of work and has been said to span more than 2 million years of human history.
With such size, it has been recognized as the most cyclopedic holdings of works in existence of mankind. Holding artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone and the Easter Island Moai, there have been problems. Although some of these works are legal some of the works have been disputed over.
Easter Island delegation lobbies for the British Museum to return one of its ancient 'Moai' statues pic.twitter.com/2n83PcMxkJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 22, 2018
As you walk into the museum the first thing you see is the Rosetta Stone. Discovered by Captain Pierre Francois Bouchard, the Rosetta Stone was taken by the British and taken to London during the time of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801 where it has been standing in the British Museum for the past 2 centuries.
The Parthenon Sculptures which were removed by order of a British Lord during the times during 1801 and 1804. And located in the Gallery dedicated to African works lie the Benin Bronzes. Around a century back, the Benin Bronzes were kept at the Oba’s palace but during the Benin Expedition, most of the works of art were “looted”, and taken to the British Museum and sold around the world. These aren’t the only disputed items though, items such as the Elgin Marbles, and Easter Island Moai, were “illegally” taken from native sites.
Now the items taken from the native lands are having them demanded back to where they belong. But according to the British Museum Act 1963, the museum is unable to give back works unless on rare occasions. In 2014 the grandson of a British soldier who took part in the British Expedition of Benin gave back 2 bronze sculptures that he had inherited to the Benin Royal Family. Currently many items have been returned to native sites from different museums but so far none from the British Museum.
But this isn’t just about the Benin Bronzes or the Rosetta Stone.
There are hundreds of disputed items at the British Museum with their own histories and righteous owners trying to reclaim them. But this isn’t just the problem with the British Museum, it’s the problem of centuries worth of colonialism repeating itself at the British Museum. By countries trying to reclaim these pieces of work it’s not about displaying them at a museum but it’s about cultural identity and the claiming of long lost history.