Should the British Museum be broken up?

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Is it time to return all treasures and other objects to the countries that they came from. Some were looted and some were bought or genuinely donated but do they belong in London? The ones that are on loan return to the families that have donated and they can be in private collections or go back to the country of origin.

Ive heard the argument that it means visitors can see things from all over the world in one place. I presume that could be achieved by some of them becoming part of travelling exhibitions. Some are very fragile so will need to be moved carefully, but ultimately they are not from the UK.

While I might see an argument for returning items that were taken under dubious circumstances and the countries that they came from asking for them…

… why everything else, including donations?

A positive of the British Museum is that the items are being kept safe in the right conditions - look at what has happened to ancient artefacts in countless countries even in the last decade, stolen, destroyed, sold etc.

The ones that are on loan return to the families that have donated and they can be in private collections

Why? What would be the benefit of that? I imagine part of the benefit of donating is not having to cover security (depending on what it is) or insurance costs, or deal with properly storing whatever it is.

Do you feel the same way about art galleries? Only painters from the country can be exhibited, all Monets must be returned to France, etc.

Last year the British Museum had over 6 million visitors making it the most popular attraction in the UK, and it's free and educational so the answer to your question is no.

Greece has a fabulous museum now. So do Egypt and India. The argument that other countries can't look after looted objects does not hold any more. Besides the BM just had its own theft scandal.

Also, thanks to passport privilege, many people from non-white countries are denied even tourist visas to see these artefacts. Assuming they could afford to come.

That's not the same thing. Generally art galleries pay for the paintings. Some of the contents of the British Museum were practically looted, albeit allegedly for the higher purpose of preserving them.

What is the obsession with the british museum. How about the Louvre? Send back the Venus de Milo to Greece x the million other exhibits in there that don't belong to france and were stolen.

Have you seen the Hermitage in St Petersburg? Same principle.

Why are the british so obsessed with that one museum and at giving everything back. Maybe every museum should do that on a global scale?

Yes hand them all back. It’s disgraceful in this day and age that we think we are so superior that we can look after the prized possessions of cultures around the world and they cannot. It’s a colonial mindset that some people just seem to look beyond because they want to go and stare at shiny things behind a glass cabinet and pretend they are sophisticated. It’s material apartheid.

How on earth are people comparing art galleries to the BM? Are you unaware of how these objects were acquired?

I think countries should be able to request the return of specific items if there is a safe specific place for them to return to. (Like the Elgin Marbles). Not just the British Museum... all museums around the world.

Plus everything like Mummies (i.e the remains of the deceased) should be reinterred in their country of origin not displayed in any museum.

But that is probably only a small proportion of artefacts in various museums.

This is somewhat insulting to the countries that the artifacts belong in. Greece has a modern museum perfectly capable of looking after its own artifacts.

I think the whole ‘repatriations’ thing is a bit meh. Ultimately, if one believes items ‘plundered’ should be returned, who would they be returned to? This isn’t just about items in the UK being retuned to other countries, but items that originated in the UK being returned here. You can’t blank out history - the damage has already been done.

British Museum theft of 1500 items.
www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/dec/12/british-museum-told-to-keep-better-records-after-theft-of-1500-items

I agree to an extent on the way that some artefacts have been not properly cared for - I’ve seen some in India where there was mould. However isn’t that for the populations of those countries to decide. If governments don’t want the items maybe they could be retained in a smaller museum. That could include places is no government or current war such as South Sudan.

Return of donations is more a practical issue if the whole museum was broken up. A museum can’t give away something it doesn’t own to another country.

Im not sure I agree with the idea in the title. I just feel like if you return the Rosetta Stone then how can you justify retaining the Elgin Marbles and there would be a cascade.

Ha hilarious. I wouldn’t exactly call it theft, more like repatriation. You can’t steal from thieves.

If you are happy for the artifacts to be destroyed/sold on the black market and their history to be lost, then go ahead and send them back. Not all countries put a value on their historical past and some are actively trying to change their history because it doesn't agree with their current religion or political beliefs.

This tops dumb posts on MN.

For everything you can see, there are thousands of items in storage.

For each Elgin marbles, there are thousands with safe secure provenance

How do you propose managing the security of this weird travelling museum as it goes from town to town?

Someone shoot me

I am not calling for all the artifacts to be sent back. But there is a strong case for the Acropolis marbles, the Egyptian gallery, many of the Indian artefacts.

People should be able to look at them in their own countries rather than begging for a tourist visa to see them.

You mean like the BM lost 1500 items which were sold on the black market? Like that?

Also, there is a not insignificant chance that a party like Reform will formulate our government in four years time. What would that mean for precious artefacts from cultures around the world? They might decide to purge them, or try to claim them as ‘British’. This is not a good time to be safekeeping items like this. They need to be sent back before it’s too late.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpegg27g74do.amp This BM curator was lauded for saving precious artefacts from Libya. Then he sold gems on Ebay for £40.

Because the op suggested that even donated and bought items shouldn't be in London either.

You could be correct @curious79 that I’m dumb as I hadn’t thought about the stored items and it is a dreadful idea. Fair enough, I expect I’m not the only person adding dumb posts on MN.

Im a bit confused about the travelling museum. I don’t think it would happen overnight. Otherwise presumably there is security for exhibitions when things are transported

I think it is a good thing that a variety of cultural artifacts can be seen in countries across the world. We have some things that definitely should be repatriated, such as the marbles, but the whole point of museums is to see a variety of things and learn. There are loads of British finds sitting in vaults at the museum, so why don't we gift some of them to other nations to display. My favourite exhibit in the British Museum is the Sutton Hoo section and that came from here.

No it should not be broken up. What a terrible idea. Don’t you value the idea of a museum as a please of public learning and enjoyment?
What good would it do to send these items back for private collectors?

Yes the BM could explore loaning items long or short term to countries who want to show them and have equally secure museums in which to do so.