Should the British Museum be broken up?

[Howtoaccept]

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.

Well, plan to leave if it's so bad. Seriously.

Japan has the best passport on Earth for traveling. East Asian privilege I guess

Personally I think anything stolen or looted etc should be returned to the country of origin if requested. Scotland made such a fuss about getting the Stone of Destiny returned so as a Scottish/British person I have no right to demand things like the Rosetta stone should remain in UK rather than being returned to Egypt.

(And, British museum could charge a small entry fee e.g £5 per person over 18 as it must cost UK tax payers a fortune to run).

Yes, a good way is for a work visa, as @EasternStandard says.
You could work as a volunteer in a developing nation or a country facing challenges because of war or disaster. I'm sure there are lots of places you could be useful in, @Swiftasthewind .

Rosetta Stone was literally just being used as a foundation stone of some Ottoman fort. Only a Frenchman saw its significance. If you are gonna give it back to anyone, it should be the French

you've gone from 0-1000 with no pause for logic in-between.

Send items back to their country of origin if they a) want them and b) are able to care for them, absolutely.

But why on earth would that then need to result in breaking the whole museum up? Have you ever even been there? It's absolutely massive, with millions of items, and that's just the small percentage that's on display. Many of those items don't have anywhere to 'go back' to - they're either legally owned by the museum with no other claim, or those 'loaning' them wouldn't want them back, otherwise why would they loan them in the first place?

And why just the BM? Most museums in the UK/world have items from all over the place.

When you decide to "break up" the British Museum, @Howtoaccept , what would you do with the Anglo Saxon and Viking treasures? Return them to the lands of origin? But surely these people were colonisers?

Yes you make a salient point. I have many transferable skills and talents, so perhaps I should look into this, yes.

Thank you for the suggestion 😊

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RUyrQrCqACV1bdDHLjxgd?si=MpPggH71RdaMdn7LA_MJbA

There were a few really interesting Our Fake History podcasts on this recently, specifically focusing on the Parthenon marbles. One episode was a Q and A which went through a lot of the questions brought up here.

you think “the whole reparations thing is a bit meh?” oops! your privilege is showing @Soontobe60😳

Are you always this articulate or do you generally rely on buzzwords to appear a bit dense.

Museums are barbaric and should be abolished…not the kind of batshittery I came on MN today expecting to read!

It’s ok I’ve already accepted I’m dumb and it’s a stupid idea.

It's a stupid idea, but I strongly suspect you're not "dumb"!
You've read the responses and changed your mind, which is a reflective response.

Don’t come at this with logic, reasoning and historical knowledge! It’s not wanted here, clearly.

😂😂😂

@Corinthiana it’s in response to this and I agree with post so…

Oh I see...

Yes, I am unaware of it. Why should people have to be aware of all the millions of things that have absolutely no bearing on their life whatsoever, and have never had the need to consider?

The last time I needed a tourist visa was in 1991. I don't even have a passport at the moment.

Besides, having read your description, surely that just means poverty and there are hundreds of millions of people all over the world suffering from that, as we all know. I can't imaging that many of them are all that bothered by not being able to afford to visit the British Museum. Many of them are trapped in poverty due to the actions of their own corrupt covernments anyway.

I'm not up for destroying something incredible in the present to "right" wrongs that really can never be righted in the past.

Do forget many of the items looted were actually purchased. The British weren't necessarily the ones doing the looting.

The British museum is an incredible institution. No I'm not up for destroying it out of guilt for the past

No. Even wealthy people from certain countries like India and Egypt have to do this to get tourist visas.
It has nothing to do with poverty.
You asked me what passport privilege is. I answered..No need to get arsey about it.

If the Elgin Marbles hadn't been purchased/saved/stolen ( whatever you adhere to ) they would have been smashed up and used as building material as much was. This happened to many British castles etc.It was recognised how important they were that's why they are still in existence. We should be thanking Lord Elgin for saving them not denigrating him.

If countries want them back and they were looted then yes
An have displays that are honest about how they came to be in the museum

@Howtoaccept i'm glad you had a think about it and took on board the comments

I'm curious to know why it even entered your head. I've been busy all day so firstly I'm wondering if something happened that I don't know about.

Secondly, what would be the benefit? What would be the point? Has anyone else said they want the museum to be broken up? Do you want the National Gallery to be broken up as well? I don't get it.

I am just watching a programme about the new Egyptian Grand Museum. It has 50, 000 artefacts and looks incredible.