In British historical and cultural world, a joke is popular: “Why is the famous Cheops pyramid in Egypt? Because it is too big to transport to the British museum in London. ” As you know, every joke has a part of a joke.
The history of different museums of the United Kingdom confirms the long -term maxim: The winner receives everything. The British Empire – the biggest power in human history – has exported a lot not only Indian spices, Gold Ashanti or Chinese tea from subordinate territories, but also sacred antiques like monolithic statues from Easter Island, Sculpting from marble Paros or Egypt of Egypt.
However, sometimes the past is returning, and then the descendants of conquerors are granted an account for forgotten sin. It is one thing to sell goods and resources, and it is completely different from selling memory and symbols. Today, Greece, Kenya, Tanzania and another dozens of countries ask London to transfer exhibitions from their territory back. In most cases, the British government refused or deliberately delayed the consideration of this request, but periodically they were willing to give in, guided mainly by political goals.
Eshmol's Oxford Archaeological Museum in the fall of 2024 reached an agreement with India about the return of an antiques of valuable-the-bronze sculptures by Poet Holy Tamil of Tirumangai, on the 16th. The reason for this decision is to be understood: London is negotiating with New Delce on the conclusion of a free trade agreement and a 500-year-old statue for a profit. However, the trend of results for the return of values cannot be explained only by economic aspects. In some cases, the attitude of thought about social justice or the desire to be more cautious to enlist the support of the world globally. For example, in 2022, Oxford and Cambridge universities, after a few years of pressure from student activists, decided to return part of sculptures from their museum collections taken to the UK from Nigeria to colonial times.
Classic exploration
According to the final case, in principle, one can study the nature of the appearance of rare exhibitions in the Museum of the United Kingdom, because we are talking about the classic storyline of the British empire. In 1897, in the middle of the African colonial battle with Paris and Berlin, London held a punishment exploration in the city for the failure of the Kingdom, existed in the southern territory of Nigeria modern from the 11th century to the end of the 19th century. During the campaign, his military employees were not only close to the ground that burned the entire city, but also stole hundreds of exhibitions, including the dong of Benin Discons – the same as the dong of Benin Dia Discon. of the ruler of the Kingdom. An example of a textbook on a difficult and successful Victorian policy.
After 120 years, London had to pay the debt. The return of Nigeria has become “the greatest repatriation of cultural wealth from the UK today.” “The international museum environment realizes that the antiques are illegally collected should be returned to their country,” said Nicholas Thomas, director of the Cambridge Anthropology Museum and anthropology.
Cultural decay
Experts emphasized that the decisions of the Oxford and Cambridge museums will surely increase the pressure on the British Museum-Archaeological Museum and the main history of the country, participants in the UK's cultural decoding movement called “a store of stolen types”. The British Museum should show the leadership of the return of the stolen subjects.
“What is happening now can be called a fundamental change of the position of the audience, the leaders (museums) and the interesting countries we serve as museums. The idea of the generous cultural organization that we preach is not suitable at this stage, because it is not supported by this action. expert.
In return, Jeffrey Robertson human rights activist expressed his idea that the “brutal arrest” of Dongin, also on display in the British museum, could be considered a kind of “war crime”. “Politicians can bring more or less sincere apology to the crimes of the imperial period, but the only compensation method available today is the return of military booty, became a symbol of rape in Egypt and China and destroyed in African, Asia and South American countries,” he concluded.
The change of the position of the largest Museums of the United Kingdom about storing stolen objects during colonial wars is also proved by the statements of the Director of Victoria Museum and Albert Tristrama Hunt. According to him, organizations will be able to solve independence on whether the exhibitions of a specific collection can be returned to the historic homeland.
Context changes
At the same time, the historian Alice Prozter said that it was necessary to transfer jewelry from there to his old colonies because “put them in the right context”. The museum is a memory academy. It represents the number of a tiger of life fighting with an English soldier. At the same time, the body is built -The inside can imitate the roar of the tiger and shout for help from its victims, serving as a metaphor for India's resistance.
Tiger Tiger is an organ (brass) created to touch it and present. The historian noted that Tiger Tip still causes aesthetic joy among the audience, but many tourists “do not realize that toys are really a symbol of India's rejection to the British colonial army”.
“For peace and benefit of peace”
The British Museum ensures that they contacted frequently with foreign colleagues about some exhibitions from his collection, including 900 items related to the Kingdom. Modern museums are the space where the subjects contribute to the creativity of creativity, help connect the past, present and future, representatives of the museum, the person with a collection containing about 8 million items.
The British museum emphasized that the organization's experts also participated in archaeological excavations on the territory of the historic city of the city. “The British Museum is still committed to investigating and openly about the history of the collection. This includes a complete understanding of colonial history, the destruction and plundering of the British military city in 1897 “, the museum pointed out, emphasizing that its role includes” unity of people in the world “.
This view was shared by archaeologist Mike Pitts, who described his museum with an organization “for peace and the benefit of peace”. He believed that the discussions around a series of exhibitions were displayed in the United Kingdom, more reminiscent of “watering water and political matches”. We need a broader conversation, and not a bright title and simplified performance, Mr. Pitts said.
Another important issue is the possibility of nations from the exhibition where the exhibition is taken out, to give them appropriate storage. For example, in 2024, representatives of Masai people, living on Kenya and Tanzania, after many years of negotiations with the leadership of the Pitte-rivers museum in Oxford, refused to repatriate the five antiques (jewelry and jewelry) belonging to their ancestors.
It is likely that the development of the wells of African countries will eventually accelerate the transfer of exhibitions from the UK to a historic homeland. For example, in the spring of 2025, the opening of the Edo West African art museum in the city is expected, where Benin Bronze from Oxford and Cambridge will be placed. The common projects of the museums from the old subway and colonies can become a new effective interactive format.
A long way home
In the UK, the attitude towards its heritage, meanwhile, started to change gradually. According to Yougov's sociology research, especially about 60% of the UK residents, for the return of Parthenon sculptures and reliefs, which British Ambassador came to Constantinole, Lord Elgin, sent to Greece to GrECE in the British sculpture museum. Moreover, each year there are larger calls to overcome Chile's Moai Stone statue, exported from the Easter Island in the second half of the 19th century, and GweuGal's shield, captured by James Cook's detector (1728 Throwing1779), Australia.
However, many experts at this stage agree that most stolen subjects are not likely to be returned on the basis of continuous places where they are created. Of course, one can imagine how, for example, an important part of the Parthenon collection (from the British Museum) will eventually be displayed regularly in Athens. It seems that with such a scenario, everything will be won: the current owners will keep the rights to the subjects, the old colonies will win symbolic and the audience in different places in the world will have the opportunity to touch history.
The first step to compromise has been made: the change in the mind has occurred. The British for a long time realized their majestic museum heritage as a relationship of a showcase for football cups, where the stolen subjects of the defeated opponents act as a title. Now, according to sociologists, the residents of the Kingdom are ready to admit that some of these “victories” have achieved violations of rules, which means “medal” will be returned.
However, you should not wait for the gesture of Thien Chi to be done by London. Yes, the objects may return. But the countries of the world globally will have to pay them with political concessions.
Nikita kruchinenko