2y ago

Recovery of British Museum artefacts under way, says George Osborne

www.theguardian.com

Institution’s chair of trustees admits its reputation has been damaged by suspected thefts

7 comments

How long does an artifact need to be in a British museum for it to lose its own provenance and simply become "British museum artefact"? I feel like this is extra spicy cultural appropriation
- It is also extra ironic, because one of the arguments for not giving artifacts back to their home countries is "They can't handle and store them properly."
People have lost their jobs, the museum's reputation has been damaged, culturally significant items have been removed from "public" ownership.
Sad as all of that is, there's some humour here too.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
About 2,000 items are believed to be missing, Osborne told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the day after the organisation’s head resigned and his deputy stepped back.
Hartwig Fischer said on Friday he accepted responsibility for the museum’s failure to properly respond to warnings about the suspected thefts of thousands of objects in 2021.
After Fischer’s resignation, Osborne said the director had “acted honourably” and that “no one has ever doubted Hartwig’s integrity, his dedication to his job, or his love for the museum”.
It was then announced that the museum’s deputy director, Jonathan Williams, had agreed to voluntarily step back until the independent review into the suspected thefts had concluded.
The chair of trustees defended the British Museum after the scandal led to an outcry from nations that have been campaigning for the institution to return its artefacts.
The museum has long faced criticism for refusing to return looted objects, including the Rosetta Stone, the Benin bronzes and the Gweagal shield.
The original article contains 597 words, the summary contains 163 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
The same way the recovery of the Parthenon marbles is under way?
- But they're so well protected in the British Museum, those Greeks couldn't possibly know what their cultural worth is!!
"Suspected thefts"...I think it's pretty damn clear to everyone what was stolen

7 comments