A huge part of culture and history can be seen through art. It conveys both the spiritual and technological heart of the time and place it came from. During the colonial period, the colonial masters would go into various territories and plunder some of these artworks to take home as souvenirs. And I say plundered because it has been proven by archaeologists and historians that many of these artefacts that were stolen held great spiritual value in the societies it was taken from. This implies that it could not have simply been gifted away as many who are against the repatriation of these looted items would like to believe.
Today, we would look at the concept of repatriation and also examine some of these artworks and artefacts from around the world that were stolen and haven't been returned yet by the colonial powers of the yesteryears.
WHAT ARE REPATRIATIONS?
Repatriation is the return of stolen or plundered cultural items to their nations of origin. Although the belief that looting cultural heritage is wrong and stolen objects should be returned to their rightful owner dates to the Roman Republic, it was not until the 1950s, when the stark truths of colonization and war crimes against humanity began to be exposed, that a widespread desire for restitution emerged, and laws and treaties to facilitate this increased in number. Repatriation claims are founded on the law, but they also show a strong desire to right a wrong—a type of restorative justice—which often requires an acknowledgment of guilt and capitulation.
LOOKING BACK ON SOME COLONIALIST COLLECTIONS
The great majority of repatriation instances are the result of colonial or imperial oppression. Throughout history, strong nations and empires have taken valuable goods, especially cultural property, from people they have conquered and colonized. These artefacts of beauty and esteem number in the millions and will most likely be lost to their previous owners forever. The theft of a few valuable and/or essential artefacts, on the other hand, has specifically stood out and has resulted in many repatriation requests. A few examples include:
The Koh-i-noor diamond, taken by the British East India Company in 1849 and now part of the British Crown Jewels.
The Koh-i-Noor in the front cross of Queen Mary’s Crown (Royal Collection Trust).
2. The Benin Bronzes, looted by British forces from the capital of Benin (modern Nigeria) in 1897 is today housed in numerous museums in Europe and America.
Bronze plaques from the Kingdom of Benin in the British Museum, many removed from Benin City during the Punitive Expedition of 1897 (photo: adunt, CC BY-NC 2.0).
3. The Rosetta Stone, captured by British forces from the French army in Egypt in 1801 and now one of the most famous exhibitions at London's British Museum.
The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum (photo: Dr. Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
4. The Parthenon Sculptures: The Parthenon Sculptures are a collection of different types of marble architectural decoration from the temple of Athena (the Parthenon) on the Acropolis in Athens. They are kept in the British Museum are unrivaled examples of classical Greek art, an inspiration to artists and writers since their creation in the fifth century BCE. The British Museum houses 15 metopes, 17 pedimental figures and 247ft (75m) of the original frieze.
The Parthenon. From Athens, Greece, 438–432 BC
ONGOING ARGUMENTS ON THE REPATRIATION OF STOLEN ARTWORKS
The issue over repatriation involves deep and personal moral, national, and identity concerns, and few individuals can discuss it without raising their voice. It's a hot issue in the news, with a familiar set of arguments on both sides of the discussion. The principal grounds for repatriation, as advanced most commonly by governments and peoples seeking the return of their objects, are as follows:
It is ethically decent and follows fundamental property rules to return stolen or plundered property to its rightful owner.
Cultural artefacts belong with the civilizations that developed them; they are an important aspect of modern cultural and political identity.
Failure to return stolen goods under colonialism regimes perpetuates colonialist notions that see colonized peoples as fundamentally inferior (and sometimes "primitive" in some sense).
Image shows a protest for the repatriation of looted items
Museums with multinational collections, also known as universal or encyclopaedic museums, are concentrated in the Global North: France, England, Germany, and the United States, all of which are expensive to visit and hence not accessible to the general public.
Even if objects were originally acquired legally, our attitudes about the ownership of cultural property have changed and collections should reflect these contemporary attitudes.
ONGOING ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE REPATRIATION OF STOLEN ARTWORKS
The most common arguments against repatriation, advanced by museums and collections that possess things they do not want to lose, are as follows:
• If all museums returned artefacts to their countries of origin, many museums would be almost empty.
• Because source nations lack suitable facilities and people to accept returned goods (due to poverty and/or armed conflict), artefacts are safer where they are currently.
• Universal museums allow many individuals to effortlessly view art from a variety of locations. This represents our contemporary globalized or cosmopolitan perspective.
• Many of the ancient or historical kingdoms from which several things originated no longer exist or are dispersed across many present country lines, such as the old Roman empire. As a result, it is unclear where exactly things should be repatriated.
• Returning cultural objects obtained under colonial regimes to their countries of origin does not compensate for the destruction caused by colonialism.
• The majority of objects in museums and collections were legally obtained at the time of their acquisition and thus have no reason to be repatriated.
ON SUCCESFUL REPARTRIATIONS: THE ART OF TAKING BACK HERITAGE AND HISTORY.
The return of The Cockerel, a Benin bronze sculpture by Cambridge university in 2021
Recently, some former colonial powers have begun to assess their holdings and plan large-scale repatriations. In 2017, for example, France commissioned a research recommending the repatriation of artefacts in French museums obtained during France's colonial control of areas of western Africa. In addition, in 2019, the Netherlands' National Museum of World Cultures agreed to return any objects in its collection that have been recognized as stolen during the colonial era.
However, as many have pointed out, the claimed plans for large-scale repatriations are taking a long time to materialize, and numerous prominent museums (several in the United Kingdom) are conspicuously absent from the discussion.
Nonetheless, the good news is that recent theft has been successfully repatriated, and those who purchase from the criminal trade are more deterred from doing so. In 2011, for example, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston returned a stolen Roman sculpture of Herakles to Turkey. The National Gallery of Australia repatriated to India in 2018 a bronze statue of the deity Shiva tat had been plundered from a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu. In 2020, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. repatriated roughly 11,500 plundered antiquities to Iraq and Egypt, including around 5,000 papyri fragments and 6,500 clay tablets.
What an eye opening topic. I never felt that artefacts adopted in the era of colonialism was considered as theft.
Beautifully written ❤. I think the only point I can agree on with the museum is the fact that many countries may not have the resources or want to allocate any to take proper care of these artifacts. Its really sad that so much of our history are in places that we don't have easy access to. I genuinely loved reading this