Stolen Art
Inside Britain's thieving museums
Western museums harbour treasures often plundered from their colonial history. While a restitution movement is underway, major institutions like the British Museum still refuse to return stolen works.
The British Museum has been mired with controversy facing the restitution of artefacts collected from the UK's imperial past. The British collective, Looty, seeks to scan and make digital copies of artefacts as an act of protest."The Rosetta Stone is the darling of the British Museum, the head of stolen antiquities" says Chidi Nwaubani, a Looty activist. Some museums have opened up to the prospect of returning artefacts to their nation of origin. "There is no danger that museums will become empty. Restitutions are long, complex processes" says the curator of a Genevan museum. Other experts disagree: "these objects have been in our possession for a very long time, so in a way they are part of our own cultural heritage" says Pandora Mather-Lees, a member of the Art Due Diligence group.
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