While many museums have opted for simply inviting in the marginalised communities that they have stolen from as a means of providing context for the object’s place in their history and culture, this is nothing more than continued exploitation. It is a performative display that ostensibly takes accountability, but still clings on to the looted goods.
Stolen artefacts have no place in a country that didn’t create them - there is the loss of cultural heritage, that can only honestly be regained upon repatriation. While an acknowledgement of the object having been displaced is a step forward, it still isn’t truly ethical. It is a gesture that lacks commitment, an attempt to simply shrug off colonial guilt in an unchallenging way.
Stolen artefacts have no place in a country that didn’t create them
There is the argument that these objects, as part of exhibitions, can serve to inform a country of other cultures, but again, this isn’t a good enough excuse. Spreading awareness of other cultures is obviously helpful, but this can easily be done in a more respectful way, a way that doesn’t involve the forceful removal and displacement of pieces of ancient history.
