It's been a busy week around the publication of #TheBrutishMuseums - here's a quick summary of some of the key media coverage in case you missed some of it!
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I had always believed what I’d been told about the Benin Bronzes. That the British punitive expedition against Benin City (today in Edo State, Nigeria) was a necessary reprisal against a bloody massacre. That there was a grim justification to the looting of the city
(3/34) in February 1897, because the Government needed to auction African artefacts to defray the costs of the naval operation. That taking the spoils of war is a human universal, so special pleading in the case of the Kingdom of Benin would only open a Pandora’s box.
We "have a responsibility to explore the complex ways in which colonialism & exploitation have played a part in palaces' histories" say @HRP_palaces
Any opportunity to understand historic buildings better is welcome.
But what about the @RCT objects displayed in them? THREAD👇👇
Just a few examples of what we do know about colonialism and the royal collection
My new book talks about the 2 ivory leopards, with spots of inlaid copper, specially reserved for Queen Victoria during the 1897 sacking of the royal palaces of Benin City rct.uk/collection/699…
My book also talks about this doubly-looted Bronze Head— taken in 1897, bought back by Nigeria in thee 1950s, then taken from Lagos National Museum by General Gowon as a gift for the Queen on his 1973 state visit.
The legality of that export may be unclear rct.uk/collection/725…
Sounds like National Trust bosses are still seeking to push through cutting the two curatorial jobs at @AveburyNT—downgrading the curator role & cutting 2 FTE to 0.5. This’d be sheer vandalism at Britain’s best small archaeology museum, a collection gifted to the nation in 1966.
Letters sent by the leading @StoneAveWHS archaeologists last month—and the museum’s Advisory Board—haven’t yet led to action. The Trust has cared for the Keiller Museum for 26 years so far in its 82 years—it is a key element of the visits made by 250,000 people a year to Avebury.
Trust bosses seem committed to cuts in curatorship, archaeology & education—Apart from 'Treasure Houses' where they're creating new Property Curators due to the significance of the properties. World Heritage Site status clearly doesn’t tick this box—due to free public access?
What strongly-expressed view about museums and galleries would’ve got you in this situation like five or six years ago, but in 2020 turns out to be just the normal mainstream view of a majority in this sector?
* Mine is “Remove all human remains from public display and return the Benin Bronzes” obvs