An exhibition at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum points to a burgeoning trend: museums are engaging the public more openly around efforts to repatriate artifacts looted from other countries.
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This is a great idea! Before the internet museums could show (stolen) artifacts from around the world. Now there is no reason to hold onto looted and stolen items.
Wish more effort was on keeping the items in the foreign museums, with a plaque describing the theft and perhaps reparations paid, so that the art continues to educate and entice foreigners to then go visit the origin country. Repatriation limits the art’s reach. Win-win.
I see your point, but imagine if something precious were taken from you -- would you want it to remain stolen, and hope that someone, someday, might come to see you? Would telling the story of the theft be enough? These peoples/cultures have been at the mercy of colonialism. It needs to be undone.
I didn’t say “remain stolen“. Obviously this would be in concert with the owning country. If you have been to Thailand, the country in the article, you know their museums are chock full (amazing). My interest in Asia in the first place started at the Met. Plus, compensation/maybe a loan swap.
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The rest will follow.