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Two events revived the discussion about whether or not European museums should return the objects they have had since colonization. The United Kingdom has agreed to return the jewels of the Ashanti people of Ghana on loan after more than 150 years. And in Chile, campaigns have been carried out on social networks to pressure the British Museum to return the moai that the English took from Easter Island in 1868. What should happen to the looted objects? We address it in this edition of El Debate.
Decolonizing European museums and returning objects looted during the colonies are demands from some countries in Africa and America that are becoming increasingly stronger, but which for the United Kingdom, France or Spain generate a certain reluctance.
At the end of January, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum agreed to return on loan more than 30 pieces to Ghana that had been in the possession of the United Kingdom since the 19th century. The items belonged to the Ashanti culture, which opposed colonization and are equivalent to the British Crown jewels.
But they don't return permanently. The Manhyia Palace Museum, located in the city of Kumasi in Ghana, will only be able to have them for six years, as this was the agreement and British museums are prohibited by law from returning any objects.
In parallel, Chileans began a campaign on social networks to demand that the British Museum return the moai that the English removed from Easter Island in 1868. The pressure was so much that, at one point, the museum disabled the option to leave comments on his Instagram account.
These cases reignite the discussion: where should these historical objects be? Is their permanence in the old metropolises evidence of a lack of repair or do European countries have the pieces legitimately? We address it with our guests:
– Lucas D'Auria, professor of International Relations at the Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, and master's degree in Theory of International Relations from the London School of Economics.
– Antumi Toasijé, historian, writer, professor of Global History at the University of New York in Madrid, expert in the history and politics of Africa and its diasporas and teacher and speaker at various universities and institutions. In addition, president of the Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination (CEDRE), an entity linked to the Ministry of Equality, Spain's main official body for the fight against racism.
– Miruna Achim, research professor at the CuaJi-Malpa Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City, doctor in Latin American Studies from Yale University and currently associated with the Institute of Advanced Studies in Paris.
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