Category Archives: Museums

France should return much more looted African art, film-maker says

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Mati Diop, the director of Dahomey, which charts the restitution of 26 objects to Benin, says the tiny number involved is ‘humiliating’

The first major return of looted treasures from Europe to Africa in the 21st century has left a lingering feeling of humiliation because of the lack of follow-up action, a French-Senegalese film-maker who accompanied a hoard of artefacts on their journey from Paris to their country of origin has said.

In her film Dahomey, which premiered at the Berlin film festival on Sunday, the director, Mati Diop, documents the 2021 journey of 26 treasures that the commander of French forces in Senegal looted from the royal palace of the kingdom of Dahomey, part of modern-day Benin, in 1890.

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British Museum and V&A to lend Ghana looted gold and silver

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Objects to go on show at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi as part of Asante king’s silver jubilee celebrations

Gold and silver treasure looted from west Africa by the British army in colonial wars are to be lent to Ghana in a three-year deal, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum have announced.

The precious regalia, which had belonged to the Asante royal court, is regarded as part of the “national soul” of Ghana. Under the deal, 17 objects from the V&A and 15 from the British Museum, will go on show later this year at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of Asante region. Many of the items have not been seen in Ghana for 150 years.

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France and Germany to research provenance of African objects in national museums

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Three-year €2.1m fund will prioritise former colonies of the two countries and could lead to return of items

Germany and France will jointly spend €2.1m (£1.8m) to further research the provenance of African heritage objects in their national museums’ collections, which could prepare the ground for their eventual return.

A three-year fund, with contributions of €360,000 a year by each country, was launched in Berlin on Friday. It has been designated to fund research on objects from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, though priority is expected to be given to countries that were colonised by France and Germany, such as Togo and Cameroon.

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Parthenon marbles should return to Athens, says Lord Frost

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Architect of Brexit calls for closer Anglo-Greek cultural ties, with sections held elsewhere in Europe also sent back

Britain should be part of a pan-European effort to bring the Parthenon marbles back to Greece, according to an architect of Brexit, who said the UK should make a grand gesture to create closer diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries.

David Frost, a chief Brexit negotiator, called for a deal between Britain and Greece that would put the long-running dispute to bed, with the sculptures returned to Greece for the first time since the early 1800s when they were taken by Lord Elgin. At present they are in the British Museum’s collection.

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Virginia museum to return 44 stolen or looted works to Egypt, Italy and Turkey

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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts says it received ‘irrefutable evidence’ 44 ancient art objects had been stolen or looted

Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum has begun the process of returning 44 pieces of ancient art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release on Tuesday that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York, which it said had conducted an inquiry into the artworks as part of a broader investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security. The DA’s office will facilitate the return of the objects to Italy, Egypt and Turkey, according to the Richmond museum.

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Sunak says retaining Parthenon marbles is matter of law as he denies ‘hissy fit’

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PM reaffirms stance after George Osborne suggests snub to Greek counterpart was result of ‘petulance’

Rishi Sunak has denied having a “hissy fit” over the Parthenon marbles row and has said they cannot be returned to Greece “as a matter of law”.

The prime minister this week accused his Greek counterpart of using a trip to London to “grandstand” over the issue of the ancient Greek sculptures.

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V&A director says museum trustees ‘infantilised’ amid row over Parthenon marbles

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Tristram Hunt says trustees should be able to ‘make case’ for items to be retained or returned to countries of origin

Museum trustees should be able to “make the case” whether items in their collections should be retained or returned to their countries of origin, but instead were being “infantilised” and “hidebound” by legislation, Tristram Hunt, the director of the V&A, has said.

He was speaking as a diplomatic row between the UK and Greece over the future of the Parthenon marbles, held at the British Museum, blew up this week after Rishi Sunak abruptly cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

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Hungary sacks museum chief for not enforcing under-18s ban at LGBTQ+ exhibition

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László Simon dismissed after National Museum allowed children to visit a World Press Photo show

The director of Budapest’s National Museum has been fired from his role over a contentious anti-LGBTQ+ law that he himself voted for when he was a member of parliament.

Hungary’s government on Monday dismissed director László Simon after his museum allowed under-18s to visit a World Press Photo exhibition featuring images of LGBTQ+ people, despite laws banning the “promotion of homosexuality” to minors.

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Blockbuster show on Genghis Khan opens in France after row with China

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Exhibition features objects never before seen in Europe and draws lessons from Mongol empire relevant to today

It was a major cultural row between France and China, prompting a history museum to pull the plug on one of its most important exhibitions of the decade accusing the Beijing authorities of interference and trying to rewrite history.

But now the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne history museum in Nantes has finally opened its blockbuster exhibition on Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire, with large crowds queueing to see hundreds of objects that have never been shown in Europe, some dug up by archaeologists only three years ago. It is part of a new modern reading of the geopolitical importance of the vast continental empire.

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French couple take dealer to court for share of African mask’s €4.2m sale price

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Pensioners sold rare object found in attic for €150 – but campaigners say it must be returned to Gabon

A retired French couple who sold an African mask to a secondhand goods dealer for €150 (£130) have gone to court for a share of the proceeds after the mask fetched €4.2m (£3.7m) at auction.

But campaigners insist that the rare artefact instead should be returned to Gabon, in a case that has raised questions over Africa’s cultural heritage looted by colonial France.

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Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson wax statue to be redone after star criticises its white skin

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Musée Grévin says it is ‘improving’ wax figure of Fast and Furious star after it attracted widespread ridicule on social media

A wax museum in Paris that was criticised for “whitewashing” a statue of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says it will give the waxwork a do-over.

The Musée Grévin, which is modelled on London’s Madame Tussauds, unveiled the wax figure of the professional wrestler turned actor last week, but it swiftly attracted widespread ridicule on social media, as well as from the Fast and Furious star himself.

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Access to remains of Bambuti baby withdrawn by London museum

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Hunterian had listed stillborn child of African descent as viewable for medical research but removed it after criticism from author

The remains of a stillborn Bambuti baby have been removed from a museum’s catalogue of items that can be viewed for medical research after criticism from a Booker prize-shortlisted author.

Novelist Nadifa Mohamed is the presenter of an upcoming Channel 4 documentary examining the history of “human zoos” in Britain, in which African and Asian people were put on display to the wider public in a practice which is now deemed to have been deeply racist.

Britain’s Human Zoos is on Channel 4 on Saturday 28 October

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Pokémon no go: Van Gogh Museum stops free cards amid tout chaos

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Booming resale market for cards featuring Pikachu in style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat

They are more commonly associated with pop concerts or football matches than art exhibitions. But rows of ticket touts have become a familiar sight outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in recent weeks as they seek to get their hands on a limited edition Pokémon card.

There was so much interest in the card, which was being offered as part of an exhibition of modern art by Pokémon artists inspired by Van Gogh’s links to Japanese culture, that the museum has clamped down.

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Glasgow museum says its £3m Auguste Rodin sculpture is missing

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Plaster sculpture bought by Glasgow Museum from the artist in 1901 is ‘unlocated’

A statue by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, part of his famous Les Bourgeois de Calais group, is currently “unlocated” in Glasgow’s art collections, museum officials have said.

The plaster sculpture, bought by Glasgow Museums from the artist in 1901, was exhibited in Kelvingrove Park from 25 June to 30 September 1949, according to Glasgow Life, the organisation in charge of many of the Scottish city’s cultural venues. But since then, it seems to have been lost.

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Researchers use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius

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University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’

When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.

The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains.

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American tourist arrested for damaging Roman statues at Israel Museum

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Vandalism stirs concern about safety of collections amid rise in attacks on cultural heritage in Jerusalem

Israeli police have arrested an American tourist at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after he hurled works of art to the floor, defacing two second-century Roman statues.

The vandalism late on Thursday raised questions about the safety of the priceless collections and stirred concern about a rise in attacks on cultural heritage in Jerusalem.

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Rare medieval Cheddar brooch found in Somerset field to go on display

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Silver and copper alloy disc from days of King Alfred hailed as one of the most important finds of its kind

When it emerged from the earth it was dull, corroded and battered, the centuries it had spent lying beneath a Somerset field having taken their toll.

Now restored and gleaming, the Cheddar brooch, a rare early medieval piece regarded as one of the most important finds of its kind, is going on display at a museum close to where it was found by a metal detectorist.

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Guernsey museum brings Renoir’s art to island that inspired him

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Exhibition honours French impressionist whose landscapes have helped island create jobs and forge global ties

The island of Guernsey may be best known as a tax haven for the super-wealthy, a pleasant holiday destination, and for the rich milk its docile cows produce.

But thanks to a brief sojourn by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 140 years ago, and the bold thinking of culture lovers on the island, it is becoming a draw for art fans.

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Portsmouth exhibition celebrates Royal Navy’s role in ocean exploration

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Worlds Beneath the Waves at the National Museum of the Royal Navy marks 150 years since HMS Challenger expedition

From the early days of deepwater exploration when it took a crew of 250 to keep the ship steady enough to collect samples, to the modern-day era of hi-tech minisubs, a century and a half of oceanographic missions is being celebrated.

An exhibition at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth has been launched to mark 150 years since HMS Challenger’s remarkable circumnavigation of the world in search of the mysteries of the deep – a mission that led to the discovery of thousands of new species of sea creature and the Mariana Trench.

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V&A to look after ancient Yemen stones found in London shop

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Museum agrees to care for stelae dating from second half of first millennium BC until it is safe to return them

The V&A is to look after four ancient carved funerary stones that were found by police in a shop in east London in a historic agreement with Yemen.

The stelae, which date from the second half of the first millennium BC, come from necropoli that have been looted in recent years.

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