
The Fabulous Collections Housed In The World's Most Famous Museums Are Trophies From An Imperial Age. Yet The Huge Crowds That Each Year Visit The British Museum In London, The Louvre In Paris, Or The Metropolitan In New York Have Little Idea That Many Of The Objects On Display Were Acquired By Coercion Or Theft. Now The Countries From Which These Treasures Came Would Like Them Back. The Greek Demand For The Return Of The Elgin Marbles Is The Tip Of An Iceberg That Includes Claims For The Benin Bronzes From Nigeria, Sculpture From Turkey, Scrolls And Porcelain Taken From The Chinese Summer Palace, Textiles From Peru, The Bust Of Nefertiti, Native American Sacred Objects And Aboriginal Human Remains. In Keeping Their Marbles, Tiffany Jenkins Tells The Bloody Story Of How Western Museums Came To Acquire These Objects. She Investigates Why Repatriation Claims Have Soared In Recent Decades And Demonstrates How It Is The Guilt And Insecurity Of The Museums Themselves That Have Stoked The Demands For Return. Contrary To The Arguments Of Campaigners, She Shows That Sending Artefacts Back Will Not Achieve The Desired Social Change Nor Repair The Wounds Of History. Instead, This Ground-breaking Book Makes The Case For Museums As Centres Of Knowledge, Demonstrating That No Object Has A Single Home And No One Culture Owns Culture.
This book investigates the complex ethical and political tensions surrounding the repatriation of cultural artifacts held in Western museums. Tiffany Jenkins, a sociologist and cultural commentator, examines the historical acquisition of these items and challenges the prevailing narrative that returning them to their countries of origin is a necessary act of historical justice. She argues that museums serve as vital, universal centers of knowledge and that the push for repatriation is often driven by institutional guilt rather than a genuine resolution of historical grievances.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Critics and scholars frequently note the provocative nature of Jenkins's argument, which challenges the consensus among many modern museum curators. The text is recognized for its clear, accessible prose, making it a significant contribution to debates on cultural property and institutional ethics.
Page Count:
368
Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0191631884
ISBN-13:
9780191631887
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