Of Custody and Cultural Artefacts

I am amazed at how often the issue of appropriated cultural artefacts and their rightful return is publicly discussed and how precious little has been done to move along the discourse.

Some of the inaction may be driven by a realisation of how big a hole the absence of these often iconic pieces would leave in the hearts of their hosts. It is clear though that a sense of loss is no reason to hang on to something that isn’t yours. Equity and justice demand that a change needs to happen.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Till very recently there appeared no real way for hosts to return the artefacts in their custody without losing face or revenue or both. But the recent 3-D recreation of an ancient Assyrian lion gives hope to all parties.

My attempt at grasping the nettle relies on a delicate application of technology as well as a display of goodwill by all involved. The hosts provide a timetable to reproduce under a negotiated license regime the artefact in question — with a view to relinquishing custody of the original to the rightful owner at the end of a stipulated timeline.

This arrangement fulfils 3 key tenets:

• A realisation that the items haven been held in some cases for decades against the will of the rightful custodians need to be returned.
• Restitution to the rightful custodians in the form of a negotiated license regime granted to the host and that accepts that damage was done by appropriating the said artefacts in the first place.
• An ability for the hosts to retain a model of the original artefact allowing art lovers access to this replica without harming the cultural education and national pride of both custodian and host populations.

Of course there might be holes in my submission and I’m happy to hear suggestions to improve it but I would argue that the British Museum, The Louvre and other museums which hold artefacts that rightfully belong elsewhere have now been given an out by technology. The bold thing would be to take it

Peace and Love..