Cultural restitution - who decides?

The Cultural Frontline

Cultural restitution is an issue that creates fierce debate in response to the work of campaigners, curators and nation states, who argue that collections in some of the world’s great cultural institutions contain objects that may have been acquired illegitimately, often during the colonial period.

Over the last two years an unprecedented number of restitution claims have been approved by museums and governments. This week two former UK culture ministers teamed up to call for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures removed from Athens in Greece by Lord Elgin, currently on display in the British Museum and last month Benin Bronzes which had been displayed in the USA were returned to the Kingdom of Benin in modern day Nigeria. Some commentators argue that a new way of operating for museums is unfolding before our eyes. It is a global conversation that has huge implications for the future of these institutions. Tina Daheley is joined by Herman Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation who oversees the work of 27 museums and cultural organisations in Germany; Annelize Kotze, curator at the national Iziko Museums of South Africa; Alexander Herman, director of the UK based Institute of Art and Law and author of Restitution: The Return of Cultural Artefacts; Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a human rights activist who runs the US based Restitution Study Group and Victor Ehikhamenor, a leading Nigerian artist who has been inspired to make work about restitution, including at the Venice Biennale.

Producer: Simon Richardson

(Photo: The Benin Bronzes on display in a museum. Credit: David Cliff/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)