Towards the beginning of the movie Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan’s character “Erik Killmonger” steals a war hammer from the fictional Museum of Great Britain.  He justifies this to the museum director by asking her if she thought her ancestors paid a fair price or just took it “like they took everything else.” This scene alone inspires the debate about where stolen objects belong.  I agree with those who think museums should return items that were acquired illegally. “ Who owns culture?” was the question posed in the BBC article, To Return or Not.  The answer given was, “”not the nation state.”  This is an interesting point that I find valid, but I don’t find that it is a complete answer.  Because there is no agreed upon answer, there is no agreed upon solution to the debate.

 

When the items that are considered stolen have been stolen by those looking to make money at the expense of the endurance of their own culture, there is no question that they should be returned.  Museums should hold themselves to their moral obligation to not participate in illegal activity. When they have been stolen by conquering armies and looted during war (the most common type of stealing) the subject becomes more murky.  Looting and stealing is still considered illegal, but the history and chain of possession causes conflict when discussion arises of where it should belong.

 

Unfortunately, there is not a widely recognized process for “repatriation” of objects.  This keeps the concept of returning items as just that, a concept. I believe a process should be established to ensure that the integrity of the objects being returned is preserved.  Museums returning stolen items should have attainable standards and requirements for the museums receiving the objects to ensure that they are going to be placed somewhere where they will be protected.

 

In an episode of Sherlock, the BBC One television series about the famous fictional detective, there is an opening scene that takes place in the National Antiquities Museum.  A Chinese pottery expert is making tea in pots that are over four hundred years old. She performs a ritual of pouring the tea repeatedly over the pots. As she does this, she explains to a crowd that this routine is done to maintain the pots’ beauty and shine, and is essential to prevent the pots from cracking.  She says, “Some things aren’t supposed to sit behind glass, they’re made to be touched, to be handled.” Although the example is fictional, the practice of using artifacts to maintain them is not. I introduce this example to emphasize that whatever is best for the stolen artifact should be done. In the case where a museum can provide better conditions and care for the historical item, it would be better left there for the sake of its longevity.  On the other hand, if the history and traditions of the culture it originated from are guarded within the culture, displaying it and maintaining it at a museum where it could be put to better use and have more cultural value, it should be displayed there.

 

There might not ever be a clear answer to the question of who owns culture, but museums should be doing their best to allow cultures the opportunity to reclaim their culturally valuable items that were stolen from them long ago.