This clip relates to our class discussions in many ways; we recently discussed Fred Wilson and his mixing of artifacts in his exhibits that do not relate to each other. Although, it was supposed to be incidental because the artifact was stolen and so wrongly identified, the clip incorporates the misinterpretation of African artifacts. This supports the idea of our class discussions that Africans and effects of the African Diaspora are underrepresented in art. The clip also further develops the theme of assumptions around Africa. Just as in Fred Wilson’s exhibits it is easy for the audience of the art to assume things surrounding african exhibits. Questioning or disagreements of the origin of artifacts is not frequent as shown in the clip.

The clip also brought up an interesting idea, a majority of African artifacts have been stolen by Europeans, and should the artifacts be returned to their rightful owners. I can see how people will argue for the artifacts to be returned, they want to do the right thing and give back what was stolen. However, I believe museums should not give back stolen artifacts. The art and other resources were already stolen and returning them would be a slap in the face; it is equivalent to when some abolitionist tried to return the freed slaves back to Africa, there was no longer a place for them there, damage had already been done. Giving back art would not serve a purpose but to pass on knowledge; however, if the information is incorrect or whitewashed as seen in the clip and in many museums it would further serve to erase African history. Also if museums were to return all the stolen art and artifacts, then all of Europe, South America and many other regions would have to return the resources they’ve stolen. Every piece of gold, spices, free labor, minerals and so much more cannot be returned. The unintentional contributions Africans have made to the world is tremendous and trying to return all of that is unrealistic. Many of Africa’s countries have been set back in their development because of the robbing of their resources by Europeans. Returning artifacts will not help. Therefore, museums should just keep the stolen artifacts. Also in the clip, Killmonger brought up that the museum incorrectly identified the origin country of the artifact. Many boundaries that existed in Africa in the past no longer exist which once again would cause conflicts in returning artifacts to its rightful place. To give back stolen items in the modern current condition will serve no purpose.  

Instead of trying to return illegally acquired items I believe it should be widely recognized that these items were stolen. Try to correct the wrongs by educating against whitewashing of African history.  Once again, I appreciate the fact that people do recognize Africa’s stolen artifacts as a problem, however, it is naive of them to believe returning the items will solve that problem. The robbing of Africa by Europeans and other countries is way bigger than what people realize.