Articlediamond2011

The British Museum: An Imperial Museum in a Post-Imperial World

67 citations0/0 files storedPublic history review

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Cultural Identity and Heritage Museums and Cultural Heritage Libraries and Information Services

Abstract

This article examines the British Museum’s imperialist attitudes towards classical heritage. Despite considerable pressure from foreign governments, the museum has consistently refused to return art and antiquities that it acquired under the aegis of empire. It is the contention of this article that the British Museum remains an imperialist institution. The current debates over the British Museum’s collections raise profound questions about the relationship between museums and modern nation states and their nationalist claims to ancient heritage. The museum’s inflexible response to repatriation claims also encapsulates the challenges inherent in presenting empire and its legacy to contemporary, post-imperial audiences.

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References

2007The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece 1996Making Representations: Museums in the Post-Colonial Era 1998NATIONALISM AND ARCHAEOLOGY: On the Constructions of Nations and the Reconstructions of the Remote Past 1998Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture and the Museum 2002The dead and their possessions : repatriation in principle, policy and practice 2009Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage 1990The return of cultural treasures 1973That noble cabinet: A history of the British Museum

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