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Debate intensifies around returning looted artifacts from UK museums

NPR
Published September 5, 2022 at 1:40 PM EDT
Plaques that form part of the Benin Bronzes are displayed at The British Museum on Nov. 22, 2018 in London, England. The British Museum agreed to loan the plaques back to a new museum in Benin City in Nigeria. The Benin Bronzes were taken from Africa. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Plaques that form part of the Benin Bronzes are displayed at The British Museum on Nov. 22, 2018 in London, England. The British Museum agreed to loan the plaques back to a new museum in Benin City in Nigeria. The Benin Bronzes were taken from Africa. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

More and more British museums are considering returning artifacts taken during the colonial era. However, others are still reluctant to relinquish their collections and questions remain over how to return artifacts.

Neil Curtis is head of Special Collections and Museums at the University of Aberdeen — which repatriated an artifact to Nigeria last year. He joins Here & Now‘s Scott Tong to discuss the debate happening in the museum community.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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