"It is no secret to museum and heritage professionals that there are questionable ethics behind some collections in some of the most influential museums across the globe. The dialogue of this article begins with dissecting a scene [in BLACK PANTHER] in which the relationship between colonial authority and West African artifacts commences within the film.
Without revealing too many spoilers, the resentment felt by the villain Killmonger while gazing upon artifacts of African nations is expressed and... His sentiment mirrors the real life realities of museums and People of Color, especially those from colonized nations.
How did these museums (both fictional and real) use their authority to squelch Black Heritage for so long?
- One answer is simple. Authority. It should be no surprise that museums have established themselves as authorities of authenticity and have used that authority to create spaces in which the origin of artifacts does not play a major part in the object’s story.
Up until recently, how artifacts were acquired was not important to visitors, since they trusted the institution to be truthful. Killmonger’s rage in this titular scene in BLACK PANTHER openly defies that authority (as any Marvel superhero or supervillain would be expected to do) and directly expose the inaccuracies of ethical museum collection... "
~Heritage And Memory Studies
For years, predominantly white countries have been arguing with one another about who really owns what in one another's museum. Relics were taken as the spoils of war.
However it was the movie Black Panther that raised the issue of how inaccurate the descendants of white colonizers have been when telling the story of precious relics they've stolen, often sans any of the history of area the object was taken from.
And you have to wonder if, for example, an object was taken from an African country where Britain lost more battles than it won, how the story of that object might be told.
In other words, European museums and government can erase or minimize the black history associated the objects stolen from African countries.
In 1868, some 13,000 British and Indian troops stormed the fortress of Ethiopian emperor Tewodros II, who had seized several European hostages amid a breakdown of relations with the British government. The invading army secured the release of the hostages, destroyed the fortress and took hundreds of precious items.
According to Anna Codrea-Rado of the New York Times, a selection of artifacts looted during the Battle of Maqdala, as the conflict is known, are on display at a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Read More: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/london-museum-says-it-willing-return-looted-ethiopian-artifacts-long-term-loan-180968699/
A London museum is in talks with the Ethiopian government(?) right now about letting Ethiopia have it's own artifacts back as part of a long term loan.
The idea of "loaning" things the British stole is, of course, the British's idea. And of course, Ethiopia wants the items given back period.
Again, museums have been been under pressure to return what their governments have stolen for decades. And the movie BLACK PANTHER has only poured gas on this long burning fire. But raising this issue into public awareness, especially black public awareness, can only make it easier for black countries to get their artifacts back and get the facts about their historical objects straight.
Why museum professionals need to talk about Black Panther
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