Being a victim of theft might help the British Museum reflect on returning its own swag | Martha Gill
That belongs in a museum." So do you!" Indiana Jones (youthful, anti-establishment, recent thief of priceless treasure) is the first speaker; Panama Hat (fusty remnant of colonial Britain) the second. The scene is famous. But it also strikes the modern viewer as rather out of date: those fighting over what belongs in a museum now split, politically and demographically, in precisely the opposite direction.
Western museums still tend to think of themselves as culturally open, their purpose to celebrate diversity and international understanding. But in recent years young progressives have been turning against them, arguing that a number of their displayed items - particularly looted ones - should be returned to their countries of origin. The rightwing establishment, meanwhile, generally believes these objects should stay put.
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