Comments for Elginism

Comment on Is the “Universal Museum” the museum concept of the future? by Selby Whittingham

Selby Whittingham — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:15:40 +0000

The argument of universal v. national museums echoes that between modernism v.romanticism in 20th c – cf. “Modern Romantics” by Alexandra Harris (in which John Piper abandons modernism for romanticism). Both types of museum have a point. The trouble begins when the universal museum gets greedy (and most museums are greedy) and wants ALL the best things for itself to the detriment of other museums.

Comment on The problems with the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act by Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:51:12 +0000

Thanks for this info – very helpful to have feedback from people who have studied the bill in more detail than I have.

Comment on The problems with the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act by Pierre Ciric

Pierre Ciric — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:51:06 +0000

As a second generation holocaust survivor, I have concluded that S. 2212, in shielding any government-related foreign institution from ANY liability or suit in the United States for claims for artworks related to cultural exchanges, and subject to pillage, plunder or illegal excavation, is appalling.

In 1998, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and its members promised to perform in-depth provenance research for their entire collections, during hearings held by Jim Leach, Chair of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services.

Not only did AAMD fail to honor those commitments, but it is now lobbying to continue the tragedy of the Holocaust and all subsequent genocides, by asking Congress to ensure that theft from owners in times of war and dictatorship and the greed resulting from its commercial exploitation are officially protected from justice.

The so-called Nazi carve-out in the bill gives the illusion that Nazi-looted art claims will be preserved, which is both untrue and unfair.

I am sponsoring the petition “Senate: Abandon S. 2212, Vote for the Stolen Artwork Restitution Act.” We reached 130 supporters in less than three days after the Petition was online. Supporters appear to represent a wide variety of interests across various social, age and cultural groups. The petition can be found at: https://www.change.org/petitions/senate-abandon-s-2212-vote-for-the-stolen-artwork-restitution-act.

Comment on Appeal for the protection of Greek cultural heritage by Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:09:50 +0000

Excellent.

Thanks for the clarification.

Comment on Appeal for the protection of Greek cultural heritage by Paul Mackney

Paul Mackney — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:12:43 +0000

We do support the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

Comment on Berlin court rules that museum must return poster collection looted by Nazis by Steve Kay

Steve Kay — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:26:55 +0000

Moral judgements concerning the legitimacy of Lord Elgin’s collection of marble sculptures has been made by the very highest of British courts under the most democratic of procedures and that is in the houses of Parliament.

Comment on Hypocricy in Scotland over the return of cultural treasures by Nick Noble

Nick Noble — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:13:20 +0000

It’s just another example of the fact that the scottish national party is anything but. They have no interest in areas of low population density simply because there are too few potential votes for their mis-guided independence campaign. When will they wake up to the fact that they have been entrusted with the governance of the whole of Scotland by the people from all areas of Scotland and start to play fair by us all. Until they do I have a better chance of becoming pope than they do of winning a fair independence referendum.

Comment on Should the British Museum really be called the British Museum? by DR.KWAME OPOKU

DR.KWAME OPOKU — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:34:24 +0000

Readers should look at the report in Guardian today which reveals the dominant aspect of the colonial-imperialist rule of Britain.http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes In the atmosphere of the colonial rule, gifts should be examined very carefully since the structural violence in the colonial system made the dominated very prone to making gifts to the colonial masters. Hardly any gifts were made by the British colonial officers to the colonial subjects.

Perhaps it is time that the British Museum gave the public full information about the methods of acquisition of the artefacts in the venerable museum.

For sure, we know that the museum acquired the Benin objects as a result of Britain’s military attack on Benin in 1897. Whether some of the objects were later purchased at auction in London does not really make any difference. The initial acquisition was by violence. Similarly, many of the Ethiopian artefacts, including the Christian crosses were acquired through the use of force at Magdala. Asante objects from Ghana were also acquired by similar methods. We will also find that Indian objects were also acquired as result of wars.

More recent acquisitions may have been legitimate but on the whole, it is no exaggeration to say that many of the objects in the venerable museum were acquired through imperialist and dubious methods.

Comment on The issues with free museum entry in the UK by DR.KWAME OPOKU

DR.KWAME OPOKU — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:13:46 +0000

The tourists who come to London and have free entry to the British Museum must first pay high visa fees,their travel,mostly by air,pay their hotel bills and maintain themselves in London. This should be borne in mind as they contribute immensely to the British economy.

Comment on Should the British Museum really be called the British Museum? by Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:32:05 +0000

Perhaps I should have explained it better – there are many artefacts there that are not imperial spoils. E.g. ones given as gifts from foreign countries / rulers, ones that were legitimately purchased, ones that have been acquired in more recent times.

However, the fact is, that as far as I am aware, no comprehensive audit of the provenance of artefacts in the museum has ever been undertaken. Nobody knows the real status of the collection, in terms of how many items fall into different categories.

Comment on Should the British Museum really be called the British Museum? by DR.KWAME OPOKU

DR.KWAME OPOKU — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:19:04 +0000

The preface to this article states what will be accepted by many:”You have to really look to spot the exhibits from Britain, amongst all the artefacts taken from other places around the world. In this sense, it is more a museum of British imperialism, than it is one of modern Britain”. But then goes on to add what many of us will question:

“From my point of view, many of the artefacts there are legitimately acquired”. Are you then saying that imperialism was or is a legitimate enterprise? Very few of us who have suffered from British imperialism can subscribe to a view that, intentionally or not, seems to legitimise, post facto, an enterprise that involved slavery, colonialism and all kinds of oppression, violation of human rights and the destruction of many political systems

Comment on Are US coin collectors being unfairly targeted by the law? by Wayne G. Sayles

Wayne G. Sayles — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:49:07 +0000

Thank you for publicizing our Huffington Post Op-Ed. Your comment about the U.S. unilaterally applying import restrictions on cultural property misses the point. The call for “concerted international response” is not something that ancient coin collectors thought up as a reasonable prerequisite to U.S. government action. It is a fundamental feature of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act which is the law that authorizes these restrictions. Without a concerted international response, the U.S. State Department is precluded by law from entering memorandums of understanding that restrict the importation of cultural property. Of course, they have ignored that basic feature of the law and naturally coin collectors object. That is the basis of the ongoing ACCG law suit against the U.S. State Department.