While this story is not really that relevant to the subject in hand, it does appear that a museum is acting like a microcosm of the subject it is supposed to be educating people about.

On the one hand, you have Britain (in the days of the British Empire), regularly taking items from other countries that were under its control, on the basis that these items were taken on loan to be studied, yet when the original owners asked for them back, the return was rarely forthcoming & they discovered that the items were now held in some grand museum & could no longer legally be returned.

Contrast this with a museum set up to tell the story of the days of Britain’s empire (looking at it from a present day perspective), that borrowed various items on loan from individuals – yet when the original owners asked for the items back after the museum had closed, they discovered that their property had been lost or sold at auction.

History repeats itself, for as long as public institutions do not have proper procedures in place that give equal weighting to the acquisition & the deaccessioning of items in their collections.

From:
Guardian

Row erupts over British empire museum’s ‘lost’ artefacts
144 items loaned to British Empire and Commonwealth Museum believed to be missing, with some sold without owners’ consen
Steven Morris
The Guardian, Monday 10 December 2012

Almost 150 artefacts lent to a museum set up to tell the story of Britain’s colonial past may be missing, it has emerged, with some of them having been sold without their owners’ permission.

Trustees of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, which has now closed, are in talks with about six of the owners about compensation.
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In the past (& fairly recently, in relation to any riots that ever take place there), people have suggested that it is lucky that the Parthenon Marbles (or Egyptian artefacts etc depending what is happening around the world) artefacts in the British Museum, otherwise they would have been more likely to be destroyed.

The assertions of this, assume that for some reason museums in the UK are completely secure – that accidents can’t happen & that every artefact remains forever in the same condition as it was when it was acquired.

Surely though, it would be something hard to own up to – and very galling to the original (& claiming to be rightful) owners, that their artefacts that you were “looking after safely” for them were lost or destroyed? It is hardly as though this is the first time that such a story has surfaced.

From:
Big News Network

British artwork damaged at museums
Big News Network (UPI) Tuesday 6th November, 2012

LONDON — British officials said 199 art exhibits have been lost or stolen from Britain’s national galleries and museums during the last three years.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed many of the artworks, including pieces by Poussin to Roy Lichtenstein, were damaged by the very staff members who are supposed to protect and preserve them, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
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Following on from this earlier article, it appears that the British Museum once again being treated as an organisation that is not entirely independent of the government.

In this instance, the British Museum is taking over the role of administering the Portable Antiquities Scheme from the MLA which is being disbanded. This is an interesting development, as while it can be carried out by any organisation, it does to a certain extent pull the museum closer to the government, removing some of its independence & impartiality. This separation from the government is regularly emphasised when dealing with restitution requests, where the assertion is made that they are a matter to be dealt with entirely by the trustees of the British Museum. At the same time though, actions such as this & the previous one over denial of access to funding indicate that the government continues to maintain a strong hold over the museum & could, if it chose to, influence the actions of the museum.

From:
Museums Association

ACE takes over MLA functions
Sharon Heal
23.11.10

Speaking this morning at the British Museum, culture minister Ed Vaizey announced that Arts Council England (ACE) is likely to take over the functions of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

If approved, all of MLA’s functions will transfer to ACE, including Renaissance, cultural property and accreditation by March 2012. The export reviewing committee, the government indemnity scheme and the acceptance in lieu scheme will also be transferred.
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