British [Museum] Audacity

What exactly is a “British” museum if it is not about British history, culture, society, or people? Why does the British Museum proudly announce their thievery and wickedness.  

Ghanaian Gold Regalia on British Museum website.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/terms-use/copyright-and-permissions#re-use-of-images

Wandering the museum's diverse galleries last week, filled with wide-eyed tourists and weary tour groups, I noticed two blatant brilliantly-lit messages.

1. We proudly display the stuff we have stolen, and 

2. We offer artifacts (old and modern) to tell stories of the places we conquered. 

Since I’ve lived in five former British colonies: Kenya, Pakistan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia, I was very curious about the museum and these messages. The museum invites visitors to “experience cultures across the globe, from the dawn of human history to the present.”  In my mind, that would actually be a World Culture Museum. But it really is a World Colonial Musuem.

I expected to see blatant gaps in the displays and accompanying narratives. And I was not disappointed. For example, in narrating the story of Afghanistan, weaving in the devastating roles that the Russians, Americans (post 9/11), and Taliban played, the museum curators failed to mention the precursor: the British role in the 19th Century’s Great Game in Afghanistan.  

The displays about Palestinian culture and costumes failed to mention, or even allude to, the prominent British role in the creation of Israel and corollary destruction of Palestine. Was I surprised not to find absolutely anything about the colonialization and plunder of North America? I am not sure. Why were these colonies missing? Was it because the former British colonies morphed into a powerful nation that dominates the world scene? Was it because they won their independence almost 200 years before all of the other British colonies? Or is it because the Americans may actually be better at colonialism? (See my post, The U.S. is a colonial power. Let me know your opinion by leaving a comment.)

What Other People Say:

I expected gaps and whitewashing of history. I did not, however, expect a blatant, audacious, and offensive acknowledgement of pillaging, shrink-wrapped in clear, diplomatic, meaningless gobbledygook. At first glance these acknowledgements, common across the displays, sounded positive. To a bleary eyed tourist trying to take in much of the museum, these words can easily be mistaken for sincerity:

“ we know there is a sordid past and we are taking steps to correct them”

Take the Ghanaian gold regalia (pictured above). The display says it is on long term loan back to Ghana. A loan? Back to the owner? The display adds, “scan the QR code for the latest information about Asante gold regalia in the British Museum collection.” Here are excerpts from the page that the QR code takes you to. Read it carefully; is it all fluff? (bold and underline added for emphasis)

"The British Museum cares for important objects from the Kingdom of Asante, today located within the West African Republic of Ghana…These objects are of cultural, historical and spiritual significance to the Asante people. 

"They are also indelibly linked to British colonial history in West Africa, with many of them looted from the Asante capital, Kumasi, during the Anglo-Asante Wars of the 1800s. Some of these objects formed part of a British indemnity payment forcibly extracted from the Asantehene at the time, while many others were sold at auction and later dispersed among museums and private collectors worldwide, including the British Museum. 

"Over a 164-year period, from 1818 to 1982, Asante gold regalia entered the British Museum through a range of different sources, including as military and personal loot, donations, purchases and bequests. Items of regalia and other objects were looted by British troops during three of the Anglo-Asante Wars (1873–4, 1895–6 and 1900–1). The British authorities also extracted indemnity payments in gold from the Asante rulers. This material was sold to several cultural institutions and collectors around the world. 

"The Museum purchased four collections that appear to be associated with the 1874 conflict including 12 items that were bought in 1874 in two separate transactions directly from the London goldsmiths R & S Garrard & Co, who were appointed to sell the indemnity items. In 1876 the Museum purchased a further 84 gold objects from the Crown Agents for the Colonies and two objects were purchased from the goldsmiths Phillips Brothers in 1891. It is unclear which of these collections relate to the indemnity extracted from Kofi Karikari (reigned 1867–74), which may comprise the regalia of an Asante chief, rather than royal regalia. {so of course its OK if its not royal}

"The British Museum has received a single formal request dated 2 January 1974 from the Asantehene Opoku Ware II via the Ghana Government to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. This asked for the 'return of regalia and other items removed by British forces in 1874, 1896 and 1900' 

"In August 1974 the Foreign & Commonwealth Office replied through the UK's High Commissioner in Ghana and reported that the Museum's Trustees had said 'that it would be legally impossible for them to return any objects'. 

"In November 2010, during a visit to Kumasi by the then Deputy Director of the British Museum, the current Asantehene Osei Tutu II, in a meeting with senior Asante chiefs, raised the issue of the return of gold regalia again. {I guess this is not considered a formal request???}

"A further agreement was reached whereby the Museum would provide support (formalised through a series of Memoranda of Understanding) to the development of a new museum at Manhyia Palace, with the training of staff and the possibility of a loan of Asante regalia once the new museum was completed. 

"In January 2024, a new partnership between the British Museum and Manhyia Palace Museum was announced. This will deliver a major long-term loan to Kumasi as part of exhibitions to celebrate the Asantehene's Silver Jubilee in the same year, as well as commemorations to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1874 Anglo-Asante War and the 100th anniversary of the return of Asantehene Prempeh I to Kumasi following his exile to the Seychelles by the British in 1896." {end of excerpts} 

What Do I Think:

The Brits left behind a trail of damage across its former colonies: death, destruction, dissolved culture and social structures, and depression. It did, admittedly, leave some positive marks. For example, the governance and education system for which I am a product. The British Museum is a tribute to this history. But in reality, it should be called the Museum of Colonialization. 

When I visited the museum 40 years ago, I doubt there would have been any acknowledgment of the looting and plunder. There were no QR codes or websites for more information. Today the museum has taken a huge step in acknowledging its role. Perhaps 40 years from now the museum will be empty after returning everything to its origin.