During the event, speakers called for the repatriation of objects acquired through colonialism and an end to sponsorship from the oil company BP.
British Museum
Posted inArt
How Not to Decolonize Your Museum
The Asian Civilisations Museum’s latest exhibition is a toothless interrogation of Sir Stamford Raffles, one of Southeast Asia’s most notorious colonizers.
Posted inNews
350 Anti-Oil Protestors Take Over British Museum in Its Largest Protest Ever
On February 16, for a protest organized by BP or not BP?, over 350 activists gathered to urge the British Museum to cut financial ties with British oil company BP.
Posted inNews
Hundreds Attend Guerrilla, Activist-Led Tour of Looted Artifacts at the British Museum
Performance troupe BP or Not BP? organized a “Stolen Goods Tour” at the British Museum, where activists of Australian Aboriginal, Iraqi, Hawaiian, Māori, and Greek Cypriot heritage called for the repatriation of looted artifacts in the museum’s collection.
Posted inArt
Stories of an Assyrian King and What Became of His Empire
A new exhibition at the British Museum underscores the material remains associated with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and their display alludes to Britain’s long and fraught history with Iraq.
Posted inIn Brief
Easter Islanders Are Visiting British Museum to Request Repatriation of Ancestral Heritage
“For us [the statue] is a brother; but for them it is a souvenir or an attraction,” said a member of the Easter Island development commission, Anakena Manutomatoma.
Posted inNews
Anti-BP Protesters Sip Oily Champagne in Satirical Performance at the British Museum
Performers dressed as BP employees sipped oil-contaminated champagne, and protesters displayed facts about BP’s exploitation of Iraqi resources.
Posted inNews
A BP Oil Protest Spills Through the British Museum’s Protest Exhibition
BP or not BP? gathered in opposition of oil giant BP’s financial stake at the British Museum, accusing the company of bolstering its political positioning through its arts investments.
Posted inIn Brief
Easter Islanders Ask British Museum to Return Sacred Statue, Offering Replica in Return
The Rapa Nui community has offered a basalt replica of the eight-foot, four-ton sculpture called Hoa Hakananai’a, which was stolen in 1868.
Posted inArt
Plumbing the Depths of Rodin’s Classical Influences
Rodin’s work is currently on display at the British Museum, with a number of photographs and sculptures included in the exhibition, the main draw being the Parthenon marbles.
Posted inOpinion
Museums Should Consider Why They’ve Become Targets of Attack and Protest
A terror plot targeting the British Museum was recently thwarted, but the reasons why it became a target in the first place go far beyond the current political climate.
Posted inNews
World’s Oldest Figural Tattoos Found on Two Ancient Egyptian Mummies
The 5,000-year-old mummies, which have been at the British Museum, have tattoos of a wild bull, sheep, and alphabet-like motifs.