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.
British Museum
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.
Posted inNews
New Dossier Shows British Museum Had a Role in Dealings Between BP and Russia
Newly public emails show correspondence between the museum, Russia’s London embassy, British officials, and BP.
Posted inArt
How a Fake Monster Crept Into our Museums
The Fiji Mermaid was an object of fantasy but for a long time it was on display as a specimen that many people believed was real.
Posted inIn Brief
British Museum Uploads 3D Model of the Rosetta Stone
Now you can examine the 196 BCE stone stela in all its textural glory.
