Newly public emails show correspondence between the museum, Russia’s London embassy, British officials, and BP.
British Museum
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.
Posted inArt
Hokusai’s “Great Wave” Was Only a Drop in the Bucket
Already fully accomplished by his fifties in a range of styles, from his sixties Katsushika Hokusai’s paintings and prints begin to accelerate in ambition and sophistication, leaping between styles and subjects.
Posted inArt
Why an Indigenous Australian Wants the British Museum to Return His Ancestor’s Shield
Rodney Kelly is campaigning the museum to repatriate the Gweagal shield, which belonged to his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Posted inNews
At British Museum Protest, Australian Aboriginal Activist Demands Repatriation of Ancestor’s Shield
On Sunday, with help from the theatrical protest group BP Or Not BP?, Rodney Kelly appealed to the public for the return of the Gweagal shield.
Posted inArt
Watch the British Museum Conserve Its Largest Print, a 16th-Century Dürer Woodcut
Albrecht Dürer’s “Triumphal Arch” is one of the largest prints ever made, and after a century on view at the British Museum, its conservation was a colossal task.
Posted inArt
The British Pennies Defaced in Protest by a Suffragette
A 1903 penny on view at the British Museum features the words “Votes for Women” letter-stamped by a suffragette over the face of the king.
Posted inArt
Recreating the Face of a 9,500-Year-Old Man
A 9,500-year-old human skull at the British Museum may help visitors connect to our human ancestors.
Posted inNews
In Wake of Trump’s Election, Protestors Address Climate Change at the British Museum
In a performance at the British Museum, the theatrical protest group BP or not BP? marked the final weekend of a BP-sponsored exhibition and responded to the election of Donald Trump.
Posted inArt
The Enduring Power of Southeast Asia’s Traditional Shadow Puppets
For centuries, shadow puppet theater not only captivated audiences across Southeast Asia but also held ritual significance for various local communities.
Posted inNews
Anti-BP Protesters Release Pirates, Merpeople, and the Kraken at the British Museum
LONDON — The irony of oil company BP sponsoring the British Museum’s current exhibition Sunken Cities will have been lost on few.