British Museum

In Brief

Two Treasure Hunters Headed to Jail After Concealing Their Discovery of Viking Treasure Trove

The metal detector enthusiasts, along with two coin dealers who assisted in selling the concealed find, have all been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail. The collection is worth an estimated $15.4 million.

Art

When the West Dreamt of Odalisques

Inspired by the East: How the Islamic World Influenced Western Art is a giant teaching aid of a fairly solid and dependable kind, but one that does not quite push far enough.

News

Activists Dressed as Trojan Figures Crash Opening of BP-Funded Exhibition

Activist group BP or not BP? interrupted the opening of Troy: Myth and Reality at the British Museum, dressed as “living statues," including a character of their own invention, “Petroleus.”

In Brief

China Sides with Greece Over Return of Parthenon Marbles

President Xi Jinping, expressed his support of Greece's request to win back the 2,500-year-old friezes after 30 years of British refusal.

News

This Is What the World's First Travel Guide Looks Like

This first edition of the 15th-century book Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam features the first accurate printed illustrations of Jerusalem and Venice, among other cities.

News

Anti-Oil Protesters Will Storm the British Museum with a Trojan Horse

BP or not BP? launched a crowdfunding campaign to build a giant Trojan Horse for its largest protest yet, which will coincide with the museum's Troy: Myth and Reality exhibition.

Art

The Challenges of Displaying Manga in a Museum Context

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the exhibition’s generic name, in trying to be everything to everyone, it’s hard for Manga to satisfy anyone.

In Brief

British Museum Workers Issue Statement in Support of Trustee Who Resigned

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union Culture Group have expressed their solidarity with Ahdaf Soueif, who recently resigned from the board and cited the museum’s endorsement of the oil company BP, its silence on the restitution of cultural artifacts, and labor issues as reasons

Art

The Limits of Edvard Munch's Radicalism

What remains unspoken in the British Museum's Love and Angst is the ways Munch's dark emotions frequently came to target the women in his life.

In Brief

British Museum Trustee Resigns, Citing Oil Funding and Restitution Inaction

In a public resignation letter, Egyptian-British novelist Ahdaf Soueif named the museum's endorsement of the oil giant British Petroleum (BP) and its inaction on the issue of artifact restitution as some of the reasons for her resignation.

News

Activists Return to the British Museum to Lead Another "Stolen Goods" Tour

During the event, speakers called for the repatriation of objects acquired through colonialism and an end to sponsorship from the oil company BP.

Art

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.