In the case of the Siksika Nation and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), “leaders from the Blackfoot-run cultural and educational centre, the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, told the Guardian they had been shocked by their interactions with RAMM. The museum, they said, had challenged the repatriation claim by alleging that the park was not an accredited museum.” Though, the decision made by the Exeter city council was in favor of repatriating the items. I find this reason for the museum to hesitate in returning the Siksika items to be controversial; the RAMM wants to ensure that the items are cared for properly and evaluating the museum these items would go to is a big part of that assurance. I am of the opinion that if the artifacts place of origin has the means to support the historical maintenance and further exploration of the artifact in question, then the artifact should be repatriated. If the intention behind large museums housing looted art is education and preservation, assuming the original country can sustainably and effectively continue these efforts, then I see no reason that the work should not be repatriated. As mentioned in the Hyperallergic article, “French, German, and British excavators were often supercilious in their defense of looting cultural heritage from classical sites in the Eastern Mediterranean in order to be “protected” within European museums,” protection appears to be the goal.
I do believe protection and preservation should be a top priority for artifacts; I do not, however, believe that this is the pure intention of the museums that wish to keep their looted treasures. The Hyperallergic article makes it very clear that the “’… museum hoard[ed] not just ancient collections but of their digital doubles’” and gatekept even copying hieroglyphic inscriptions from native Egyptians because of the “fear [that] native Egyptians learning to translate hieroglyphics and other ancient languages as a potential threat to European archaeologists.” These artifacts were created by Egyptian people, at least in part, for documentation. I’m sure there are many arguments by art philosophers debating the importance of an artist’s intention with an artwork; I argue that the artists of the Nefertiti bust created it not only to capture her beauty but immortalize her in limestone and stucco for later Egyptian generations. The narrator of The British Museum Is Full of Stolen Artifacts said, “These requests aren’t just about items, they are also about cultural and historical identity.” The way I see it, depriving modern Egyptian people from understanding and experiencing a part of their culture and history, nonetheless deliberately to secure your own seat at the table, is immoral. The answer to “When should artworks that critics claim were stolen be returned?” now comes down to difference in cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation.
