Repatriation of the Benin Bronzes: an Ethical and Legal Discussion?

By Alec Lesseliers

Introduction

The British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum are a few of the world’s most famous and largest history museums with objects in their collection from all over the world. Although those museums embody a true library of the world, one major problem is hidden in those museums: many well-known objects — like the Rosetta Stone, Hoa Hakananai’a, and the Marble head of Athena — have disputed ownership. On the one hand, museums such as the British Museum, the Louvre, and the MET, so called "encyclopedic museums," are perceived as promoting a global overview of artifacts from different cultures and times. Those museums claim that artifacts belong there on display for the world to see in order to show pluralism and diversity. On the other hand, countries are fighting to get their cultural property back to promote their own states’ national identities.^[1]

The disputed ownership of artifacts in western museums is a well-known global issue. The following will focus primarily on the issue of the Benin Bronzes in the British Museum through an international and domestic legal scope. To start, a sketch of the historical background of the Benin Bronzes. Next, a review of the current legal status of the Benin Bronzes. Lastly, this author will analyse the legal status of the Benin Bronzes through an international and domestic law scope. The domestic law analysis will discuss British law of cultural property.