A few years ago, the comedian James Acaster did a bit about the British Museum. He started by summarizing how it had acquired its collection: “Everyone in Britain got in a big old boat, and we set sail and we robbed (and this’ll sound far-fetched) everyone in the world.” Acaster went on to imagine a visitor from a former colony confidently arriving to reclaim some obviously pilfered artifact. “I don’t think so,” says the nonplussed Brit at the museum door. “We’re still looking at it.”
The routine (easily found online) sums up the prevailing view of the rotten ethical foundations of many collections. It’s more than fodder for stand‑up. For instance, the Australian and Canadian public broadcasters co-produced a successful podcast series, bluntly called Stuff the British Stole, examining the dubious ways many items wound up under glass in stately buildings. Indeed, curators all over are grappling with how to deal with tainted patrimony: everything from...
John Geddes previously worked as the Ottawa bureau chief for Maclean’s.
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