The return of cultural relics from various countries to their native places is blocked and long: who are model students and poor students?
2021-12-09
France returned 26 cultural relics plundered during the colonial era to Benin, Britain returned cultural relics to Nigeria twice a week, and the United States returned more than 17000 plundered cultural relics to Iraq. In this wave of world upsurge in the return of cultural relics, who is the "head teacher" and who is a model student and a poor student? The return of cultural relics from various countries to their native land is blocked and long ◎ Wu bingcong The return of cultural relics is a hot topic in the international cultural circle recently: in November this year, France returned 26 cultural relics to Benin, and hundreds of local people sang and danced at the airport to welcome these cultural relics looted by the French army 129 years ago back to their hometown. Earlier, the United States returned more than 17000 looted cultural relics to Iraq. Germany will also return a batch of cultural relics to Nigeria next year. The return of cultural relics to their hometown has made the local people happy, but for the former powers, it has undergone several ideological changes. Some people strongly support it, while others even ignore it. Behind the displacement of cultural relics, in addition to the historical reasons of war and colonization, there are also the practical challenges of illegal theft of cultural relics and underground circulation. Urging these cultural relics to return to their hometown has always been the direction of efforts of the United Nations. It takes time and effort for countries to strive for the permanent return of cultural relics. Even if they resort to legal means, it still needs a long wait and consultation. In addition, once the remains of ancient humans are taken, it is difficult to go home for many years. Therefore, allowing human ancestors to go home has become an important topic in the field of cultural relics return. Some people are active and others are tangled in the upsurge of cultural relics return The return of cultural relics is a hot topic recently. Former powers such as France, Britain, the United States and Germany have all been listed on the return list. In this wave of world upsurge in the return of cultural relics, the new trend of historical development and the reflection of some countries on war and colonial history have made the return of cultural relics the mainstream. Governments and museums of various countries have a high exposure, but the voice of embarrassment and hesitation also follows. CNN reported on October 31 this year that Britain held two ceremonies within a week to return previously looted cultural relics to Nigeria: at Cambridge University, a bronze rooster was officially returned to the Nigerian National Museum and monument Committee, and the University of Aberdeen later returned a sculpture depicting the head of the king of Benin. Successive returns have put pressure on large academic and cultural institutions such as the British Museum. Public opinion is calling on the British Museum to return more than 900 bronzes in their collection. In a statement to CNN, the museum said that the museum "understands and recognizes the importance of the return of cultural relics" and will continue to work to "share our collection as widely as possible". The political correctness of the statement is impeccable, but its wording is worth considering. CNN believes that it is disturbing for the museum to ask for the return of cultural relics in batches. After all, the British Museum also collects other world-famous stolen cultural relics, such as a series of ancient sculptures plundered from Athens - the marble relief of the Parthenon temple. In this regard, the voice of Germany said in the report that the collections of European museums are facing a major reshuffle, and it is a difficult process for the former European powers to face history and talk to each other. CNN reporter Luke McGee said in the report that the British government believes that the British Museum is the best destination for bronzes. Only here can more people enjoy these cultural relics, and placing the collections in large advanced museums in developed cities can give them the best maintenance conditions. This argument was also refuted by some people, who thought it was extremely insulting and completely immersed in the original British Imperial thinking mode. "This logic shows that Nigeria is a poorer country and cannot properly keep the cultural relics stolen by the colonists, although Nigeria has a state-of-the-art Museum waiting for them. This is a typical racist argument that Britain is an exquisite and knowledgeable place." Said kosind Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University. It is noteworthy that in November this year, 26 cultural relics returned by France to Benin were widely reported by the media of various countries. The return of cultural relics was warmly welcomed by the people of Benin. France has also become a model student in the cultural circle because of its positive attitude towards the return of cultural relics since 2017. In his speech in November 2017, French President macron called for "creating conditions for the temporary or permanent return of African heritage to Africa". On the official website of the French Ministry of foreign affairs, the policy advocacy article clearly pointed out the necessity of returning cultural relics. "France's public collections reflect the history of France, including colonial history. This leads to the location of some African cultural heritage outside Africa and deprives African citizens of the opportunity to understand their traditional culture." Aware of this problem, the French government hopes to return African cultural heritage to its homeland and take this opportunity to strengthen cultural heritage cooperation with all African countries, such as investment in heritage protection and short-term training plans for professional researchers of African cultural heritage. Helping cultural relics return to their homeland and helping the cultural reconstruction of former colonies have aroused public discussion. Did the former powers sincerely repent and face history, or did they do face-to-face projects to build the image of a powerful country? For the home countries of cultural relics, the great powers should not simply return cultural relics to cover up the "black history" of the past, but face up to the social problems derived from colonial history. The United Nations has been taking action to promote the return of cultural relics to their hometown UNESCO has long been committed to promoting the return of colonial cultural relics to their homeland, so it has successively issued three important conventions on the return and protection of cultural heritage. As early as 1954, the Convention for the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict had been published. The Convention faced up to the massive looting of museums by invading troops during the Second World War and was committed to promoting the restoration of wartime stolen cultural relics. In 1970, in the face of the international situation in which more colonial countries gained independence, the Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the Illicit Import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural heritage was promulgated, urging States parties to take measures to prohibit and prevent illicit trafficking in cultural heritage. The Convention has a far-reaching impact. So far, 141 countries have become parties to it, and the Convention is also considered to be fully in line with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. In 1995, the Convention on stolen or illegally exported cultural relics was published. On the basis of the previous convention, further detailed provisions were made on the return of stolen cultural relics and the return of Illegally Exported Cultural Relics. So far, the legal provisions against illegal trafficking in cultural heritage have been improved. The Convention also covers unregistered and undeclared stolen cultural heritage and stipulates that all stolen items must be returned. On the road of promoting the return of cultural relics, if the United Nations is the "head teacher" in formulating conventions and coordinating the return affairs between countries, then the Netherlands is a model student in last year's final exam. The report published on the official website of UNESCO specifically praised the honorary deeds of the Netherlands in actively reflecting on colonial history and returning the short sword to Indonesia. It is reported that the Netherlands "dare to be the first in the world", of which the National World Culture Museum has made the most outstanding contribution. In 2014, the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Netherlands withdrew its funding for the Dutch tropical Museum. It merged with the Museum of Ethnology and the African Museum to form the national world culture museum. At the moment when the museum is facing the whole group of changes, cultural relics managers also began a profound reflection. "This crisis has sounded an alarm for all institutions, prompted us to question the colonial history of our country, and made us realize that we can ask many questions in terms of identity, control, power, inequality and decolonization," said stikin shundwald, curator of the National Museum of world culture Later, in 2016, researcher Jos van burden published an English version of his doctoral thesis "entrusting treasures to trustworthy people: determining the future of colonial cultural relics through negotiation", which injected new impetus into the discussion on the fate of works of art in the colonial era in the Netherlands. Driven by this academic trend, in 2017, the Dutch National Museum of world culture began to formulate a "guide to the return of cultural relics". On March 7, 2019, the document entitled "return of Cultural Relics: Principles and processes" was made public. The document states that "the overall task of museums is to clarify the complex, chaotic and long history that enabled them to obtain these current collections". At the same time, the document "promises to handle and evaluate the requirements for the return of cultural relics in a transparent manner according to the standards of respect, cooperation and timeliness". The new policy of the Dutch National Museum of world culture on the return of cultural relics has received a positive response from the public. However, the curator Shuen de Wald is still worried that if the relevant policies on the return of cultural relics are formulated at the national level, it may lead to the dissatisfaction of extreme right-wing groups and take the opportunity to incite nationalism. Illegal trafficking in cultural relics is the main reason for the displacement of cultural relics in the new era For decades, the United Nations has advocated and persuaded not only to let cultural relics go home, but also to combat the increasingly rampant grave theft and illegal sale of cultural relics. On the table, government agencies and museums of various countries began to reflect on the history of colonialism and war and promote the return of cultural relics. However, what caused the displacement of cultural relics in the new era was a large number of underground transactions and illegal excavation. In its promotional articles, UNESCO said that in the 51 years since the publication of the Convention in 1970, UNESCO has been committed to making the public more aware of the risks involved in illegal trafficking in cultural relics, and has assisted the State Party in formulating laws and preventive measures to encourage the return of illegally transferred cultural heritage. In the autumn of 2019, two transnational pursuit operations against smuggled cultural relics were carried out under the cooperation of various parties, and the world customs organization, the International Criminal Police Organization, the European Criminal Police Organization and the Spanish special police team cooperated. In an international operation spanning more than 100 countries, the police seized coins, ancient weapons, ceramics, fossils and paintings from different historical periods. 971 Afghan cultural relics were intercepted at the Afghan customs at Kabul airport alone. In Madrid, Spain, some precious cultural relics from the pre Columbian period (before 1492) were seized, including a unique tumakokin mask. The two transnational pursuit operations intercepted more than 19000 archaeological relics and other works of art. The large number of seized items made the public understand that the illegal flow of cultural relics has been rampant in recent decades. The lucrative art market has attracted unscrupulous participants. Mafia and terrorist organizations are increasingly involved in the illegal trafficking of cultural relics to launder money or raise funds for terrorist activities. The outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia has further worsened the theft and smuggling of cultural relics. The team engaged in antique trafficking and heritage anthropology noted that the phenomenon of selling stolen cultural relics on social media in 2020 was most likely to come back, with cultural relics from the Middle East and North Africa as the main source. As a partner of UNESCO, the research team's research has prompted Facebook to ban users from trading historical relics online. Tracking down and cracking down on cultural relics traffickers and sending
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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