The Brutish Museums

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The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution

By Dan Hicks

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Summary

The Brutish Museums exposes the colonial origins of Western museum collections, focusing on artefacts like the Benin Bronzes, which were looted during a British naval attack in 1897. Dan Hicks explores the history behind these trophies of Empire, now displayed without acknowledgement of their violent acquisition. This provocative book lies at the centre of urgent debates on cultural restitution, repatriation, and the decolonisation of museums, marking a shift towards recognising the true provenance of such collections.
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Format: Hardback

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The Brutish Museums

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This book is essential reading for those interested in art history, museum studies, post-colonial scholarship, and cultural heritage. It suits academics, students, and anyone engaged in understanding the legacy of Empire and the evolving responsibilities of museums today.

A call for western museums to wash their hands of colonial blood

Description

New York Times: 'Best Art Books' 2020

'Essential' - Sunday Times

'Brilliantly enraged' - New York Review of Books

'A real game-changer' - Economist

Walk into any Western museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date, and place of origin. They do not mention that the objects are all stolen.

Few artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes - a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum, and countless private collections.

The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation, and the decolonisation of museums. Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the collections of empire we once took for granted.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780745341767

Publisher: Pluto Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 20 August 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pluto Press

Illustration: 16 Plates, color

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 150.0mm

Height: 230.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 336

Collections

African History Arts & Culture Dan Hicks Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Dan Hicks is Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford, Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. He is also a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of Museum of London Archaeology. He was awarded the 2017 Rivers Memorial Medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute. He has published eight books including The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archaeology (CUP, 2006).

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