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The Brutish Museums
The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution
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The Brutish Museums
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
The book that changed the conversation on the contemporary museum
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
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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 Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Brutish Museums by Dan Hicks has been acclaimed as a transformative and vital piece on the subject of cultural restitution, urging action towards returning looted objects and challenging traditional museum narratives. It is described as an impassioned and meticulously argued book that compels readers to confront colonial violence and its ongoing effects in the present. Many reviews commend its significant role in changing perceptions about British history, empire, and the need for justice in cultural heritage.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780745346229
Publisher: Pluto Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 20 October 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Pluto Press
Illustration: 4 Tables, black and white; 18 Halftones, black and white; 16 Plates, black and white
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 27.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 351g
Pages: 368
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. His award-winning research focuses on decolonisation in art and culture, and academic disciplines, and on the role of cultural whiteness in ongoing histories of colonial violence and dispossession.
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