Returning cultural objects

Yesterday, Svenska Dagbladet (one of the big newspapers in Sweden) wrote about the returning of two aboriginal craniums to Australia. Today, they write more (see http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_891649.svd ). A discussion about those matters is of utter importance. Throughout collections in the world, there are many objects, human remains and other things, that were taken from other countries, or from indigenous peoples, in ways that are not acceptable. This can be craniums, mummies, but also works of art and things with religious background. Just have a look at the Egyptian collections in many famous museums. How did they get there? Legitimate questions to ask. In each and every case the backgound must be investigated and in dialogue it must be determined what to do with a certain object. Such a process must take some time, but not too much. There is a certain risk of commercialisation, writes SvD, and there is. Some of those objects can be very valuable. So caution is necessary.

Still, we must go on, as a part of a decolonization process. Humain remains ask for special caution and sensitivity. Also, religiously loaded objects and objects from graves must be paid special attention to. And the nearer in time, the more sensitive questions are. But there are even cultural objects, works of art, simply stolen from the people.

Of course, there is a great value in having collections from other places. To be able to study cultures from all over the world. Therefor, there should be an ongoing possibility to have exhibits on Indian culture in Stockholm, or on Swedish culture in Sioux Falls. To name just one example or two. A good dialogue can settle this. There are always possibilities of exchange, of compensation. When the Ethnographical Museum gave back a totem pole to the Haisla people in North America, they god a modern hand-made one in exchange.

It is a good thing that dialogue has started on those matters. We still can have educational exhibitions on different cultures. But we would like to be sure that they are ethically acceptable. And human remains and grave objects must be handled with utmost respect and caution. Especially in that case, the people in question are to decide themselves what is acceptable or not.