Who Owns History?: Elgin’s Loot and the Case for Returning Plundered Treasure by Geoffrey Robertson

-About this book

The biggest question in the world of art and culture concerns the return of property taken without consent. Throughout history, conquerors or colonial masters have taken artefacts from subjugated peoples, who now want them returned from museums and private collections in Europe and the USA.
The controversy rages on over the Elgin Marbles, and has been given immediacy by figures such as France’s President Macron, who says he will order French museums to return hundreds of artworks acquired by force or fraud in Africa, and by British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has pledged that a Labour government would return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Elsewhere, there is a debate in Belgium about whether the Africa Museum, newly opened with 120,000 items acquired mainly by armed forces in the Congo, should close.
Although there is an international convention dated 1970 that deals with the restoration of artefacts stolen since that time, there is no agreement on the rules of law or ethics which should govern the fate of objects forcefully or lawlessly acquired in previous centuries.
Who Owns History? delves into the crucial debate over the Elgin Marbles, but also offers a system for the return of cultural property based on human rights law principles that are being developed by the courts. It is not a legal text, but rather an examination of how the past can be experienced by everyone, as well as by the people of the country of origin.

-CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter One: Whose History Is It?

Background

The Cultural Property Debate

The Right of States – and Peoples

Macron’s Challenge

The Marbles

A Human Rights Approach

Chapter Two: The Glory That Was Greece

A Brief Background

Building the Parthenon

Chapter Three: Elgin: Thief or Saviour?

The Acropolis Before Elgin

Lord Elgin’s Mission

The So-Called Firman

Elgin’s Motivation

An Ambassador’s Conflict of Interest

No Elgin, No Marbles?

Chapter Four: In the Keeping of the British Museum

The Select Committee

Lord Duveen and the Cleaning Scandal

To Russia Without Love

Elginisation

 Chapter Five: The Case for Re-Unification

Demands for the Marbles After Greek Independence

The UK Refuses UNESCO Mediation

The Case for the Museum, Refuted

Chapter Six: International Law to the Rescue?

Conventions

State Practice

Case Law

Human Rights Law

War Law

Conclusion

 Chapter Seven: Museums of Blood

Defining the Right of Return

The Benin Bronzes

The Rosetta Stone

The Bust of Nefertiti

The Maqdala Pillage

The Gweagal Shield

Priam’s Treasure

The Koh-i-Noor Diamond

Dahomey, 1892

The Old Summer Palace, Beijing

The Easter Island Moai

The Ashanti Wars

A Note on Replicas

Chapter Eight: Towards Justice

Restorative Justice

The UNESCO Convention and Its Limits

A Convention for the Repatriation of Important Cultural Heritage (CRICH)

Conclusion

Index

-Caractéristiques

Date de parution :5 novembre 2019

Éditeur ‏ : ‎ Biteback Publishing

Langue ‏ : ‎ Anglais

NB.de pages ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 178590521X

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785905216

Poids de l’article ‏ : ‎ 440 g

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.3 x 2.7 x 24.1 cm