The British Museum has dispatched dozens of priceless ancient treasures to India to aid in « decolonising » historical narratives, in a move certain to reignite fierce debates over Britain’s imperial legacy. Eighty artefacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Sumer have arrived on long-term loan at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS).
These pieces form the centrepiece of a new gallery that corrects colonial misinterpretation and elevates India’s place among the cradles of civilisation. Dr Nicholas Cullinan, the museum’s director, hailed the initiative as a groundbreaking « new model » during a high-profile ceremony in Mumbai. In an interview with The Telegraph, he positioned extended loans as a positive alternative to outright repatriation, explaining: « You don’t have to embarrass your own country to do something positive with another country. »
Following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, museums across the country rushed to return artefacts to their country of origin in an effort condemned in some quarters as « woke. »
The British Museum, long protected by the 1963 Act from permanent deaccessions, has largely avoided such sweeping reforms until now.
Under Dr Cullinan’s leadership since 2024, it has shifted towards protracted loans.
CSMVS director general Sabyasachi Mukherjee embraced the collaboration as narrative reclamation. He said: « Colonisation penetrated into our education, our culture. Through this exhibition, there is decolonisation – we are emerging with dignity and are very proud of history. »
The loaned pieces include a fragile 4,000-year-old Egyptian wooden river boat and Romano-British relics evoking ancient trade with India.
None originate from the subcontinent, despite Narendra Modi’s government pressing for the return of Indian treasures like the Amaravati Marbles and Tipu Sultan’s regalia.
Dr Cullinan dismissed adversarial demands and advocated « collaboration rather than this kind of zero-sum, binary, all-or-nothing model. »
Recent Asante gold loans to Ghana and talks with China and Nigeria underline the museum’s new approach through lending.
This development marks the British Museum’s clearest engagement yet with post-colonial restitution pressures.
Source link
