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It's interesting to see these European nations are publicly displaying these pilfered stuff, knowing many of them carry ugly history, in museums for the whole w

It's interesting to see these European nations are publicly displaying these pilfered stuff, knowing many of them carry ugly history, in museums for the whole world to see. Is this "matter of fact" mindset an unique trait of European cultures? No judgement is passing here, I am only curious about the thinking and mindset. I would venture to guess that nations of other cultures in modern days probably would feel very uncomfortable to openly display artifacts sourced in similar ways.

trung1trung2 8y ago
Well, many Chinese museums 'matter-of-factly' display artifacts plundered from their subjugated populations (the Uighers, the Tibetans, the Miao, etc) so I'd hazard a guess that it's a fairly universal trait.
- kev6168 8y ago
  I have been to many major memuems in China and I don't remember seeing large sections of precious artifacts from the populations you mentioned. Can you name some of them? Also technically they are all within one country, it's different from what we are talk about.
  - zeth___ 8y ago
    Technically Greece and Britain are within the EU. No problems there either.
    - Leary 8y ago
      Just renamed the British Museum the EU museum and we are fine.
- justicezyx 8y ago
  Throw-away account posting baseless statements. Should HN have a policy banning such posts?
candiodari 8y ago
Firstly, note that art is considered stolen if it's outside of it's place of origin, regardless of whether it was paid for or not. So: https://www.si.edu/collections https://www.si.edu/collections "The Smithsonian's collections represent our nation's rich heritage, art from across the globe, and the immense diversity of the natural and cultural world." In other words, the Smithsonian has plenty of stolen art. But what about real "other" cultures ? http://en.chnmuseum.cn/tabid/520/Default.aspx?ExhibitionLanguageID=232 http://en.chnmuseum.cn/tabid/520/Default.aspx?ExhibitionLang... Yep, China does it too. https://independent-travellers.com/malaysia/kuala_lumpur/national_museum/ https://independent-travellers.com/malaysia/kuala_lumpur/nat... So does Malaysia ... plenty of Chinese and even Western objects. Can't easily find too many others, but of course in the middle east the collections also contain much stolen art.
- che_shirecat 8y ago
  It's interesting how whataboutism is called out in every thread about China but its somehow okay when the topic of interest is the Brits/French. Your two examples don't even hold water, the first one is a temporary exhibition of donated artwork, the second is filled with replicas or illustratory material, not original works. You even say yourself that you can't easily find too many others, while the examples you've found are like apples to oranges compared to the art unabashedly displayed in european museums that were looted from their places of origin in very near history.
  - dnomad 8y ago
    The mental gymnastics at work here are to be expected. There's really a total lack of integrity when it comes to Europeans admitting the extraordinary crimes of the past and providing redress. This is why absolutely nobody takes seriously the empty words about human rights. And note it is not a matter of "ancient history"; it is widely recognized that American soldiers looted art from Iraq and Afghanistan worth millions [1] but there is very rarely investigations and prosecutions for this. [1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iraq-war-souvenirs-20150417-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iraq-war-...
zeth___ 8y ago
>Is this "matter of fact" mindset an unique trait of European cultures? No judgement is passing here, I am only curious about the thinking and mindset. I would venture to guess that nations of other cultures in modern days probably would feel very uncomfortable to openly display artifacts sourced in similar ways. What shroud do you keep Manhattan hidden under?
- kev6168 8y ago
  But these European museums for the past hundred years have been like this, "hey folks, look here, in the past we invaded other countries, burnt down their houses, plundered their stuff. It's wrong, OK! Now with that out of the way, here are our loot, everybody come in to take a look. Enjoy!" It's facinating.
  - zeth___ 8y ago
    And America is that on the scale of a continent. At least the British left the India to the Indians when they were done stealing all that wasn't nailed down. The Americans on the other hand gave the Indians the bad parts of Idaho * . * As long as no oil is discovered there.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]

trung1trung2 8y ago

Well, many Chinese museums 'matter-of-factly' display artifacts plundered from their subjugated populations (the Uighers, the Tibetans, the Miao, etc) so I'd hazard a guess that it's a fairly universal trait.

kev6168 8y ago
I have been to many major memuems in China and I don't remember seeing large sections of precious artifacts from the populations you mentioned. Can you name some of them? Also technically they are all within one country, it's different from what we are talk about.
- zeth___ 8y ago
  Technically Greece and Britain are within the EU. No problems there either.
  - Leary 8y ago
    Just renamed the British Museum the EU museum and we are fine.
justicezyx 8y ago
Throw-away account posting baseless statements. Should HN have a policy banning such posts?

candiodari 8y ago

Firstly, note that art is considered stolen if it's outside of it's place of origin, regardless of whether it was paid for or not. So: https://www.si.edu/collections https://www.si.edu/collections "The Smithsonian's collections represent our nation's rich heritage, art from across the globe, and the immense diversity of the natural and cultural world." In other words, the Smithsonian has plenty of stolen art. But what about real "other" cultures ? http://en.chnmuseum.cn/tabid/520/Default.aspx?ExhibitionLanguageID=232 http://en.chnmuseum.cn/tabid/520/Default.aspx?ExhibitionLang... Yep, China does it too. https://independent-travellers.com/malaysia/kuala_lumpur/national_museum/ https://independent-travellers.com/malaysia/kuala_lumpur/nat... So does Malaysia ... plenty of Chinese and even Western objects. Can't easily find too many others, but of course in the middle east the collections also contain much stolen art.

che_shirecat 8y ago
It's interesting how whataboutism is called out in every thread about China but its somehow okay when the topic of interest is the Brits/French. Your two examples don't even hold water, the first one is a temporary exhibition of donated artwork, the second is filled with replicas or illustratory material, not original works. You even say yourself that you can't easily find too many others, while the examples you've found are like apples to oranges compared to the art unabashedly displayed in european museums that were looted from their places of origin in very near history.
- dnomad 8y ago
  The mental gymnastics at work here are to be expected. There's really a total lack of integrity when it comes to Europeans admitting the extraordinary crimes of the past and providing redress. This is why absolutely nobody takes seriously the empty words about human rights. And note it is not a matter of "ancient history"; it is widely recognized that American soldiers looted art from Iraq and Afghanistan worth millions [1] but there is very rarely investigations and prosecutions for this. [1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iraq-war-souvenirs-20150417-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iraq-war-...

zeth___ 8y ago

>Is this "matter of fact" mindset an unique trait of European cultures? No judgement is passing here, I am only curious about the thinking and mindset. I would venture to guess that nations of other cultures in modern days probably would feel very uncomfortable to openly display artifacts sourced in similar ways. What shroud do you keep Manhattan hidden under?

kev6168 8y ago
But these European museums for the past hundred years have been like this, "hey folks, look here, in the past we invaded other countries, burnt down their houses, plundered their stuff. It's wrong, OK! Now with that out of the way, here are our loot, everybody come in to take a look. Enjoy!" It's facinating.
- zeth___ 8y ago
  And America is that on the scale of a continent. At least the British left the India to the Indians when they were done stealing all that wasn't nailed down. The Americans on the other hand gave the Indians the bad parts of Idaho * . * As long as no oil is discovered there.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]