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What makes you think that returning artifacts to the rightful owners will make them disappear?
by kpetermeni 7y ago
What makes you think that returning artifacts to the rightful owners will make them disappear?
- jandrese 7y agoThe perception that the rulers of the country are a bunch of kleptocrats who are likely to be ousted by another set of kleptocrats in short order. Generally however as long as the artifacts are in hands of a museum they're generally safe no matter how unstable the host government is. The only exception is when certain religious extremists gain power and go on an spree of cultural destruction like in Syria.
- civilian 7y agoI've got bad news for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram
- onetimemanytime 7y agoNot specific to Nigeria but in certain countries, one phone call from a leader will allow anyone to steal such treasures and be escorted by police cars to the nearest airport. Everyone knows what happened, no one will talk about it. And other than the top guys, others do it just to keep their $250 a month, or whatever, jobs. There are many shades of corruption...
- michaelt 7y agoIf there's one thing we British know about, it's valuable artworks disappearing from their homelands under deals of questionable legitimacy.