The Brutish Museums
The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution
Pitt Rivers Museum · Print & ebook · October 20, 2021
“If you care about museums and the world, read this book”—New York Times “Urgent, lucid, and brilliantly enraged…a long-awaited treatise on justice.”—New York Review of Books “A real game-changer.”—The Economist “A bombshell.”—Los Angeles Times The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation, and the decolonization of museums.
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- Who it’s for
- A rigorous account of how colonial violence shaped museum collections—and the case for cultural restitution.
- Genres
- Museum Studies & Curation, Colonialism & Its Aftermath, Imperialism
- Published
- Pitt Rivers Museum, October 20, 2021
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Start with this bookAbout this book
“If you care about museums and the world, read this book”—New York Times “Urgent, lucid, and brilliantly enraged…a long-awaited treatise on justice.”—New York Review of Books “A real game-changer.”—The Economist “A bombshell.”—Los Angeles Times The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation, and the decolonization of museums.
Continue reading
Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the objects of empire we once took for granted. Walk into any western museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date, and place of origin. They do not mention that the objects are all stolen. Few artifacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes—a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum, and countless private collections.
Look Beyond Glass
A rigorous account of how colonial violence shaped museum collections—and the case for cultural restitution.
Come here for
- A clear-eyed look at museum collections and the violence behind them
- The debate over returning the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
Expect
- History that challenges the dignity of objects behind glass
- A focused, layered discussion of empire, museums, and repatriation
Where it sits
| Colonialism & Its Aftermath | 75% |
|---|---|
| Museum Studies & Curation | 66% |
| Imperialism | 23% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- African Art History
- Art & Politics
- Museum Studies & Curation
- Museum Management
Show all 6 publisher categories
- West African History
- Historical True Crime
- Authors
- Dan Hicks
- Publisher
- Pitt Rivers Museum
- Published
- October 20, 2021
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- African Art History