Shoutout to the curator who let me handle the disputed artifact from the colonial era

Holding that object, knowing it was looted, left me with a sick feeling. I believe it belongs back with its people, but the museum argues context is lost if repatriated. Ever faced a history you feel complicit in just by studying it?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron4432h ago

Why do we prioritize museum context over living cultures? Facilitating community visits to study the artifacts directly helped ease my complicity.

tara_thomas531h ago

Tbh, the whole idea of "easing my complicity" seems like you're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Museums exist to protect and share artifacts, not to overshadow living cultures. Honestly, community visits are great, but acting like studying artifacts in museums is some kind of sin is a stretch. Ngl, we can appreciate both museum preservation and living traditions without all the guilt. Prioritizing one doesn't automatically mean disrespecting the other, and framing it as complicity just complicates things unnecessarily. At the end of the day, these artifacts are safe in museums, and communities can engage with them without the heavy moral baggage.