Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case? (Update)

The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now there’s a push to return these works to their rightful owners. Sounds simple, right? It's not. (Part 2 of an updated series originally published in 2023.)   SOURCES: Matthew Bogdanos, assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit. Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum. Victor Ehikhamenor, Nigerian writer and artist. David Frum, staff writer at The Atlantic. Dan Hicks, professor of contemporary archaeology at the University of Oxford and curator of world archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Bénédicte Savoy, professor of art history at the Technical University in Berlin.   RESOURCES: "These Looted Treasures Are Home. What Now?," by Alex Marshall (New York Times, 2025). "France's Long-Awaited Restitution Policy Is Finally Here," by Vincent Noce (The Art Newspaper, 2023). Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat, by Bénédicte Savoy (2022). "Who Benefits When Western Museums Return Looted Art?" by David Frum (The Atlantic, 2022). "Museums in England and Wales to Gain Powers to Dispose of Objects on Moral Grounds," by Dalya Alberge (The Guardian, 2022). The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, by Dan Hicks (2020). "The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics," by Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr (2018).   EXTRAS: "Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?," by Freakonomics Radio (2025). "The Hidden Side of the Art Market," by Freakonomics Radio (2021). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.