The Smithsonian Institution announced Tuesday that it has adopted a policy that formally authorizes participating museums to return items from their collections that have been looted or otherwise acquired unethically.
The institution’s leaders said the policy, which took effect Friday, represents a shift from the stance it and other museums had long taken, which believed the legal right to own an item was sufficient justification. to keep it.
“My goal was very simple: Smithsonian will be the place people refer to, to say, ‘This is how we should share our collections and think about ethical returns,’” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution , in an interview. “The Smithsonian is this amazing miracle – this gift, not just to the country, but to the world. It’s really important that we lead.”
In recent years, as conversations about racism and the legacy of colonialism multiplied, the discussion about the repatriation of the works of art stolen, forcibly taken or removed without the consent of their owners has intensified in cultural centers across the world. worldwide.
Where museums once claimed they had no authority to return works from donors or that the preservation of artifacts promoted the broadest appreciation of ancient cultures, the pendulum has swung toward restitution and repatriation.
With its new policy, the Smithsonian — which includes 21 museums and the National Zoo — is unequivocally acknowledging that standards and best practices in the collecting world have changed and that it’s time for museums to catch up.
Last year, Smithsonian officials returned a gold disc bearing the shield of the city of Cusco to Peru’s Ministry of Culture. A collector had bought it in 1912 from someone who worked in the country, officials said.
In March, the Smithsonian said it would return most of its 39 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria — more than a century after they were stolen during the British Army’s 1897 raid on the ancient kingdom of Benin. Museum officials have said they view the return of the Bronzes, a name used to cover a variety of artifacts, as a clear example of a situation where repatriation was appropriate. The Nigerian National Commission on Museums and Monuments and the Smithsonian will share exhibits and collaborate on education programs as part of a broad agreement that includes the repatriation of the artworks, officials said.
“No one ever expects everything to be taken away,” Bunch said.
“But I think it’s important to recognize that museums need to share authority,” he continued. “If you look at the return of materials, part of the conversation could be that perhaps the best place for materials is at the museum.”
The policy grew out of discussions last year by a group of Smithsonian conservators and collection specialists, who were asked to consider whether the institution should develop a policy as it is now adopted.
The move falls under broader “collection management” rules that apply to all Smithsonian museums, officials said. But the institution’s collections are so diverse that the implementation of the ethics policy must be tailored specifically to each museum.
Officials made it clear that although they have passed the policy, they will not begin a full inventory of the Smithsonian’s 157 million objects.
“The idea is to say that when we do exhibitions, when we bring in new collections, we look at it through an ethical lens,” Bunch said. “Or, of course, if we hear about things from countries or communities, that will also trigger the kind of research that will really allow us to make decisions about where is the best place for those collections.”
There are some items that have already caught the attention of curators.
The Smithsonian has a photo of a black jazz musician in the archives of the National Museum of American History that he received from a collector. But provenance investigators “don’t like the photo’s history going back further” than that acquisition, said Linda St. Thomas, a spokeswoman for the institution.
In another case, the National Museum of Natural History has pottery from an expedition site in Turkey that is from the ancient city of Troy, she said. It’s possible Turkey will want to locate items like the pottery and eventually ask for them to be returned, St. Thomas said.
In a publicly released statement on values and principles, the Smithsonian said, “We affirm the Smithsonian’s commitment to implement policies that respond in a transparent and timely manner to requests for return or shared stewardship.”