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Keeping Their Marbles

How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums - And Why They Should Stay There
By Tiffany Jenkins
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Keeping Their Marbles by Tiffany Jenkins explores the contentious history behind the acquisitions of the world’s most famous museum collections, from the Elgin Marbles to the Benin Bronzes. The book traces how many treasures were obtained through coercion or theft during imperial times, and examines the modern demands for repatriation from countries including Greece, Nigeria, and China. Jenkins argues that returning artefacts will not heal historical wounds or bring social change, instead presenting museums as valuable centres of knowledge where cultural objects belong to no single home.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This thought-provoking book is suited to readers interested in museum studies, cultural heritage, history, and debates around repatriation. It will appeal particularly to those seeking a critical perspective on the ethics of museum collections and cultural ownership controversies.

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The story of how the museums of the West acquired their fabulous collections, from the Benin Bronzes to Native American sacred objects, and why they should not be returned to the lands -- or the people -- from which they came.

Can anyone 'own' cultural property

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The fabulous collections housed in the world's most famous museums are trophies from an imperial age. Yet the huge crowds that each year visit the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, or the Metropolitan in New York have little idea that many of the objects on display were acquired by coercion or theft.

Now the countries from which these treasures came would like them back. The Greek demand for the return of the Elgin Marbles is the tip of an iceberg that includes claims for the Benin Bronzes from Nigeria, sculpture from Turkey, scrolls and porcelain taken from the Chinese Summer Palace, textiles from Peru, the bust of Nefertiti, Native American sacred objects, and Aboriginal human remains.

In Keeping Their Marbles, Tiffany Jenkins tells the bloody story of how western museums came to acquire these objects. She investigates why repatriation claims have soared in recent decades and demonstrates how it is the guilt and insecurity of the museums themselves that have stoked the demands for return. Contrary to the arguments of campaigners, she shows that sending artefacts back will not achieve the desired social change nor repair the wounds of history.

Instead, this ground-breaking book makes the case for museums as centres of knowledge, demonstrating that no object has a single home, and no one culture owns culture.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Acclaimed for its well-argued and courageous perspective, Keeping Their Marbles has been described as "excellent" by James Heartfield, Spiked, and praised for its fascinating content by Christopher Allen, Australian Book Review. Juanita Coulson, The Lady awarded it 5 stars, highlighting the book’s compelling case for retaining artefacts in Western museums. It has been named one of the books of the year by Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald and termed "brilliant and fascinating" by James Delingpole, Spectator. The Wall Street Journal commended Jenkins for her bold argument, while The Times and RA Magazine noted its lucid account of museum acquisitions and defence of keeping treasures in their current homes.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780198817185

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 February 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Oxford University Press

Illustration: 17 black & white illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 464g

Pages: 384

Collections

Education & Reference Non-Fiction Science & Nature Tiffany Jenkins

About the Author

Tiffany Jenkins is an author, academic, broadcaster, and consultant on cultural policy. Her writing credits include the Independent , the Art Newspaper , the Guardian , the Scotsman (for which she was a weekly columnist on social and cultural issues) and the Spectator . She is an Honorary Fellow in Department of Art History at the University of Edinburgh; a former visiting fellow in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics and was previously the director of the Arts and Society Programme at the Institute of Ideas. She competed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Kent and divides her time between London and Edinburgh. She has advised a number of organisations on cultural policy, including Trinity College, Dublin; English Heritage; the British Council; the Norwegian government; the University of Oslo; Norwegian Theatres and Orchestras; and the National Touring Network for Performing Arts, Norway.

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