Colonialism

Colonialism and repatriation

Some facts concerning Egypt Centre and repatriation of objects:  

• Egypt Centre doesn’t own most of the objects in its care. They belong to the Wellcome Trust
• Egyptian officials have never asked Egypt Centre to return objects
• For many objects we are not sure from where in Egypt they were taken
• The objects we have were not taken illegally from Egypt
• Many of the objects were sold by the Egyptians to Europeans

Some other issues to consider:

• Are the objects we have on display our heritage or those of modern Egyptians?
• Should we ask modern Egyptians how to display their heritage?

Europeans sometimes see ancient Egypt as part of western culture but modern Egypt as not. Should we display more things from Egypt after the pharaohs?