First Assignment

In the article entitled Obsessing about past wrongs is to miss the power of
culture, Tiffany Jenkins reports on the controversial issue regarding artefacts in
dispute between The English Museum and an Australian Native Clan. Id like to
start first by stating that, in this era, people should begin to consider cultural
heritage as a global concept, since, in my opinion, there is no such national or, in
this case, tribal heritage when dealing with historical objects that were created two
centuries ago in a totally different economic, political and cultural environment. If it
is possible to prove that the object was looted, people have the option of
repatriation. However, when there is no evidence, it is impossible to trace the
different owners that the artefact had during all it existence and to state that it was
bought or exchanged in legal terms.
Nevertheless, possession should not be the focus here, we should
consider identity. Edward Said, in his published conversations with Daniel
Barenboim refers to identity as a set of currents, flowing currents, rather than a
fixed place or a stable set of objects. If we think that identity is ever-changing,
then, can we state that the first owners of the artefacts in dispute and the
Australian native leader belong to the exact same tribe? Can we say so of the
English Museum? My answer is no. Technically, those three artefacts belonged to a
community that no longer exists. But I support the idea that museums try to ensure
public accessibility to cultural heritage and have the appropriate technology to
preserve it.

Reference:
* JENKINS, T. (2016, April 3). Obsessing about past wrongs is to miss the power
of culture. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/03/returning-indigenousartefacts-serves-no-one-british-museum-aboriginal-bark-emu?
utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H
&utm_term=165029&subid=15211996&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
* OSTERGREN, R. and M. LE BOSS. (2011) Chapter 1. Introduction. Europe as
a cultural realm in OSTERGREN, Robert C. and Mathias LE BOSS. The
Europeans. A Geography of People, Culture and Environment, 2 nd edition. The
Guilford Press, London and New York.
* BERKHOFER, R. Jr. (2008) Chapter 1. Historical Methods: From Evidence to
Facts in: BERKHOFER, Robert Jr. Fashioning History. Current Practices and
Principles. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2008.
* SAID, E. and BARENBOIM, D. (2002) Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in
Music and Society.