The British Museum could repatriate more disputed objects from around the world following the return of the treasures to Ghana, it emerged yesterday.
Experts say legislation banning the museum from permanently giving away artifacts would not ban loans to other countries, such as this month’s landmark deal on the return of Asante gold to Ghana.
Museum manager Chris Gosden said the British Museum Act 1963 was not a ‘barrier’ to other loan agreements in the future.
But a similar agreement over the Elgin Marbles remains problematic because it would require Greece to accept the British Museum as the legal owner of the sculptures, which the country has always rejected.
The sculptures, from the Parthenon in Athens, are the most controversial exhibition at the London institution and a source of diplomatic tension between Britain and Greece, which claims they were stolen by Lord Elgin.
King Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II (pictured) attends the first public exhibition of looted artifacts returned by British and American museums to the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Ghana, May 1, 2024
Artefacts in a display case in their home in Ghana after being returned by museums in Britain and the US
A selection of Asante gold brought from Ghana over 100 years ago and currently on loan from the V&A Museum in London
A selection of the looted items on their way to be handed over to King Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II
But experts suggested other cultural artifacts could be repatriated to their countries of origin if their national governments were willing to accept loan deals.
The return of Asante gold to Ghana in a joint project with the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum marked the first time British institutions had returned artefacts to Africa.
The treasures were returned to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the king or ‘Asantehene’ of the Asante, after he accepted the British Museum’s legal ownership of the gold royal regalia, which had been seized by British forces during wars in 1874 and 1896 taken.
The British Museum Act 1963 bans the London institution from permanently giving away artefacts, although there have been calls to review the legislation.
Professor Gosden told it The Daily Telegraph: ‘The 1963 Act is not entirely irrelevant, but not quite the hindrance it might be seen to be. It’s about the relationship and what is possible within that relationship.’
Other repatriation efforts, including that of the Benin Bronzes, were previously hampered when countries refused to accept legal ownership of relics by the museum.