V&A can't return looted objects. Our hands are tied by law

Times

05-07-2025

The Victoria and Albert Museum director has criticised the rules that prevent the museum from returning artefacts to their countries of origin as 'outdated and infantilising'.
Tristram Hunt said the 1983 National Heritage Act and the limitations it imposes on trustees are wrong, and called for the law to be 'amended and changed'.
He said trustees should 'have autonomy over their collections to be able to make a decision whether they should be deaccessioned [to remove an item from a museum to return or sell it] on ethical or moral grounds, or not'.
The British Museum Act of 1963, which provided the foundation for the 1983 legislation, means institutions such as the British Museum, the V&A, Kew Gardens, and the Royal Armouries are legally prohibited from permanently deaccessioning items in their collections, except under four specific circumstances.
They can get rid of an object only if it is a perfect duplicate; if it is unsuitable for retention in collections and can be disposed of 'without detriment to students or the public'; if it is damaged beyond repair; or if it is being transferred to another museum subject to the act.
'When people say, 'Why don't you return objects? You're just hiding behind the law' — the law is the law. Operating under the rule of law, particularly today, seems quite an important principle,' said Hunt, who has been making the case for the law to change since 2022.
Speaking at the University of Cambridge's Global Humanities Network last month, Hunt provided some examples of items acquired by the V&A that have a complicated history, but did not explicitly say he would return them.
He cited Tippoo's Tiger, which was made for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore in southern India from 1782 to 1799, and is described by the V&A on its website as one of its 'most famous and intriguing objects'. It was looted in 1799 after the Siege of Seringapatam when the British East India Company stormed Tipu Sultan's capital.
Hunt also mentioned a crown and gold chalice seized by British troops from Ethiopia 150 years ago, and Asante crown regalia acquired by the V&A in 1874 from items looted by British troops in Ghana.
Last year, a partnership with the Manhyia Palace Museum in Ghana meant the Asante royal regalia collections could be displayed in Ghana for the first time in 150 years in the city of Kumasi via a long-term loan. Ethiopia rejected a similar deal with the seized items.
Hunt said: 'The Ethiopian government, for perfectly understandable political reasons, took the view that, you know, 'you offering to lend stuff you stole from us' wasn't politically viable so we've reached a kind of impasse with these objects.'
The British Museum, which is not subjected to the same 1983 Act, has long been the subject of debate around the ownership of its artefacts, particularly the Elgin Marbles. For decades, Greece has voiced its desire for the the Parthenon sculptures — which were removed by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in the early 19th century and transported to the UK — to be returned.
Hunt, 51, who was the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central before becoming the director of the V&A in 2017, also said he was wary of museums becoming too politicised.
He said: 'We shouldn't be places where people who are Conservative feel they're not welcome. My salary is paid by Reform voters, Conservative voters, non-voters. If we think we should be places for instilling a sort of social justice mindset, then I think we invalidate our role.'
He also reflected on Britain's attitude to decolonisation and historical introspection, in contrast with the more celebratory approach taken in other parts of the world. 'You go to the Louvre, Abu Dhabi, and they are not concerned about this level of introspection. They just say, 'Here is a celebration of great civilisations across time and space',' he said.