Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the presence of ancestral human remains in the national collections, and what records they keep centrally of the quantity and location of such items.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
No such assessment has been made, and there are no centrally kept records. Museums are independent of government and decisions related to their collections are for their trustees to make.
The Human Tissue Act 2004 allows national museums to remove human remains from their collections provided that they are reasonably believed to be remains of a person who died less than 1,000 years before the day the relevant section came into force.
DCMS issued Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums in 2005 which encouraged museums to establish an advisory framework to assist in determining repatriation claims and provided a set of criteria which need to be taken into account in assessing claims.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK’s international reputation for respect for freedom of religion of the retention by the British Museum of the Ethiopian tabots and the inability of members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church who seek their return to the places from which they were forcibly removed to access them.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has not made an assessment, and has not raised the return of contested sacred objects with British Museum trustees.
The British Museum operates independently of the government. Decisions relating to the care and management of its collections, including the Ethiopian tabots, are a matter for its trustees.
The British Museum has a longstanding and cordial relationship with senior members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, both in Ethiopia and in London. The museum recognises the significance of the tabots and has held meaningful talks with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on this issue. The tabots are housed in a special location in the museum which is maintained in consultation with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and overseen by a committed curatorial and conservation team. The tabots are available to be visited by Ethiopian Orthodox priests and prelates which is reflective of Church practices.
The museum’s stated ambition is to lend the tabots to an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the UK where they can be cared for by the clergy within their traditions.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last raised with the trustees of the British Museum the return of contested sacred objects in its collection forcibly removed from their places of origin.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has not made an assessment, and has not raised the return of contested sacred objects with British Museum trustees.
The British Museum operates independently of the government. Decisions relating to the care and management of its collections, including the Ethiopian tabots, are a matter for its trustees.
The British Museum has a longstanding and cordial relationship with senior members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, both in Ethiopia and in London. The museum recognises the significance of the tabots and has held meaningful talks with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on this issue. The tabots are housed in a special location in the museum which is maintained in consultation with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and overseen by a committed curatorial and conservation team. The tabots are available to be visited by Ethiopian Orthodox priests and prelates which is reflective of Church practices.
The museum’s stated ambition is to lend the tabots to an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the UK where they can be cared for by the clergy within their traditions.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks of causing offence and damaging the UK’s reputation overseas arising from the continued retention in public collections of human remains acquired during the colonial period; and what plans they have to repatriate human remains to the nations from which they were acquired where requested.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Museums which have public collections are independent of government and decisions related to their collections are for their trustees to make.
The Human Tissue Act 2004 allows national museums to remove human remains from their collections provided that they are reasonably believed to be remains of a person who died less than 1,000 years before the day the relevant section came into force.
DCMS issued Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums in 2005 which encouraged museums to establish an advisory framework to assist in determining repatriation claims and provided a set of criteria which need to be taken into account in assessing claims.
A number of museums have returned human remains over the last few years, including the Pitt Rivers museum to Aboriginal communities in Australia, the Natural History Museum to the Moriori community in New Zealand, and the National Army Museum returning locks of hair of Emperor Tewodros II to Ethiopia.
It is for businesses and auction rooms to decide whether to prohibit sales of human remains, taking into account the consent and licensing provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004. Those who sell or purchase human remains may also be subject to their own professional standards and codes of conduct.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks of causing offence and damaging the UK’s reputation overseas arising from the sale of human remains acquired during the colonial period in public auctions; and what plans they have to prohibit those sales.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Museums which have public collections are independent of government and decisions related to their collections are for their trustees to make.
The Human Tissue Act 2004 allows national museums to remove human remains from their collections provided that they are reasonably believed to be remains of a person who died less than 1,000 years before the day the relevant section came into force.
DCMS issued Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums in 2005 which encouraged museums to establish an advisory framework to assist in determining repatriation claims and provided a set of criteria which need to be taken into account in assessing claims.
A number of museums have returned human remains over the last few years, including the Pitt Rivers museum to Aboriginal communities in Australia, the Natural History Museum to the Moriori community in New Zealand, and the National Army Museum returning locks of hair of Emperor Tewodros II to Ethiopia.
It is for businesses and auction rooms to decide whether to prohibit sales of human remains, taking into account the consent and licensing provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004. Those who sell or purchase human remains may also be subject to their own professional standards and codes of conduct.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last discussed the return of artefacts of disputed ownership held in the British Museum with (1) a visiting head of state, or (2) another government.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government has regular discussions with visiting heads of state and other governments about a range of issues. If items owned by the British Museum are raised in such discussions, HM Government makes clear that decisions about such items are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum, that the Museum is prohibited by law from deaccessioning items from its collection, and that we have no plans to change the law. The Government also highlights the extensive work the British Museum does with scholars and cultural institutions around the world to deepen understanding about all the items in its collection, and to ensure that the widest possible audience can learn from and admire them.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 20 September (HL9874), how many of the 3.5 million items not in the British Museum's public database were looted from Africa in the course of British military actions launched against African nations.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
It is not possible to answer the Noble Lord’s question without unpacking the loaded terms contained within it. The British Museum, like so many other institutions, seeks to provide detailed contextual information about all the items in its collection, so that scholars, visitors, and members of the public from around the world can engage with them and form their own views about them. Examples of ways in which the Museum does that can be found on the sections of its website which deal with:
items taken during the punitive raid on Benin City in February 1897: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/benin-bronzes; and
items taken during the military expedition of 1867 to free British hostages and punish Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/maqdala-collection
The British Museum’s African collections as a whole are well-catalogued, and the Museum has undertaken extensive documentation and history work, including on the collections highlighted above. The British Museum continues actively to research its collections, and its records are updated regularly with references to military looting where evidence is found.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 1970 in relation to (1) their responsibilities for the governance of the British Museum, and (2) the role and responsibilities of its Trustees.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government expects UK museums to have and to follow appropriate policies and procedures to prevent the acquisition of cultural property contrary to the provisions of the UNESCO 1970 Convention.
The British Museum requires compliance with the Convention and with all other national and international standards, as stated in its ‘Acquisitions of Objects for the Collection’ policy and its ‘Due diligence procedures for works of art and cultural objects on loan from abroad for temporary exhibitions’.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 20 September (HL9874), what plans they have to support the International Training Programme; how many African museum curators have benefited from it in each of the past three years; and from which countries they have come.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Over the past three years, 16 museum curators from across Africa have participated in the British Museum’s International Training Programme; this includes participants from the following countries and institutions:
2023
Archeological Enfidha Museum, Tunisia
National Museum, Nigeria
Unity Museum, Nigeria
National Museums of Kenya, Kenya
Imhotep Museum, Egypt
Alexandria National Museum, Egypt
2022
Luxor Museum, Egypt
Akhenaton Museum, Egypt
Sudan National Museum, Sudan
Unity Museum, Nigeria
The National Institute of Heritage, Tunisia
2021
Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Ghana
Edo Global Art Foundation, Nigeria
Sudan National Museum, Sudan
Gebal Barkal Museum, Sudan
More details on the International Training Programme, including its funders, can be found in the annual reports that the British Museum publishes: https://www.bmitpglobalnetwork.org/publications/annual-reports/.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) whether the items held by the British Museum looted from Britain’s former colonial possessions in West Africa, or during Britain’s historic military expeditions on that continent, have been catalogued; and (2) the extent of knowledge of the contents of such collections.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The British Museum has 8 million objects in its collection, with 4.5 million currently on the Museum’s public database. The Museum is undertaking an ongoing digitisation project which will ensure that all the objects in its care will be catalogued and available to its global audience on its public database.
The Museum’s collections from Africa are well-catalogued, to the benefit of the public and researchers from across the world. The Museum undertakes extensive research into its collections, including in partnership with African institutions. This is available online at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects.
The British Museum also has strong links with a variety of African partners. Since 2005, through the Africa Programme, the Museum has worked collaboratively with partner institutions to deliver training and workshops in museum practice in a number of African countries. Colleagues from across Africa also travel to the UK for project-based work placements at the Museum and in its partner museums across the UK. The world-leading annual International Training Programme run by the Museum also offers opportunities for African colleagues to meet peers from global heritage institutions.