Why do you visit museums and what do you hope “happens” during your stay or after you leave? How do objects in a museum affect your experience, and how do we know that a given piece “belongs” there? Tiffany Jenkinsauthor of keep their marblesand guest EconTalk host Russ Roberts in this episode, suggests there’s something transporting about visiting a museum, an experience she’s especially relished since COVID banned such opportunities. Visiting a museum, Jenkins hopes, allows one to meet the past and the people of the past, noting that the things that impress us in museums were not created by people to impress us.
Much of the conversation revolves around the issue of repatriation of artifacts- the elgin marbles in the British Museum being the dominant example of Jenkins’ book. These sculptures, extracted from the ruins of the Parthenon more than 200 years ago, live half in London and half in Athens (at the Acropolis museum). Although technically acquired legally, many questions remain as to whether the Marbles should remain in Britain. What is You think? How does the case of the Elgin Marbles illuminate the broader purpose(s) of museums in today’s society? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
1- What are the bases for requests to “return” artefacts such as the Elgin Marbles to their country of origin? What is Jenkin’s Argument against send them back to Athens? What does she mean when she says, “objects do different things in different places?” Do You do you think they should be returned? Explain.
2- Jenkins describes how the feelings of the British were mixed at the time of the acquisition of the marbles. How “important” is it that the legal agreement of the sculptures still exists? How does the “looting” of the French compare to that of the British (which Jenkins describes as “much more accidental, haphazard and informal”)? How does the manner in which these artifacts are acquired affect the argument for their repatriation?
3- Jenkins makes the bold prediction that the Elgin Marbles will never leave the British Museum, while Roberts suspects that they will be returned, perhaps replaced by casts. (Roberts mentions his appreciation of the Bourgeois of Calais at Stanford, of which there are a lot copies.) Why is it important that an exhibition presents original works or reproductions? Couldn’t the British Museum exhibition be just as exciting with castings or color reproductions of the marbles? Explain.
4- What should be the role of museums today? How do museums of the Age of Enlightenment compare to those of today, according to Jenkins? How has the notion of accessibility in particular evolved from the Age of Enlightenment to the present day? Have museums moralized themselves? Are we more or less interested in other cultures today than in the past? In what way)?
5- The conversation includes a good deal of discussion about how the mission of museums has changed over time, and many changes in the way exhibits are presented have also taken place in an effort to shed light on “ ‘hidden stories’ from the past. (Roberts and Jenkins quote the National Museum of the American Indian as such an example.) Are we in danger of “quarantining the past rather than exploring it,” as Jenkins suggests?