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Document A: Newsela Should Stolen Metal Sculptures be Returned to African CreatorsDocument B: Excerpt from the French report on returning African art from FranceBefore 1885, the African collections housed at the museum had less than a thousand objects. […] Between 1885 and 1960, the number of artifacts increased to more than 45,000 pieces. […] This increase can mostly be explained by the increase in anthropological missions at the end of the 1920s: during the single 10-year timeframe from 1928-1938, 20,000 objects found their way into the museums.02235835Vocabulary: raid = sudden attack haphazardly = in a disorganized way 0Vocabulary: raid = sudden attack haphazardly = in a disorganized way During the anthropological missions of the 1930s, the most of the objects were actually paid for, and records remain of the exact amounts paid. According to the anthropologists who were involved in these missions, the transactions looked like “forced methods for purchases,” even resembling “a kind of raid led by a troop of Europeans who, with a pencil and ruler in hand, haphazardly searched for items everywhere.” Because of these conditions it is hard to say that because the anthropologists paid money for the items, the people they bought them from willingly agreed. Even artifacts that anthropologists got by trading or as gifts could also have been given unwillingly, by people who didn’t think they had a choice. Within the colonial context, the authority of the White Man, the pressure of taxes and the threat of being treated badly, may have been forced people to accept the offers made by the anthropologists for purchasing the objects. Document C: Quotes from African leaders The peoples who have been victims of this plunder, sometimes for hundreds of years, have not only been despoiled of irreplaceable masterpieces but also robbed of a memory which would doubtless have helped them to greater self-knowledge and would certainly have helped others understand them better. [...] They know, of course, that art is for the world and are aware of the fact that this art work, which tells the story of their past and shows what they really are, does not speak to them alone. They are happy that men and women elsewhere can study and admire the work of their ancestors. [...] However, these men and women who have been deprived of their cultural heritage ask for the return of at least the art treasures which best represent their culture, which they feel are the most vital and whose absence causes them the greatest anguish. This is a legitimate claim. - Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow-45720064770Vocabularyplunder = robberydespoiled = left with nothing of valueancestors = family members who lived long ago deprived of = kept away from, had to do without heritage = historyvital = very importantanguish = very upset feelingslegitimate = real, true, legal abroad = in other countries 00Vocabularyplunder = robberydespoiled = left with nothing of valueancestors = family members who lived long ago deprived of = kept away from, had to do without heritage = historyvital = very importantanguish = very upset feelingslegitimate = real, true, legal abroad = in other countries “A Plea for the Return of an Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage to those who created it,” 1970Sub-Saharan Africa cannot be the only region of the world where 90 to 95 percent of its heritage is abroad.- Souleymane Bachir DiagnePhilosopher, Senegal, 2018 This is not just about the return of African art. When someone’s stolen your soul, it’s very difficult to survive as a people.- Kum’a Ndumbe IIIPrince of the Duala people, Cameroon, 2018We are ready to find solutions with France. But if 10,000 pieces are identified in the collections, we are asking for all 10,000.Abdou Latif Coulibaly Minister of Culture, Senegal, 2018Document D: Quotes from European MuseumsThe report could lead to returning too many objects to Africa, including donations to museums from people related to colonization (such as administrators, doctors, soldiers), as well as everything that was collected by scientific expeditions. Freely-given gifts could also be included to restitution requests. For example, in this museum there are artifacts that were gifts from chiefs in Cameroon to a doctor who treated their families for leprosy in the 1950s. Restitution cannot be the only way, otherwise we will empty European museums,” Martin says. - Stéphane Martin President of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, 2018The?British Museum?is a museum of the world for the world. If?Africa?is not represented, that is a disaster. It’s really important that people of African heritage living in the UK and in Europe can see cultural artifacts of their own heritage.-Chris Springformer Africa director of the British Museum, 2018-114300133985Vocabularyexpedition = big, important trip leprosy = bad skin disease laudable = worthy of praise 0Vocabularyexpedition = big, important trip leprosy = bad skin disease laudable = worthy of praise Museums will have to return objects in some cases, while in others, the objects should stay in European museums. How far back will you go? Until Roman times? Because many items in Rome were robbed somewhere in Greece or in ancient Egypt.- Hartmut DorgerlohDirector of Humboldt Forum in Berlin, 2018 ................
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