British government to museums: stop removing controversial statues

The U.K. government sent a letter last Sept. 22 to 26 museums that receive public funding to force a halt to controversial statue removals: among the institutions that have confirmed receipt of the document are the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museums in Liverpool, the Science Museum in London, and several others. The missive, made public by the Telegraph, bears the signature of the secretary of state for culture, Oliver Dowden, which thus makes clear what the government’s position is in the contested heritage debate. “The government,” the letter reads, “does not support the removal of statues or similar objects. History involves moral complexity. Statues and other historical objects were created by generations with different viewpoints and different ways of understanding right and wrong. Some represent figures who said or did things that we might find deeply offensive today and would not defend.”

“However,” the missive continues, “even though we might not agree today with those who created those objects or those those objects represent, they still play an important role in teaching us about our past, with all its mistakes.” Museums, according to Dowden, should therefore “seek to contextualize or reinterpret objects in ways that allow the public to know them in their entirety,” rather than “erase” objects. Then the lunge at museums: “as entities that receive public funds, you should not take actions motivated by activism or politics.” And again, “the significant support you receive from taxpayers is a recognition of the important cultural role you play for the entire country. It is imperative that you continue to act impartially, in line with your status as entities receiving public subsidies, and not in ways that call this into question.”

The British government is obviously not targeting anyone in particular, but many are commenting by referring to the case of the British Museum, which this summer moved the statue of its controversial founder, physician and naturalist Hans Sloane, removed from its usual pedestal and placed in a much more resigned position to provide the work with better contextualization. Not an erasure in short, but certainly a removal from the prominent position it had previously held. And indeed the first museum to make its voice heard was the British itself.

“The British Museum,” the institution responded in a statement echoing the words of Dowden’s letter, “has no intention of removing controversial objects. On the contrary, it will seek, where appropriate, to contextualize or reinterpret them in ways that enable the public to know them in their entirety.”

Pictured is the bust of Sir Hans Sloane in its new location.

British government to museums: stop removing controversial statues

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