Cultural Issues Affecting the British Museum - Essay Example

? THE BRITISH MUSEUM of Introduction Founded in the year 1753, the British Museum aims at promoting education for humanity. It collects and represents the world culture and ensures that all the collected materials are safe for exhibition and research. The Museum operates in line with the British Museum Act 1963, and Museum and Galleries Act 1992. As a non-departmental public body, the UK Department of Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) fund the British Museum through the grant-in-aid allocation. Other sources of funding for the British Museum include sponsorship and charges for some specified activities (Williams, 2013; Museum Association, 1996). This museum has the greatest collections of human cultural history and its main objectives include becoming a museum of the world for the world, providing services to the curious and the studious and collecting culture for the benefit of the entire world (Williams, 2013). To this end, this essay focuses on the issues that affect the British Museum operations. Particularly, the essay focuses on the cultural issues affecting the British Museum operations and the cultural impacts of the museum to the British culture. Cultural Issues affecting the British Museum British Museum, like other museums, faces numerous cultural challenges that affect its day-to-day operations. To begin with, Jenkins (2008) points out that the issue of handling human bodies in the museums is a cultural affair that is largely affecting the operations of the British Museum. Many museums have collections of human remains that aid in scientific research. However, the presence and the handling of these remains in the museums raise numerous cultural questions. According to Musiol (2013), displaying or exhibiting human remains in modern day museums leads to the emergence of new challenges relating to the ethics and morality of the museum professionals and stakeholders. In the UK, the Human Tissue Act 2004 regulates the display of human remains that are less than 100 years old in the British museums. Nonetheless, this regulation has minimal impacts on museum collections in the UK as it provides some museums with the freedom to exhibit human remains that are less than 1000 years old (Jenkins, 2008). The UK DCMS has a publication “Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums” that provides museums with guidelines on how to handle human remains. In line with these guidelines, museums in the UK cannot display human remains if these remains have no significant contribution to a particular interpretation. All these restrictions are affecting the display of human remains in the British Museum. To counter these negative effects, the British Museum has created its own policies regarding the display of human remains. In its policies, the British Museum is protesting against the regulations of displaying human remains in the museums claiming that it was among the nine museums given the freedom to display human remains that are less than 1000 years old (Jenkins, 2008). The other cultural issues affecting the operations of the British Museum result from controversies. Selim (2011) is of the opinion that a collection of historical artifacts that hold great cultural significance cannot exist without controversy. There have been several controversies with negative impacts on the operations of the British Museum. One of these controversies revolves around the Parthenon sculptures from the ancient Greek. The Parthenon sculptures are decorative art works that were found in the Parthenon; they represent the cultural artwork of the ancient Greek. The members of the public have the misconception that all the sculptures from the Parthenon are in the British Museum. This misconception affects the operations of the British Museum negatively as numerous individuals visit the museum with the intention of viewing these sculptures only to be disappointed by the fact that half of these sculptures are lost and the remaining ones are found in museums of six different countries (Fehlmann, 2007). Fehmann (2007) further points out that some of these misconceptions are totally ruining the image of the British Museum among the members of the public. In turn, a negative public image affects the operations of the museum negatively. Some individuals believe that the Parthenon sculptures that are now in the British Museum were stolen. This belief depicts the British Museum as one that engages in unlawful and criminal activities of stealing cultural artifacts. Nonetheless, this belief is wrong. Lord Elgin is the one who moved these sculptures to the United Kingdom with the full knowledge of the concerned authorities. Other individuals also believe that the British Museum has turned down numerous attempts by the Greek government to repossess these sculptures. Nonetheless, the British Museum is willing to give out the sculptures on condition that they would be returned. Impact of the British Museum to the British Culture The British Museum houses a vast collection of different cultures dating from over two million years ago. The museum has a vast Anglo-Saxon collection that reflects the influences and the developments in the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon England. This collection includes pieces from the first settlers and depicts how England was a major center for artistic and intellectual forces in the medieval Europe. This collection is among the advantages of the museum to the members of the public and in particular the scholars interested in studying the Anglo-Saxon England. From this collection, the museum visitors learn that the Romans withdrew from England in AD 410. From AD 450, the museum records illustrate large-scale evidence for relatively new kinds of people inhabiting England. These records further illustrate that the ancient people who lived in England performed burial rituals where the dead were buried with different goods. The evidence of dressing indicates that these people also had different clothing when compared to the modern day clothing. They also had weapons of unseen form and hand-made pottery that had distinguished decorations. The collections also indicate that the ancient people had house forms that were different from the modern day house forms. In addition, this evidence illustrates the adoption of a Germanic language by the ancient people; this language would later become English (Elliot, 2013). The British Museum historical sources also mention why these particular incomers are popularly known as Anglo-Saxons. They originated from Angeln and Saxony and thus were given the name Anglo-Saxons. This documentation further reveals that the way of life of these individuals was similar to that of individuals from Germany, Denmark, and Netherlands. In addition, their way of life indicated some elements of the original Romano-British population. All this information about the Anglo-Saxon is of great cultural importance to the museum visitors who are interested in learning the way of life of the early inhabitants of the United Kingdom (Elliot, 2013). The British Museum also has a vast collection of the Roman Britain. This collection informs the millions of visitors who visit the museum about the ancient Roman Empire in Britain. The visitors learn that Britain became a province of the Roman Empire in AD 43 when Emperor Claudius sent his army to capture Britain. This information further informs the visitors that Emperor Claudius established his relations with Britain long before the invasion through political alliances and trade agreements. During this period, Emperor Claudius faced native resistance from Boudicca but managed to control Britain by AD 70 (Bradley, 2009). This Roman Empire was known as the Britannia. It included Wales and modern England since the Emperor Claudius was not successful in the process of conquering the modern Scotland. By the end of the second century AD, the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire was the Hadrian’s Wall. The collection notes that the Roman rule was overthrown in Britain in the early fifth century (Bradley, 2009). The British Museum thus holds a vast collection of information about the ancient Britain. It informs the museum visitors about the invasion of Britain by the Roman Empire and the developments that took place before the end of the Roman Empire. It further explains the invasion of Britain by people from Angeln and Saxony, the way of life of these invaders, and their contribution to what is today known as the modern Britain. Conclusion This essay focuses on the issues that affect the British Museum operations. Particularly, the essay focuses on the cultural issues affecting the British Museum operations and the cultural impacts of the museum to the British culture. The essay identifies two main cultural issues affecting the operations of the British Museum; the display of human remains and controversies arising from the possession of different cultural artifacts. The essay establishes that handling human remains raises ethical and cultural debates from the members of the public. In many cultures, the deceased is treated with respect and is given a decent burial. As such, displaying human bodies in the British Museum has been facing a huge resistance especially from the individuals who are directly related to the deceased. Nonetheless, the British Museum has created its own policies regarding the display of human remains. In its policies, the British Museum is protesting against the regulations of displaying human remains in the museums claiming that it was among the nine museums given the freedom to display human remains that are less than 1000 years old. Among the controversies arising from the possession of different cultural artifacts, is the Parthenon sculptures controversy. The public has different misconceptions about these sculptures in relation to the British Museum. The public believes that all these sculptures are in the British Museum and that the British Museum has declined to give back these sculptures to the Greek government. Such misconceptions taint the image of the British Museum hence affecting the numbers of visitors into the museum. The essay also establishes that the British Museum has had a positive impact on the British culture. The museum has a vast collection on the Roman British explaining how the Roman Emperors invaded Britain making it a Roman Empire. The collection also informs the visitors about the Anglo-Saxon incomers and their contributions in the development of the modern day Britain. References Bradley, C 2009, 'The British War Chariot: A Case for Indirect Warfare', Journal Of Military History, 73, 4, pp. 1073-1089. Elliot, MD 2013, 'New Evidence for the Influence of Gallic Canon Law in Anglo-Saxon England', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 64, 4, pp. 700-730. Fehlmann, M 2007, 'As Greek as it gets: British attempts to recreate the parthenon', Rethinking History, 11, 3, pp. 353-377. Jenkins, T 2008, 'Dead bodies: The changing treatment of human remains in British museum collections and the challenge to the traditional model of the museum', Mortality, 13, 2, pp. 105-118. Musiol, H 2013, 'Museums of human bodies', College Literature, 40, 3, pp. 156-175. Museums Association 1996, Museums Yearbook 1996/7, London: Museums Association. Selim, L 2011, 'On the possibility of cultural property: the Musee Guimet controversy and case study of events in Bangladesh', Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 17, pp. S176-S191. Williams, J 2013, 'Parliaments, Museums, Trustees, and the Provision of Public Benefit in the Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic World', Huntington Library Quarterly, 76, 2, pp. 195-214. Read More