Small ancient sculptures gathering dust in storage boxes in Albuquerque are returning home to Mexico, where they are intertwined with the identity of indigenous communities.
The Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrated the return of a dozen sculptures at a ceremony Wednesday. The local Mexican consulate received Olmec greenstone sculptures, a figure from the city of Zacatecas, bowls buried with graves, and other clay figurines dating back thousands of years.
The event comes at a time when indigenous, indigenous and African communities have been pushing for museums, universities and other institutions to repatriate objects that are an important part of their culture and history.
Foundation President and CEO Andrew Rogers said while giving back sculptures es that had been in storage for 15 years was correct. Even the board of the foundation agreed with this. But some outside their organization had a different idea.
“We’ve had a few people who have suggested, ‘Oh, you should just sell it’ … ‘They’re probably not worth a ton, so just keep them,’ or ‘Mexico doesn’t really care about that kind of stuff,'” said Rogers. said.
Mexico, however, cares a lot.
“We appreciate and recognize the actions taken by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation to voluntarily return these archaeological sites to the Mexican nation,” Mexican Consul Norma Ang Sanchez said in a statement. “They are important elements of the memory and identity of our native communities and we are delighted that they will be restored.”
Efforts to trace the origins of the artifacts began more than five months ago when they were found in a storage box. Rogers’ assistant received the original appraisal form when a donor gave it to them in 2007.
“Immediately alarm bells went off in our heads” when they saw the “Pre-Columbian” label, Rogers said.
Playing internet detective, Rogers found the original dealer. A New York woman in her 90s still had the original note cards that were sold to a donor in 1985. She said they were purchased on the side of the road in Mexico or from dealers in New England.
“I don’t think anyone had any bad intentions. I just think 30, 40, 50 years ago, there wasn’t a lot of clarity and transparency in that practice,” Rogers said.
Museum archaeologists from the University of New Mexico and Emory University in Atlanta confirmed the authenticity of the items before speaking with the local Mexican consulate. Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, which will eventually receive the figures, suggests they were made in western Mexico between 300 and 600 BC.
According to Tessa Solomon, a reporter for ARTnews, an online publication that has covered dozens of stories on the subject, there has always been a desire to bring back pre-Hispanic culture and art.
When Andrés Manuel López Obrador became president of Mexico in 2018, his administration made finding the artifacts a priority. Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero tried to stop the sale of cultural items at auctions. The effort spawned a social media movement called #MyHeritageIsNotForSale. It is estimated that over 5,500 archaeological sites have been discovered in Mexico in the past few years.
“(Mexican officials) certainly made the most concerted effort to stop the auction sales of these works,” Solomon said. Placing these objects in a European or American gallery or museum “creates gaps in the art history of these places that are difficult to fill. Other countries should not create these stories.’
Campaigns to restore artefacts and works of art of a country or people are taking place all over the world. The U.S. Department of the Interior is considering changes to federal law that provides for the repatriation of Native American remains and sacred objects. The proposed changes include more clarity, specific deadlines and tougher penalties for breaking the law.
Germany and Nigeria signed the agreement on July 1 to facilitate the return of hundreds of artefacts known as the Benin Bronze that the British stole from Africa more than a century ago. Hundreds of bronze pieces have been sold to museums around the world. The Smithsonian had 29 at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC. They will return to the Nigerian government.
Other Smithsonian museums have been returning objects to their rightful owners for more than three decades, said Kevin Gower, undersecretary for museums and culture. Determining who owns things can be a lengthy process.
“Some of these things, remember, are often very old,” said Gover, a Pawnee Nation citizen from Oklahoma. “So it takes a lot of research to make sure we understand exactly what it is and exactly how it was acquired … I’m impressed that this Albuquerque museum (Foundation) has done this in six months.”
The racial reckoning that began in the US in 2020 is likely to increase the number of calls for the return of antiquities and works of art. In April, the Smithsonian adopted an “ethical return policy” that requires looking at how an object came into the institution’s possession.
Museums and other art venues must face the fact that they are in an era where they will be judged by their actions, not just their artwork.
“The public expects more from these institutions,” Gover said. “It’s part of maintaining that trust, being able to say we came into possession of this facility in an ethical way, an honest way.”
Rogers of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation sees these trials as a key learning opportunity.
“This experience especially gave us access to this world and a better understanding,” he said. – Therefore, I think that we are definitely much better prepared to never accept what we should not accept.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, copied or distributed without permission.
https://www.gettysburgtimes.com/life_entertainment/entertainment/article_6beb48bf-9429-5ae4-9e12-cea9b95e50d3.html
