{"product_id":"9780745346229","title":"The Brutish Museums","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e 'Best Art Books' 2020\u003cbr\u003e\r\n'Essential' – \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n'Brilliantly enraged' - \u003cem\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n'A real game-changer'– \u003cem\u003eEconomist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWalk into any Western museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date and place of origin. They do not mention that the objects are all stolen.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFew artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes - a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum and countless private collections.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Brutish Museums\u003c\/em\u003e sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums. Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the collections of empire we once took for granted.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dan Hicks","offers":[{"title":"Pluto Press |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (UK) |  2021-10-20","offer_id":44151156867327,"sku":"9780745346229","price":25.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/products\/BNCImageAPI_ad78e50d-d31f-4bf0-8020-655fd9f2efcd.jpg?v=1679446789","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9780745346229","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}