30/08/2025
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Daniel Garcรญa Lรณpez, El Paรญs conversation with the British Museum's Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan.
Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum: "We canโt give things away, but there is nothing preventing us from sharing the collection."
The 48-year-old Briton just completed his first year as head of the institution, and is faced with carrying out its biggest renovations ever and that all-important question about returns or restitutions.... even reunifications!
Q by Daniel Garcรญa Lรณpez: Where are you at in the restitution debate?
A by Dr Nicholas Cullinan: The 20 examples that are affected by it are on our website, because we think itโs very important to be transparent so everyone can see and understand what the claim is, the history of it, the complexity of it. We take all of those really seriously. Thereโs often a very complex and long-standing discussion.
Q by Daniel Garcรญa Lรณpez : The Parthenon Marbles are the most urgent example, I suppose?
A by Dr Nicholas Cullinan: Theyโre the most famous. I think itโs no secret that we would love to find a partnership with Greece where we would be able to lend on a rolling basis sculptures from the Parthenon, and in exchange, Greece would lend incredible things here. I think a partnership with Greece would be a fantastic thing for both parties, and I think we really hope that that will be possible with the Benin [Nigeria] bronzes. Weโve got the partnership with the MOWAA [Museum of West African Art, which has a digitalized archive of the bronzes that were stolen by Western countries and houses both pieces that have been returned and those obtained in new archaeological digs done in collaboration with the British Museum]. It opened in a soft way in November, but the grand opening is this autumn. I canโt wait to see it. The hope is for the partnership to carry on and flourish.
The first thing Dr Cullinan did upon assuming his position was reach out to the โcountries or institutions where there is a claim to see how we can move this conversation forward,โ he says. โThere are more specific examples. But the general principle is that weโve got a collection of eight million objects. One percent are on show in the museum. One percent. We want to share that collection as much as we can with the public, which was the whole point of the collection and the museum being founded.โ
Q by Daniel Garcรญa Lรณpez: Going back to the Parthenon Marbles, the final decision is the governmentโs, right?
A by Dr Nicholas Cullinan: Yes, but it depends more on us, to be honest. We canโt give things away, but there is absolutely nothing preventing us from sharing the collection, and we do that all the time. I think you have to focus on whatโs possible, rather than arguing over what you could try and make happen.
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