In an interview with The Times, Cullinan said he had no plans to change the museum’s policy against permanently deaccessioning artefacts, which would require an act of parliament.
“I’m keenly aware that whatever I do future generations will debate, so I feel more comfortable with loaning items. This collection has been formed over three centuries. It is the world’s greatest collection. I don’t see my job as undoing that.”
Cullinan, who has been in the role for just over a year, said the museum had built strong partnerships around the world, and saw its future in “collaboration”.
He said: “The British Museum is about connecting countries rather than putting up barriers. This is a global museum for everyone and we’re not going to be embarrassed about that any more. We are going to foster collaboration around the world.”
“We’d love an innovative partnership with Greece where we would lend things and they would lend things back, and we can share knowledge and opportunity rather than debate ownership.” The Parthenon marbles are sculptures as “talismanic objects of the British Museum”
He also ruled out any permanent return of the museum’s Benin bronze collections to Nigeria.
“We have a fantastic relationship with MOWAA [the Museum of West African Art], the new museum of art in Benin City, and we are sharing a joint archaeological excavation. They might want to borrow other things, but what we can’t do is deaccession.”
