For the past two months, the Manchester Museum has encouraged visitors to share their views on whether one of the Egyptian mummies in their collection should be removed or retained on public exhibition. How will they vote and is it possible these conversations may start to shift the dial in a new direction?
- In March this year, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR) joined others who are campaigning for an overhaul in UK museum practice. Its report, Laying Ancestors to Rest, recommends the end of the sale, public display and non-consensual uses of African ancestral remains, as well as their full repatriation from UK institutions.
- The case in favour of removing human remains from public exhibition is based on a deep-rooted belief in and respect for the dignity of the dead. It is one of the reasons why the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford decided to remove their collection of tsantsa (‘shrunken’) heads and other human remains from public display in 2020 and is one of the reasons why the Manchester Museum launched the Asru consultation in June this year.
- The case for retaining Egyptian mummies on public exhibition appears just as strong, albeit equally complex. Those I spoke to in the Egyptian Galleries at the British Museum last week referred to the educational value of a mummy’s physical presence, together with the connection they provide to a better understanding of the rich history and customs of ancient Egypt. It’s the very survival and visibility of mummies that help command our respect.
- Full repatriation lies a lot further down the road. Compared with the number of appeals to return human bodies wrenched from Indigenous communities during the 19th and early 20th centuries by supporters of racist pseudosciences, there are no descendants or surviving communities appealing for the return of Egyptian mummies.
