When Indiana Jones is relieved of a hard-won treasure immediately after a cannon-ball chase he utters his most famous line: “That belongs in a museum.” “So do you”, his adversary retorts. Now Jones’s views do indeed seem to be going out of fashion: western museums are coming under growing pressure to return contents to their places of origin. This pressure should be resisted.
That may become harder if President Macron acts on a report he commissioned which recommends that France return all African artworks taken by colonialists. Such a move would affect some 46,000 pieces and leave the Quai-Branly Museum in Paris partly empty. The report argues that France’s law should be changed to regard the items as looted because colonised countries were unable to