The British Museum

We went to the British Museum today and wow there was a lot to see! It was extremely overwhelming walking in to the museum and trying to decide what to see first. They have about 8 million pieces of work in the museum and it one of the largest collections in the world. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin. This is a major issue of family that the British Museum is creating a conflict with. Why is it right for the museum to keep over 8 million pieces of art when it belongs to other families and people across the world. To take something that isn't theirs and marking it as their own by holding onto it for years and years just isn't right to the real owners of the pieces. If a rare piece of art was in holding at the British Museum that belonged to my family I would be extremely pissed. Even our teacher Denise was telling the class how her family had a piece that was in holding at the British Museum, which would just make me heated. But on the other hand they are able to keep it safe and make sure everyone else can enjoy it. It really is a fight between family and cultural borrowing. They are trying to borrow from multiple cultures and put it into one place and fuse them together. Which is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing? Do we take all the pieces that rightfully belong to families or do we leave them in control of the British museum so everyone can enjoy them and grasp the history that goes behind each piece? It's a tough decision and that's why people are creating controversy over the decision.