C. came, full of enthusiasm about Quinn, and we got to the Garden, although not around it in my case. That was a good deal better than yesterday or the day before.
Tomorrow is Games
Day, when you won’t hear from me.
I finished that blasted
ribbing (wrist of first Evendoon sleeve) and bound it off. That’s progress, if
slow.
I’ve had a
ridiculous idea, which will probably come to nothing: I’ll keep you posted:
Tipoo Sahib has a
remarkable number of living descendants, no doubt as a result of having had a remarkable
number of wives. Some of them are now pulling rickshaws for a living. But there
is at least one prominent one, married to a woman who is also connected to the
family. What if I wrote to him – his email address is actually available on
Facebook – and suggested that he ask for the Tiger be repatriated to Mysore?
There are other, splendid, objects which once belonged to Tipoo in the British
Museum, but the Tiger is the one we all know and love. There is much agitation
these days about sending things back – the Elgin marbles to Athens, Benin
bronzes to Nigeria. Why not the Tiger? There seems to be no doubt that it was
simply part of the spoils of war. At least Elgin had permission of some sort
from the government of the day – which wasn’t, alas, Greek – to remove the
Parthenon sculptures.
Part of the point would be to emphasize the silliness of repatriation, as it seems to me. That's a bit hard on the poor man. But maybe he would be successful, which would be a bit hard on me.
Wordle: three for
me and Ketki and Mark, four for Thomas, five for Alexander. I got one green,
the second letter, and three browns from my starter words. And I stuck at it,
rejecting various Jean-words. I can’t remember what they were, now, so I don’t
know whether they would have helped (as Jean-words often do). Then there was a
moment, which must be familiar to all Wordle players, when I thought of a word,
and I heard the ball click into its slot on the roulette wheel, and the word was
right. As it usually is, in such circumstances, but by no means always.
Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Anonymous Janet in Seattle
ReplyDeleteRecently we were able to see part of the Staffordshire hoard at Sutton Hoo. while there we heard a group speaking a Scandinavian language - Danish, perhaps - and mentioning the Elgin Marbles. Were they thinking that the relics in the hoard might be reclaimed? And, if so, where might this end?
ReplyDeleteJean, there is a podcast you need to listen to! It is where I first heard about the Tiger of Mysore. Fascinating. It came to me through the American podcast “99 Percent Invisible” (highly recommended), but the original broadcast is an Australian one called “Stuff the British Stole.” Which sort of lays on the line the case for repatriation.
ReplyDeletehttps://99percentinvisible.org/episode/stuff-the-british-stole/
This is Rebecca from Minnesota (& Oberlin), by the way. My phone isn’t letting me comment as anything but Anonymous, for some reason.
Rebecca I enjoy 99pi, i must track this episode down!
DeleteAnd suppose the Elgin marbles were returned to Greece and Greece were taken over by a hostile government? Would they be still in their rightful place by merely being on Greek soil but which was no longer “owned” by Greeks? And when has “the rightful owner” changed so much that he/she no longer exists? This is such a slippery subject. I wonder if there really is a truly “right” answer. I am interested in how this goes forward. Chloe
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Games Day!!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on plugging onward to finish the ribbing! Also on getting out to the garden. A good day, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteI watched a video and observed that the victim of Tipu's Tiger could have been painted in the colors of anyone from anywhere--it is not _carved_ to look English. As an air-pumped organ with a drone I would classify it with a bagpipe, but as it has a keyboard it also seems related to a hurdy-gurdy.
I really enjoyed the podcast the Stuff the British Stole. CBC Radio has rerun them this summer in Canada. There are some recent books on the subject of blatantly stolen items in museums which I have been meaning to read. I saw a NYT article about how excited the Benin population was to have royal articles returned - the children ask their parents to take them to the museum as it is a must-see exhibit.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/world/africa/benin-art-restitution-exhibition.html
A few years ago I visited the Weltmuseum (World museum, formerly ethnography) in Vienna, which had really good exhibit labels about colonialism and imperialism in museums.
Indigenous groups in Canada are investigating how to have sacred objects now in the Vatican and other museums returned to the communities.
Yes lots to think about on this topic!
Lisa RR
Just saw the Tippu Tiger in the V & A.
ReplyDeleteThe Benin bronzes story is new to me and it would seem to me a cut-and-dried case of an obligation to return stolen goods. This gets more and more interesting - and dismaying to those cherishing the collections in the British Museum, among others. A flip side may be argued that some items might never have been discovered without “colonialists” using their time, money and enterprise to dig them up. Not saying what is right - just laying out a point of view. Sorry, Jean, if I am belaboring this subject. It is just such a fascinating topic. I wish I were on a high school debate team right now. Chloe
ReplyDelete