5G English Language

Module 2 Hong Kong Culture

Should Museums Repatriate Cultural Artefacts?

Name:________________________( ) Date:________________

To understand the importance of one thing, it is easier

to imagine losing it. Do you agree?

What do cultural artefacts mean to you?

Look into the following facts:

1. The collection of Chinese artefacts in the British Museum has since grown to about 23,000
objects that span the Neolithic age to the present. It includes a wide range of objects such
as paintings, prints, jade, bronzes, lacquer and ceramics that reflect the richness and
diversity of China that has long been internationally connected.
2. Data from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
shows that a total of more than 1.6 million Chinese cultural relics looted in the past are
now housed in 47 museums worldwide, and the British Museum collected the largest
number of them.
3. Nine-tenths of the total 23,000 rare and ancient Chinese treasures are kept in 10 exhibition
rooms in the museum. Ordinary tourists do not have the opportunity to see them unless
they have special permission.

Discuss:

1. How do I feel reading the facts above?

2. Do they sound intuitively just and fair?
3. How would you feel looking at the artefacts in the British Museum?

1
Watch this and discuss the following statements and the sub-questions below.

(0:00-05:30)

Some believe cultural artefacts belong to wherever they were found.

a. Who owns artefacts?
Privately Owned Publicly Owned
Creators Government

Users Race

Private collectors Culture

b. How are the artefacts obtained?

Think, Google and Analyze. Can you name 5 ways the museums obtain the artefacts on their
hands now?

2
The British Museum is one of the many encyclopedic museums.
a. What are the differences between encyclopedic museums (universal museum) and other
types of museums such as the Hong Kong Museum of History?
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
b. What are the pros and cons of having these museums? Tip: various stakeholders
Merits Demerits

Some argue repatriation is morally right.

a. According to what you studied about how they are obtained, do you agree with the
statement above?

b. It is also morally right because most of those museums located in western countries and
the less developed countries are deprived from their rights to learn about their history. Do
you agree?

3
(Level 5+)
Imagine if you were the director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, countries like Egypt
and Iraq were accusing you of generating revenue and make profits with artefacts that belong
to them, how would you respond?

Tip: Look at the expenditure figures of the British Museum in 2022

Look into the following facts:

1. In January 2016, 8 museum employees in Egypt used superglue to stick the beard back on
the 3000 year old mask of King Tut.
2. Extensive looting and arson still occur in Greece, India Iraq or places where the artefacts
are returned to.
3. The ongoing destruction of ancient sites in the Middle East by the Islamic State has
galvanized the case for the universal museum.

4
Repatriation benefits the countries of origin and the world.
a. How could the countries of origin benefit from repatriation?

b. How could the world benefit from repatriation?

c. Will the world after repatriation be a worse one?

People sharing the
Encyclopedic
culture of the Countries of origin Humanity
Museums
artefact

Level 5+ bonus:
Oxford University students dressed up to debate~
6 videos of 15-minute speeches
Only watch if you want to learn sophisticated vocabulary!

5
 Culture

At the end, the debate goes on… No one can say for sure whether an artefact should be
returned.
But the discussion provokes our thinking….

1. What is our culture?

The artefact? Tangible or intangible Heritage? The cultural identity artefacts manifested in us?
Simply food and festival?

2. Who owns culture?

Fixed? Publicly or privately owned? Who should be responsible for preserving them?

3. What if culture is dynamic and changes daily? Acculturation?

4. How are ordinary people affected by our heritage and culture?