Abstract
Repatriation of cultural property currently in the hands of the British Museum has been the topic of intense debate for decades. Activists argue for the return of the cultural art to its country of origin and to abide by international law for the protection of art antiquities. The British Museum and their supporters argue to maintain the status quo. The Amaravati Stupa, an Indian antiquity made of hundreds of pieces from a Buddhist temple excavated by British colonists, is one of the pieces the British Museum continues to possess and own. The Indian government has requested its repatriation. In the process of providing a viable solution, it is first necessary to understand the historical and cultural significance of the Amaravati Stupa and why it is properly defined as a cultural property.
The complex history of the British Museum's legal foundation provides understanding as to how the Amaravati Stupa is considered legally owned by the institution, and which domestic laws are preventing the antiquity's repatriation. The Museum's recent theft scandal placed the institution under fire, putting into question its credibility as one of the most powerful institutions in the world. The international rules and regulations by UNESCO and UNIDROIT, which the United Kingdom is bound to, provide a loose basis for the international community's reasonable call for repatriation of the Amaravati Stupa. After viewing the full grasp of contradicting British and international law, only then is it possible to provide a reasonable solution that will find a common ground for maintaining the British Museum as a center of scholarship while protecting Buddhist and Indian cultural identities via the proper repatriation of the Amaravati Stupa.
First Page
93
Recommended Citation
Francesca
Zepeda
The Stupa Amaravati of India: Where British Common Law Controls the Repatriation of Cultural Property,
20
Loy. U. Chi. Int'l L. Rev.
93
(2024).
Available at:
https://lawecommons.luc.edu/lucilr/vol20/iss2/6