Should Museums Return Objects?
HOW THE EVENT CAME ABOUT

In 2024, Talk Shop hosted an online event on the topic of whether museums should return objects as part of the Sheffield Festival of Debate. I was the lead researcher for the material used at that event. (Here’s a blog about the first trial that preceded it.) Tchiyiwe Chihana, who represented Opus, the Festival organisers, suggested that Talk Shop make contact with Sheffield Museums and propose a collaboration in 2025. The Museums gave an enthusiastic yes. On the last day of April 2025, again as part of the Festival of Debate, the session took place at Weston Park Museum.

INTRODUCTION
For people who haven’t come across the Win-Win Workout before, here’s a summary. The aim is to find solutions to tricky and divisive issues that work for everyone. This in two stages: firstly, identifying a set of shared aims that everyone can live with; and then, looking for solutions that meet those shared aims.

This two-stage solution is critical. In this divisive and divided age, discussions of solutions often get stuck in the binary. Abortion, yes or no, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods yes or no, etc. We counter that division by seeking common ground. There is far more common ground at the level of aims – which includes our needs and values – than there is at the level of solutions. Once we have a set of shared aims, we can return to solutions and have a much more constructive and creative discussion.

These events are open to everybody. We do not know if the people who turn up will represent a wide range of views, across the divide. So we use role play to ensure that range. People take on a character, of which more below.

CHARACTERS AND THEIR AIMS
Each of the 28 participants at the Sheffield Museums event took on one of six characters. Here is a summary of the information about each character. This ends with a ready-made aim, to give the participants a starting-point:

  • Flower Manase, Curator of History at the National Museum and House of Culture, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Africans should be able to decide what happens to stolen African artefacts
  • The late Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, Senegalese, Director of UNESCO between 1974 and 1987: Ex-colonial countries should return objects where their countries of origin suffer most from their loss
  • Charles Kayuka, Tanzanian journalist, lecturer and cultural commentator: What matters is that we recover our identity and our culture
  • Bénédicte Savoy, French art historian, co-author with Felwine Sarr of the Sarr-Savoy Report ‘On the Restitution of African Cultural Heritage’: I am in favour of the full restitution of all objects taken by force or acquired unfairly.
  • Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum (BM) in London from 2003 to 2009: To use museums like the British Museum to teach perspective and empathy.
  • James Cuno, Director of the Harvard University Art Museums and professor of the history of art and architecture at Harvard from 1991 to 2003: We should use antiquities so that all of humankind can understand the past

HOW THE EVENT RAN
Perry Walker from Talk Shop was the facilitator. I also helped facilitate the event, as well as having conducted the research for it. The characters were displayed on each table with their name, aims and a basic information card about this topic. Participants were allowed to choose a character. They were given time to discuss their character and to find an aim they could all accept, which was written on a sheet of paper. After this, participants moved to mixed tables, with each character represented. Once more, the challenge was to come up with a shared aim – this time, one that all the characters could accept. Then everyone reviewed all the shared aims, showing how they felt by voting with sticky dots. Green dots were for the aims they could live with and red dot were for those that they actively supported.

WHICH AIMS DID BEST?
FIRST: “More power to the people”. Need for dialogue between owners of the artefacts and thieves/looters. Transparency from the side of Western museums on what they have in their store. Research on the cultural and emotional significance of the artefacts, including the communities of origin in the dialogue. The government should be more proactive and facilitate dialogue between communities and museums. (1 green dot, 11 red dots, total 12)

SECOND: The Public should be educated from a historical, cultural, and comparative point of view. For this, there should be a global inventory of artefacts accessible to everyone, a global sharing arrangement, and a global oversight body answerable to the people. The research on the artefacts should be co-produced with the communities of origin, and they should have a say on where and how the objects are displayed. (2 green dots, 9 red dots, total 11)

THIRD EQUAL Historical objects are about human history, culture and identity, appropriation of which is culturally, socially, politically, economically, and psychologically damaging. There should be a global dialogue, not just between the two concerned countries. Some objects should be repatriated, but not all, especially those that raise the question of justice, and economic and political violence. (2 green dots, 6 red dots, total 8)

THIRD EQUAL Acknowledgement, Transparency, Accessibility. Museums should acknowledge and disclose the artefacts they have and facilitate access to the countries of origin and the general public. (1 green dot, 7 red dots, total 8)

SHEFFIELD MUSEUMS ON REPATRIATION
The final part of the event saw Rachel Atherton, Curator of Archaeology and Sian Brown Head of Collections from Sheffield Museums discuss their approach to repatriation with the participants. Here is a summary of the Q&A/discussion:

Has Sheffield Museums returned any objects?
In 1996, a tattooed Māori head (Toi Moko), identified as highly sacred, was repatriated from Sheffield City Museum (now Sheffield Museums Trust) to Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa). Subsequently in 2016 a skull of Moriori or Māori origin was also returned to Te Papa by Sheffield Museums.

Is there any written repatriation policy for the Sheffield Museum?
No, but we are working on one and plan to have this in place next year.

Does Sheffield Museums have any plans to return any objects?
Sheffield Museums welcomes conversations regarding repatriation of collections, and we are currently undertaking research in order to initiate dialogue with communities of origin regarding the collections we currently care for on their behalf. For example, in 2024, we shared information about the Benin Aken’ni’ Elao (altar tusk) with Digital Benin, the international organisation researching objects looted during the sacking of Benin City in 1897.

Would you keep the contested object on display till it is repatriated?
We will be guided by the wishes of the community of origin.

Is it true that only a percentage of the materials that museums have are on display?
Yes, and this counters the common argument against repatriation that museums will be empty if we start returning objects of history to their original owners.

Rachel commented on the discussion: “I was struck by the thoughtfulness and engagement of the participants at the Talk Shop event. It was great to see their keenness to contribute to potentially difficult discussions around the return of museum objects in such a considered and respectful way, providing valuable opportunities for participants and staff to reflect on the issues and consider potential resolutions. The event showed there is real interest in this subject, but there are few clear-cut solutions even when there are shared aims. The museums sector is still in the early stages of working out the way forward for collections with origins in British colonial activity, but this event demonstrated that people outside the museums world have a strong awareness of the issues and a clear interest in shaping the way forward.”

CONCLUSION
The Win-Win Workout at Weston Park Museum proved that even the most complex and emotive issues—like the repatriation of museum objects—can be approached with empathy, creativity, and a spirit of collaboration. By stepping into the shoes of diverse characters and focusing first on shared aims, participants moved beyond entrenched positions and discovered common ground. The event highlighted the power of dialogue, transparency, and mutual respect, both among individuals and between institutions and communities.

Sheffield Museums’ openness to discussion and their commitment to developing a repatriation policy further underscored the importance of ongoing engagement. As the conversation continues, it’s clear that solutions are possible when we listen deeply, involve all stakeholders, and strive for outcomes that honour both history and contemporary values. The success of this event sets a hopeful precedent for future collaborations, reminding us that, together, we can navigate even the thorniest debates and find ways forward that benefit everyone involved.

Amy Ann Jacob