The director of the Cleveland Museum of Art was still pretty new at the job in February when he flew to Cambodia to discuss a stone sculpture of a monkey. In May the museum returned that one-thousand year old sculpture to its homeland.
But director William Griswold says don’t expect the museum to start returning other objects. Ideastream’s Mark Urycki reports.
Egypt wants the British Museum to return the Rosetta stone; Greece wants the Parthenon’s Elgin Marbles back. There is growing pressure for western museums to return objects to the lands where they were made.
He did not mention the recent destruction of ancient artifacts by the Taliban and ISIS. But William Griswold told the Cleveland City Club today (Fri) that modern day governments can’t lay claim to everything created in their region by earlier inhabitants.
“In a m ulti-cultural, multi-ethnic society we should embrace and celebrate the infinite variety to artistic achievement as the shared legacy of all human kind. “
Griswold argues the CMA’s encyclopedic collection engenders curiosity and understanding of other people, periods, and cultures.
“Not by holding up a mirror in which our visitors can see only themselves but by opening a window through which they may experience the lives of others.”
The Cleveland Museum of Art, which turns 100 in January, purchases art every year. Griswold says the art market is overheated right now and ancient art is extremely difficult to purchase. On the other hand, he said the European Old Masters are still somewhat affordable.
mark.urycki@ideastream.org