i think does feel cooler here. 2 sets of vertical walls further restrict direct sunlight. inside classrooms are well lit and there is no need for air conditioning curtains or blind. the corridors are murdered on billet street, twisting and turning, creating nooks for students. it's not just about the aesthetic or i truly believe that this infrastructure is also designed in such a beautiful way that it meets all our requirements mathematic teacher. they use their space, their feet, geometry to those students. and we also provide students freed, painful and direct among themselves. the school was built 5 years ago and is inspired by the regents traditional architecture sanjay poorer. he says he drew from his own experience for studying. and our son was very interesting because we were in a school that has a lot of history. and what is it learners that the traditional way of billing was actually much better. you did not need air conditioning. you did not need any kind

of, uh, you know, additional shelter because it was only provided for he hopes to encourage students to interact more teacher see students enjoy the space and learn better. park new methods al jazeera, ross western india. ah ah, let's take you through some of the headlines now. former chinese president jiang zemin as died. he was 96. he rose to power just after gentleman square protests, serving as president from 1993 to 2003 jang, as seen as one of the architects of china's transformation into a global power in china. protest is a fault with police in the southern manufacturing hub. of one jo as anger of a covey restrictions continues. similar demonstrations have taken place in beijing

and shanghai, while not directly addressing the proto, the rude and communist of the high school, and it will crank down on what it referring to as sabotaged activities. china is foreign ministry is criticized in countries for commenting on its handling of the recent protests, the us ambassador to china had said the demonstrators have the right to rally peacefully. beijing also maintains its policies have helped contain the virus tunes on doing 2 more such over the years has fully proven that china covered protocols has protected the security and health of the chinese people to the greatest extent and minimized impact on socio economic development. some countries have made room up from china recently. these nations have enough issues to deal with at home. we hope they would hit the weiss is that interest of their own people, instead of pointing fingers at others. it's day to the nato foreign ministers

meeting in romania as capital where the focus has been rushes influence in neighboring countries. on tuesday, ministers discuss sending more a defense system to ukraine. us forces in northern syria have reduced the number of joint patrols with the syrian democratic forces. that's a group mostly made up of kurdish fighters. the pentagons announcement comes the head of a possible turkish ground operation. does the headlines and use continues off the inside story? ah, it is, is around the world a returning artifacts to that countries of origin, one in london has sent back its entire collection of berlin,

horns as to nigeria. scott, it's one example of a trend of historic items being returned from across europe. the middle east of the americus. so how can other countries ensure that their cultural treasures are given back and can go on display for generations to come? this is inside story. ah, hello, i'm adrian finnegan. welcome to the program. london's waterman museum has returned its collection of been bronzes to nigeria. they were stolen in the late 18 hundreds by british colonial troops after they invaded the kingdom of benign and what is now my gerry at the artifacts ended up in museums in europe and the united states and african states have sought to return for decades. but the museum is still keeping

hold of hundreds of the statues. now to see harry forces started off with this report. a major moment in a long campaign, in 1897 british soldiers stole thousands of finely wrought artifacts like this from the van kingdom of been in modern day nigeria. now, london's haldeman museum is returning these 6 pieces and siding over the ownership of a $66.00 other so called benny bronzes in its collection. to enable this object to be displayed in museums for people to see people from outside the country to come and see in the context of where they have been looted is a significant moment for us. for now, there are 6 deliberate gaps in the museums display cases. more will follow with plans for a significant number of artifacts to remain on an extended loan from the niger in government. at the resurgence of the black lives matter movement in 2020 leading to sort of more concerns about how we accounted for the provenance of objects. so it

was a kind of natural outgrowth into a tipping point. it's here though, the british museum in london, where the largest single collection of items taken from beneath the 900 century remains more than 900 individual objects. the museum says it was to ensure that collection is shared as widely as possible. it isn't talking about returning one major. stumbling block is written into british law and $963.00 active parliament forbidding the museum from disposing of its exhibits with just a few clearly defined exceptions. in the statement, the museum emphasized its collaborative work in my area, saying we actively engage with partners through the bending dialogue group and the digital beneath initiative. while research and cultural exchange initiatives, also key priorities that in recent years, other institutions in scotland, france, germany, and elsewhere have been returning items from nobody in bronze collections. over the years the debate has taken in concerns over security and conservation and legit

area. but increasingly it's become one about justice and restoration. nigeria as cultural custodians say it's time for british and seasons and british politicians to write a historical wrong. harry faucet, al jazeera london, was harry said, the ancient artifacts scattered across collections around the world are slowly being returned to their original homes. in january 5, roman artifacts stolen from the ancient city of palmera in syria were handed back. they've been camped on display in a private museum in lebanon since 2018. egypt also has a long list of stolen historical items that it once back. but that list is long on the whereabouts of many pieces unknown. the golden coffin of priest measurement was the it was returned to the sands of cairo. that was early after it was spotted in a celebrity photo shoot, organized by new york's metropolitan museum of art. in february, a 700 kilogram mo i a stone statue arrived back on easter island in the pacific. it

had been housed in a museum in chiles capital since the 19th century. ah, let's bring in our guest than that. today's discussion from london were joined by barnaby phillips. he's the author of the book lute britain and the benign bronzes had a former al jazeera correspondent from attract in the netherlands yas ran, burden a senior researcher of colonial collections restitution at amsterdam, free university. and from of sala, in sweden, luigi prada, and assistant professor of egyptology at absolve. university could savvy with a set gentleman barnaby. let's start with you. at the brain. bronzes have become emblematic of this whole debate about cultural antiquities and where they belong. it's but some major western museums in a difficult position has that regardless of their intentions. yes, i think you're alluding adrian to the british museum of which has the largest

collection of been in bronze is of all, almost a 1000 done, of course, which has a unique symbolic importance in this discussion. but indeed, in so many other discussion is to do with recitation and provenance, because it is the national museum of the country, which was response also, or for looting these items. i think events have moved very, very quickly. and as you say, they've left the british museum badly isolated, just 3 or 4 years ago, the british museum was working together with other western museums and that reached a sort of compromise deal with their counterparts in nigeria, which the british museum was quite happy with. whereby they will gain to lend back parts of that then in bronze collection in rotation. but things have moved on incredibly quickly and suddenly a major weston museum which is not offering to give back. it's been in bronze is it's finding itself very much under the spotlight just from booking in your tracks

with somebody western institutions now accepting that. returning cultural and antiquities, or at least the property titles of objects is the right thing to do. why, other, some people who vehemently oppose it still does their arguments have any merit? well, they have had merits for a long time. but things are changing and especially this finished changing the atmosphere. and i even would argue that are the us and private connectors and some museums. they hired a little bit from the discussion as they are scared, you know, because he did, the move at the moment is very much pro distribution. of course, one of their arguments has always been the ability of heritage institutions in africa, you know, to, to be served in objects. but this, you know, slowly if this will be during,

i remember that say in the introduction to european media in the ninety's and 2010 . and so in this disability to preserve dominated news, and now it's much more the right of these people working this process to get their treasures back. luigi brother, in of cellar. where does egypt government settle the issue of restitution? as we were saying so many precious ancient egyptian artifacts have been looted over the years. the problem is that nobody really knows where many of them are right now . where does the, the egyptian government stand in terms of, or even start in terms of getting them back? well, there's been a lot of discussion about the institution to begin with, of some very high profile monuments or artifacts. i mean, we mentioned the british museum. so of course that was a tough stone, is high up on the least compatible to the parking of marbles when it comes to relationships between the british museum and greece. but beyond that,

i think that the, the topic is a particularly hot one for egypt and west and museum institution. so also because of how much, how many legal antiquities have left the country over the last they can do so at the time of the upstream with the political upheaval. of course, there was a perfect time for antiquity, looters, and sort of like less than ethical dealer. so 2 are illegal expert antiquities from the country. so indeed, the, the government of egypt has filed the requests for medicine shops and it is, it is indeed a complicated issue. i mean, something we tend to think of museums essence or like cages where, where asian objects are, you know, put on display. but basically they just get caught in the asked about museums, our cultural institutions, and so museums change as our culture and our society is change a. so the topic of institution is very much

a valid topic. and i think what really matters is that we should really not think of it as a 0 sum game. and there is this tendency of imagining that if the british museum is to return to these high profile item, then it's lost for the british pamlico international tourist coming to london. but it's not that, as we heard that there is also gestures us collaborations between countries and museum institutions, long term loans or so we really should think of it's not as is it a sum game like somebody is gaining somebody's loss because it's not that we're talking about world heritage up to the bottom there are challenges. they want that for a country like nigeria here. what perhaps you could outline some of those challenges for us. i mean there were opportunities to but could is there a danger that nigeria could squander those opportunities? it's a risk, yes it is. it is a moment of incredible opportunity, but also jeopardy that going back into the past and untangling. ready what happened

is inevitably complicated when the british invaded the kingdom of bennett in 1897, nigeria didn't exist. nigeria was a british creation that came into existence some 17 years later. and it wasn't something necessarily that people who lived within its territories and have a visit. so we've seen that play out. for example, the in the case of the ban in bronze is the rock different interests within nigeria, all of whom are acutely interested in the return of the bronze is there is a federal. ready government where the headquarters in boucher, which talks about building a national museum when it's talked about doing it for decades. but there's no sign of it existing. there is a state government at no. ready state which is right involved in this issue. then of course, there is the about the king of many who is the great great grandson with the man who was toppled by the british in 1897, and from whose palaces the treasures were looted to somebody who has an undoubted

morrow or authority. in this case, but i think in broad terms, i think we read you had it absolutely right. we shouldn't see it as a 0 sum game is, i believe firmly in the case of the been in bronze isn't indeed many other charges . there is, there is a, a real win win situation. there's no reason why horrible wrongs of the past shouldn't be addressed. that people in countries like nigeria or donna or cameroon, shouldn't be able to reconnect with that wonderful heritage that it should be returned to them. that seems only right, but that many of these treasures all well treacherous and they should continue to circulate around the great cities of all, well, britain, new york, iris, beijing, delhi, sidney and so on. yours do your to pick up on on that. so let me go back to, to something that you were saying a few moments ago. for many years, those who resisted the calls have made the tennis argument that the artifacts

wouldn't receive proper care if returned to places like nigeria and, and other countries from where they were stolen. i mean that, that argument as far as your concern is no longer valid. well, the point you said, you know, he africans would say, now finally, europeans are admitting that they have wrought these objects. and other rovers. they want to make default to define the conditions under which these object that we given back. and if you talk with africans and it has also occurred in the been in dialogue group, this issue of the ability to preserve, do go correct with it. you know, had been discuss, wiley, and it's only because after a certain atmosphere of trust has been created. and so the africans at me themselves think that is a problem and disrespect. but we should leave it to then to solve it. louise, you perhaps you can clear something up for me for and if you can we'll we'll,

we'll put it to to your son. barnaby. can you explain the legal differences between the terms restitution, which we've mentioned a lot so far, the program return and where the term good conscience comes into it? well, the word good. good. yeah. can definitely tell you about the word good conscience. i mean it's so, so i trying to finish it between now and restitution like legal issues and also i think alicia so, so for example, the distribution of illegally as model the antiquity. so you mentioned this earlier on in the program, the coughing of nature, america, the metropolitan museum. i can tell you for a fact within my professional environment and when it comes to using craters and academics, nobody would ever acting but faith that are serious problems with the antiquities markets of the documents of the coughing and being completely and made up and falsified. hence, at once, the truth came to the surface,

the coffin was straight away, returned to the government of egypt and it's legitimate owners. but the problem here goes beyond the idea of legal america, the ation and where the legal rights then it's also about ethical. it's us about reparation of historical wrong. so and again, the legal entity is that in the past and perhaps the signed contract and, and handed over antique, which is to european powers that those legal entity is no longer exist. thinking about again, the british museum, and in this case the partner marble so well at the time greece was part of the ottoman empire. so your facial authorities in the end, answer to part the powers in east them will the same. in fact, also in the 19th century for egypt, it was a problem of the ottoman empire. so that's really for some that's really actually the problem that i think is more difficult to define. again. ready where i think that nobody will disagree when it comes to repatriate in the legal antiquities. the problem is the ethical issues. and so again, where do we decide how far do we decide to go?

ready when trying to fix the wrongs of listening, luigi, i just want to ask you a little sidetracked here from over. there are cases where valuable artifacts have been moved in order to preserve and to protect them at times of conflict, especially in recent times in the middle east. tell us you your experience of that and how it differs from the case of the been in bronze isn't another stolen artifacts. i'm thinking in particular about places like palmera and how in times of conflict you protect sights of archaeological significance. there is a major issue. i mean, yes, bonita is a, is a good case about my, 1st of all in that case, much of it was an architecture and monuments. so how do you move to protect those and also idea that moving antiquities to someone else, keep them safe, especially to some other country as well. it's highly arbitrary. and many people will actually object and say that a lot of antiquities, including egyptian antiquities,

where lost during world war 2 in europe met plenty of addiction collection. i can mention in germany live 6, but also barely in plenty of fantastic antiquities. we only have photographs of them because they were destroyed doing the, the bombing. so we're to so in the case that those things would have been much safer, had to stayed back in egypt and own in other countries in, in asia, in asia, as opposed to being in europe. so once again, where do you trace these line? it's highly arbitrary and that's also that he's got once again of repeating man patronizing attitudes of the pastor. yes. not all artifacts in western museums were stolen or taken by force. how does that complicate the discussion that we're having here? well, that complicates particular problems research. if i, if you allow me to give an example that the belgian federal government, they have developed a law which says that object that proven to has been stolen from combo, for instance,

a become automatically the property of the democratic republic of congo. so this property title is transferred. now they have investigated different, especially for the major every government in industrial, near brussels. and they have about 80000 projects from cornwall. and they have calculated that these $80883.00 are proven to be stolen. now that means, and they argue that $45.00 thousands, they'll be corrected. they have be collected in a correct way. and 35000. they do not know they still have to investigate. now this is a big, big problem because there's very little documentation about this object. so probably we will never know precisely whether this is booty or not, or whether this was k to or, or if, you know, acquired in indisputable manner. so how do we handle that?

and in my view, you know, the discussion in europe is currently very much focused on more and our feelings of shame of guilt, maybe about how we appropriate them. and maybe should be much more oriented towards the needs of the countries of origin for collections that they need. and if i may give an example, i know gets d indonesia to form a dust colony as a committee. and they work now along this line. and then you say, what do we need to have at the present address collection of our own cultural and historical past. finally, we, we heard in harrison ford earlier on about this 963 law, which prevents the british museum returning some, not all, but some of the artifacts in its possession. to what extent is the british government in particular, passing the buck at the department foot for digital culture, media, and sports in the u. k. a said,

decisions relating to the care and management of their collections are matter of the trustees of each museum should, should be more government intervention here, a given policy here to, to guide how museums act. i think the british government is being a bit disingenuous that yes so i mean just just a few people in the british museum act that prevents the british museum from permanently returning or accessing as music. people say objects in its collection with a few exceptions for which the law has changed in recent years, objects, stone, and during the holocaust and human body parts human remains would. of course, if the law can change for those exceptions, why can't it change for say, objects new to during the colonial period? people ask the point is that the british museum directors and trustees in the past have hidden behind this law. it's been

a convenient excuse for inactivity nowadays. i'm not quite sure that is the case. in fact, i see the british museums around the divided place and some actuators within it are distinctly uncomfortable about the situation they're in, but they are unable to permanently return. the been in bronze is all for that matter. the partner models into the law. ready changes, and that would require a vote in parliament. and if you look at the current configuration of the british parliament with the conservative majority, that seems extremely unlikely to happen short of a general election and a new political configuration. so it is a national political issue, which generally does leave use in like the british museum, but also other museums. the v and a then the national gallery, hamstrung on this issue. undoubtedly, i want to spend the last few minutes the program talking about the future luigi.

you were talking earlier on about about how the world can continue to enjoy and learn from these objects. should we know, expect you think to see ancient antiquities presented in digital form rather than in person? you talked about a collections being loaned out to what extent does that watered down the impact? and if we're seeing them in bits, if you like, not a full connection because it's been loaned out. does that detract from the educational value of visiting of museum? well, there's no doubt so that this is the direction where we are aiming in the future. there would be more and more my museum experiences more than just. ready walking through i time so that it will be more also replica. so because of how now we are able to create a perfect quality replica. so, but these also doesn't concern adjust artifacts and objects in museum collections. these also concerns are monuments. i mean, if we think about some of the earliest

a story or art examples, in the case of law school in france, nobody can actually visit the regional because just human presence. that will mean that the, the, the decay and permanent damage to the region out pigments or so everybody of, it's a replica. we have similar situations in egypt. for sam, at the credit of tombs that are too fragile. and so, yes indeed, that's the direction. and i don't think that detracts to the educational value of the experience actually in a way can add to it because of the multimedia approach that we can use. if nothing else, i do appreciate that in my detract from that emotional connection, that one might have of the water is regional in ancient object. so there are that are still things that we need to fix, that. this is also part of the conversation that we still need to have we have and so to get it all out yet. ok, yes, we have about a minute left on the program. what will the museum of the future look like?

well, i'm not sure whether you'd have digital objects because for digital objects, i mean, due to link up of d, luigi says is that did the objects we should distinguish between on the one hand ceremonial religious object and on the other, maybe household utensils. now for the letter digital, the bet creation can be a solution. but for the 1st, i know for most countries of origin, they want the originals to come back. and then if they allow it, we can, we can have made digital copays for in our machines. but i think in, in them our, the museum of the future, it should not be about objects. first of all, it should not be about storage. first of all, it should be about the relationship between former colonized and former colonizers and his relationship in the relationship who discussed, for instance,

can we shall and says, remains. can we show mummies? can we show the sensitive pictures, photographs, et cetera? so it's a mental dialogue for the museum of the future. of that, i think is a great place to leave it. many thanks. indeed gentlemen, for being with a spot to be phillips in london. yes, fun burton the new trex ann louise. he brought it up, sala, as always, thank you for watching. don't forget you can see the program again. any time by visiting our website, al jazeera dot com for further discussion. join us that our facebook page that's at facebook dot com forward slash ha inside story. as you can join the conversation on twitter or handle at ha, inside story for me, adrian finnegan, the team here. and so how, thanks for watching to see it. ah ah

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pool. and mama pricing isn't free to movement. takes place in kenya. counting up a gas, the british demanding return of their lives, nearly d, cuz if i documents showing the lights on prisons colonial past, very systematic torture, a reign of terror in these count major human rights abuse. how was this happening? a very british way of to a chance i want to donate to deny on al jazeera, we know what's happening in our region. we know how to get the plate that others and not as far as i said, i'm going on the way that you tell the story is what can make a difference. ah.