Art History: Art, Museums and Repatriation

Exploring the often tricky and sometimes controversial debates around art ownership, historical legacies and repatriation.

Contemporary galleries and museums are deeply conscious of the sometimes murky or clearly questionable routes through which the beautiful artworks they hold in trust and display were originally acquired. The ongoing disputes about the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum and the current process of repatriating cultural treasures taken in the context of Imperialism and Colonialism often make the headlines. At the same time patience scholarship continues to attempt to trace works of art confiscated or stolen during the First and Second World Wars. Indeed, the Peace Treaties at the end of the First World War included articles related to the destruction and removal of cultural heritage.

This course offers a chance to survey this complex area and to join informed debate about the legitimacy of owning cultural objects. The course will example the ethical and research issues around the correct provenances for art objects and the sometimes dubious practices of restorers and archaeologists of earlier generations. Through case studies, changing actions and attitudes to the acquisition and display of objects and the issues raised by questions of ownership and repatriation will be explored.

This is a seminar-style course which combines information sharing, group discussion and debate and the close study of individual works and related historical sources and academic writings, led bythree experienced tutors: Miriam Gill, David Antill and Ellie Pridgeon.
This five-week course will run on Wednesday afternoons 1pm - 3pm, starting on Wednesday 15 January and ending on 12 February 2025.

Participants must be aged 18+.

Please ensure that you agree to our updatedTerms & Conditions before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable in some circumstances.

We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome - just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you'd like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email, pop in or call, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.

Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road. The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us.