Patrizio Gunning, L; Conway, S; (2019) Diplomats, Collecting and the Museum. UCL: London, UK.

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Abstract

A UCL HEIF KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND INNOVATION FUND application allowed us to com- plete six months of work in collaboration with the British Museum Archives to research and un- derstand the extent of diplomatic involvement in the collection of antiquities from the territory of the Ottoman Empire, in the years between 1800 and 1912. This is a fundamental period of time that coincided with the creation of some of the most impor- tant state museums in Europe and with the gathering of antiquities for museums in a way that is today creating a wake of restitution requests. Diplomatic status was essential to obtain permission to excavate and take away the findings, and the understanding of the history of collecting for the formation of institutional museums has be- come an essential point to discuss restitution requests and understand the future of the collec- tions and museums in a rapidly changing and globalised society. The narrative currently presented by museums as a result of the acquisition of their collections is both dated and controversial and needs to be updated. This pilot project coincides with the reorganisation of the British Museum Archives under one sin- gle umbrella with a new and strengthened department created to comply with the accreditation from the National Archives which requires cataloguing, increased access and progress towards open access.

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