the uk wants to “loan” ethiopia the art they stole from them in the first place…

Imagine someone came into your home, stole your TV, and then tried to sell it back to you the next day? Well, that’s what the UK thinks it’s going to do with the treasures it stole from Ethiopia. 150 years after British troops raided the country for artifacts that would wind up in the Victoria and Albert Museum. According to the New York Times, among the stole items are crown, a chalice, a wedding dress and a selection of jewelry that were recently exhibited in “Maqdala 1868,” set to open today, actually.

And while the Ethiopian Embassy in London was in consolation about the exhibition, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tristram Hunt, told the Art Newspaper that he had made “a clear statement to the ambassador, saying that if Ethiopia is interested in pursuing the long-term loan of the Maqdala items we would stand ready to assist.”

How generous.

“This is a very well-known case where there is a serious claim for the return of cultural objects,” said Alexander Herman, assistant director of the Institute of Art and Law, an educational organization based in London. Here, here.