Museums: who owns what?

A leading human rights lawyer has accused the British Museum of being "the world's largest receivers of stolen property". Should museums return artefacts to their place of origin?

Published 08 September 2023

Use this one-hour lesson to help your students:

  • Understand why some museums have been criticised for the artifacts they display
  • Explore examples in the news
  • Discuss the rules that museum curators should follow to decide whether or not an artefact should be displayed.

This Headline develops

  • Step 9:

    I develop ideas by asking myself questions

  • Step 10:

    I develop ideas by considering different perspectives

  • Step 12:

    I can identify some common themes in a news story, for example - power and injustice

Find out more about the Topical Talk skills and knowledge framework here.

Available downloads

Create an account or log in to access resources for this

Related resources

View all resources