The British Museum invites veterans to rescue the scene, including theft scandals, director resignations, and multiple countries pursuing cultural relics... This is a critical moment, Albert | director | critical moment

Three weeks after the theft incident, on September 2nd local time, 72 year old Mark Jones, former director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, was appointed as interim director of the British Museum, replacing Fisher who had previously resigned as director.

The theft scandal has escalated, the director has resigned, safety management is poor, and multiple countries are pursuing cultural relics... For a period of time, the British Museum has been pushed into a whirlpool of public opinion, falling into a major crisis since its establishment.

The appointment of a temporary director is seen as a "fire extinguishing" measure by the British Museum, aimed at restoring the museum's reputation and restoring external confidence. However, for the new leader, this may not be a halo, but a hot potato.

The most experienced and respected

Jones can be called a veteran of the museum industry, described by the chairman of the British Museum Board, Osborne, as "one of the most experienced and respected museum leaders" who can provide the leadership and control needed at present.

Coincidentally, the British Museum was where Jones began his career as a museum administrator, having served as the head of the Coins and Medals department for 18 years.

In addition to overseeing the Victoria and Albert Museum, Jones has also served as the director of the National Museum of Scotland, with extensive experience in curation and management.

During his tenure as V&A curator from 2001 to 2011, Jones reintroduced a free visit system and supervised the large-scale renovation of the gallery.

During his tenure, he also handled several theft cases.

In three theft cases in 2004, thieves stole 8 Italian Renaissance bronze plaques, 15 Mason porcelain statues, and Chinese jade worth $100000 from the museum.

After the incident, Jones strengthened the museum's security measures, including replacing old display cabinets and installing improved surveillance cameras and anti-theft alarm systems.

Jones also advocated establishing cooperative relationships with other museums and suggested that the UK and Greece share the Parthenon stone carvings.

It is reported that the latest appointment still needs to be approved by British Prime Minister Sunak.

The reason for this "change of coach" is a theft incident that occurred more than half a month ago.

On August 16th, the British Museum issued a notice stating that a collection had been "lost, stolen, or damaged", dismissed one employee, and reported to the police.

The lost collection includes gold jewelry, gemstones, and glassware from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD.

In fact, two years ago, antique dealer Itay Grader sent an email to the museum, accusing senior curator Peter Higgs of "selling" the museum's collection of artifacts at a low price on the Ebe website. But then curator Fischer rejected Grader's email, replying that "a very thorough investigation has been conducted and the museum has not lost anything.".

Until recently, as the scandal escalated, this former revelation only received attention.

The attitude of museums has also changed. On August 26th, Osborne, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the British Museum, confirmed that the number of "missing" collections was about 2000, and the museum had dismissed the person identified by Grader at the time.

The director of the British Museum, Fischer, also resigned, and the deputy director, Jonathan Williams, subsequently resigned.

Collection management, chaotic and chaotic

The British Museum was established in 1753 and is the world's first national museum. So far, only 1% of the 8 million collections in the museum have been exhibited.

However, the recent theft scandal is considered the most serious theft incident in modern history, and once again exposes the internal chaos of this world-renowned museum.

The first and foremost issue is poor collection management.

In the past 30 years, the British Museum has only publicly disclosed six instances of cultural relic theft.

According to CCTV News, if a small Roman relief gemstone were stolen, even the curator of the museum may not have noticed.

Professor Dan Hicks of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford said that the British Museum claims to be a trustworthy custodian, but now it sounds hollow. "How should an organization that takes the responsibility of protecting world heritage be restored to its reputation after being exposed for theft?"

At the same time, the inventory, registration, and cataloging of collections are also loose, chaotic, and incomplete.

In 1988, the UK government regulatory agency, the National Audit Office, pointed out in a report that the inventory and cataloging of collections at the British Museum were not satisfactory. The report adds that due to the continuous shortage of personnel, it is difficult to say when the situation will improve.

So far, only 4.5 million cultural relics have been recorded in the public database of the museum, accounting for only about half of the 8 million collections.

Charles Somares Smith, former director of the Royal Academy of Arts in the UK, stated that since the report was released, other British museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum have basically completed the registration and cataloging of their collections on computers, but the British Museum has been slow to take action.

The head of the UNESCO team to combat illegal trafficking in cultural relics, Ziro Giannis, stated that registering collections is the main responsibility of museums, while the British Museum prioritizes funding for producing exquisite manuals and organizing events, providing opportunities for thieves to take advantage of.

Hot potato, facing numerous challenges

Former British Minister for Culture Chris Smith has stated that the British Museum is going through a difficult period and the leadership needs to take decisive action to restore its reputation.

So far, the British Museum has commissioned an independent investigation to identify theft incidents and propose suggestions for improving security measures. The appointment of a temporary director is also seen as a hope to revive people's confidence in the British Museum by adjusting the management during the ongoing theft scandal.

In the past, being able to steer the British Museum undoubtedly had unlimited scenery, but in the present moment, Jones is taking over a hot potato, waiting for him to face numerous challenges.

Firstly, we need to deal with the aftermath of the theft scandal and take over the subsequent work of searching for lost cultural relics.

The British Museum has begun attempting to retrieve all lost collections, but this may be very difficult. According to analysts, museums must file lawsuits to recover some of their collections, and this process is costly. If some cultural relics have already been lost overseas, it is even more impossible to recover them.

Secondly, it is necessary to address the management confusion exposed by theft cases.

According to Osborne, Jones' primary task is to accelerate the cataloging of collections, improve safety, and reshape the pride of museum curation.

Thirdly, we must face the wave of cultural relics pursuit initiated by multiple countries.

In the collection of the British Museum, many cultural relics are accused of being illegally looted during the British colonial period or during foreign wars, and have long been sought after by other countries.

But the UK has always refused to return it on the grounds of "protecting the safety of cultural relics". In 1963, the British Museum Act was also amended to legislate against the return of cultural relics.

With the exposure of theft scandals and the red light on the safety of cultural relics, it is believed that the claim that "foreign cultural relics are better protected in the British Museum" has been falsified, and the call for the recovery of cultural relics is also constantly rising.

Recently, governments from Greece, Nigeria, Ethiopia and other countries have once again requested the British Museum to return cultural relics.

The Global Times also called on the British Museum in a recent review, urging it to return all 23000 Chinese cultural relics in its collection.

In addition to the aforementioned challenges, Jones will also have to work hard to raise funds for the museum.

The British Museum receives approximately 4.5 million visitors for free each year, thus heavily relying on government funding - a total of £ 68 million was invested last year.

Currently, the museum is planning a renovation, which is expected to cost £ 1 billion.

Due to government budget constraints, museums must rely on donors to provide financial support. Jones will be responsible for fundraising matters. However, the theft scandal may make fundraising activities difficult.

During the renovation process, many cultural relics still have to be temporarily moved, posing another challenge to the safety management of the museum.