British Museum

EuroVerify

How many artefacts in the British Museum are actually British?

It's often claimed online that the British Museum in London would have nothing left to show if it returned every artefact that the UK allegedly stole from other countries, but there's more to the claim than meets the eye.

16/12/2024

Culture news

German museum repatriates ancient marble head to Greece

Will the return of the sculpture, which will go on display in Thessaloniki, put extra pressure on the British Museum to return the Parthenon Marbles?

22/11/2024

Culture news

Most Britons support permanent British Museum slave trade exhibit

A new poll reveals that 53% of British people back a permanent exhibition at the British Museum focused on Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade.

22/11/2024

Culture news

British Museum accepts highest-value donation in UK museum history

The official donation of the entire Sir Percival David Foundation is worth an estimated £1 billion.

14/11/2024

Art

Never-seen-before Picasso prints go on display at British Museum

Over 80 prints by Pablo Picasso are featured in a new British Museum exhibition in London, showcasing his lesser-known work as a printmaker.

06/11/2024

Culture news

Remarkable coin collection bought by UK trust for over €5 million

A remarkable collection of 2,584 silver pennies dating back to the Norman Conquest has been acquired for £4.3 million (around €5.16 million), setting a record as the most valuable treasure ever discovered in the UK.

22/10/2024

Culture news

Researchers decipher 4,000-year-old Babylonian tablets predicting doom

Ancient tablets acquired by the British Museum decades ago have finally been deciphered - and they weren’t exactly good news for kings.

14/08/2024

Culture news

British Museum admits to breaking UK law after missing artefact report

The museum admitted that many of the approximately 2000 missing items may be “unrecoverable” after being defaced and “sold for scrap”.

13/08/2024

Culture news

Native American tribes are still waiting for items from US museums

Hundreds of thousands of items that should have been returned under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 still remain in museum custody.

01/08/2024

Culture news

Art(istic) theft: Brazilian artist steals coin from British Museum

Hundreds of items have gone missing from the British Museum – but, this time, a historic coin was stolen by an artist.

16/07/2024

Culture news

Ex-British Museum boss wants foreigners to pay to see UK artefacts

The British Museum, Tate Modern and Science Museum are among the UK cultural institutions being encouraged to charge foreign visitors to see their treasures.

02/07/2024

Culture news

Is there any record of the legitimate sale of the Parthenon Marbles?

The British Museum has maintained that Ottoman authorities granted an imperial edict allowing the sculptures to be removed, but a Turkish official has cast doubt on the document’s existence.

06/06/2024

Culture news

British Museum recovers 268 more missing artefacts following thefts

The news follows last year's revelation that approximately 2,000 items, including gold and semi-precious stone jewellery, had gone missing.

17/05/2024

Art

British Museum sheds light on daily life in the Roman army

London’s British Museum's latest exhibition invites visitors to step into the shoes of an ordinary Roman army soldier.

01/02/2024

Culture news

UK museums to loan looted artefacts to Ghana

The UK is returning a selection of Asante Gold looted from Ghana over 100 years ago in a historic loan deal.

25/01/2024

United Kingdom

Rishi Sunak escalates his war of words with Greek PM over Marbles

The British prime minister said his Greek counterpart wanted to "grandstand and relitigate issues of the past" rather than focus on serious topics.

29/11/2023

Culture news

Why Britain should want to return the Parthenon Marbles

As talks break down between Britain and Greece over the Parthenon Marbles, Evangelos Kyriakidis makes a moral argument instead of a legal one about why it's better to give than receive.

28/11/2023

Culture news

British Museum to digitise collection to prevent more thefts

The British Museum, one of the most visited in the world, has been dealing with the aftermath of thefts which highlighted internal failings and led to the exit of its director.

18/10/2023

Culture news

'Stolen' totem pole to return home to Canada from Scottish museum

The vast artefact is being prepared for return from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to the Nisga'a Nation, an indigenous group based on the west coast of Canada, after it was 'stolen' nearly a century ago.

28/08/2023

Culture news

British Museum director steps down over stolen items controversy

Hartwig Fischer released a statement announcing his resignation.

25/08/2023