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Reviews
The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution by Dan Hicks
tallulahjt's review
3.0
Extremely well researched, pretty well-written. I will say, however, I think I expected this book to be a little different than it actually is. I would have liked more information on the lives of the looted artifacts after their removal from their homes and a vision of what a post-colonial museum might look like. I was not expecting most of the book to be about the 1897 British punitive expedition to Benin (which is important! I just didn't need so much historical background to understand that it was terrible) instead of the looted artifacts themselves.
katherinejayne's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
2.5
I wanted to love this more but the writing style hindered my experience here.
Perhaps I’m just not used to more academic style writing, but I found the book hard to penetrate. This meant the important subject matter wasn’t being properly absorbed as I spent most of my time rereading sections and trying to understand all of the details.
This is an important book to read about colonial collections and ideas on restitution. But as I said, for me, those important ideas lost shine through the difficult writing.
Perhaps I’m just not used to more academic style writing, but I found the book hard to penetrate. This meant the important subject matter wasn’t being properly absorbed as I spent most of my time rereading sections and trying to understand all of the details.
This is an important book to read about colonial collections and ideas on restitution. But as I said, for me, those important ideas lost shine through the difficult writing.
thisonecassie's review
This is no doubt, a wonderful book. I know this from what i did read of it, but life has gotten busy and my brain is far too scrambled to read the highly academic, dense prose of this book at this curent moment. I shall pick it back up in due time, though that time will not be soon.
megit2's review
4.0
easily comprehensible read about institutional racism, objects as memories in dialogue, ongoing issues of modern anthropology & archeology, alongside the wrongs of capitalism and the terrible realities of colonization.