Maqdala 1868/London 2018

On 5 April 2018, the exhibition “Maqdala 1868” opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Comprised of treasures looted from Ethiopia, the exhibition raises ongoing controversy about treasure ownership. In the case of Ethiopia, what is important in this controversy is the fact that the ques...

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Main Author: Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw
Format: Non traditional textual works
Published: 2019
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75862
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author Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw
author_facet Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw
author_sort Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description On 5 April 2018, the exhibition “Maqdala 1868” opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Comprised of treasures looted from Ethiopia, the exhibition raises ongoing controversy about treasure ownership. In the case of Ethiopia, what is important in this controversy is the fact that the question of ownership is linked to the question of memory: whose story should be remembered through these treasures? What does the title of the exhibition, “Maqdala 1868”, stand for? Maqdala is a ruined capital of Ethiopia where 23,000 well-armed British and Indian soldiers looted and burned the national treasury of Ethiopia. Yet, the displayed articles in London are not just the spoils of war. As artistic, intellectual and cultural assets, they have meaning beyond their relationship with Britain’s imperial history.
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format Non traditional textual works
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:05:31Z
publishDate 2019
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-758622019-07-09T23:55:29Z Maqdala 1868/London 2018 Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw On 5 April 2018, the exhibition “Maqdala 1868” opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Comprised of treasures looted from Ethiopia, the exhibition raises ongoing controversy about treasure ownership. In the case of Ethiopia, what is important in this controversy is the fact that the question of ownership is linked to the question of memory: whose story should be remembered through these treasures? What does the title of the exhibition, “Maqdala 1868”, stand for? Maqdala is a ruined capital of Ethiopia where 23,000 well-armed British and Indian soldiers looted and burned the national treasury of Ethiopia. Yet, the displayed articles in London are not just the spoils of war. As artistic, intellectual and cultural assets, they have meaning beyond their relationship with Britain’s imperial history. 2019 Non traditional textual works http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75862 restricted
spellingShingle Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw
Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title_full Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title_fullStr Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title_full_unstemmed Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title_short Maqdala 1868/London 2018
title_sort maqdala 1868/london 2018
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75862