Thursday, August 2, 2007

Returnlink. What worries me about this article, and about Egypt's similar, nigh-fanatical efforts to ship back to the Nile everything ever unearthed by Egyptologists, is what happens after every cultural treasure has been returned to its country of origin. Won't we then learn less about the history, art, and culture of distant lands? Is not out of sight out of mind? If a child does not become enchanted by a transplanted piece of another culture's heritage while on a school trip to a local museum, will he still grow up to be a student and devotee of that culture's traditions? Seeking the return of all antiquities and artifacts to their native lands is short-sighted and ultimately xenophobic folly that I fear will lead to a more insular, more suspicious, and less international world. If this trend continues, all the disparate corners of the earth will have in common is vapid, purposeless, ceaseless text messaging. Heaven forbid. There is yet time to stop it!

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