Ɖ Gardịn vy on ɖ Britiś Ḿziym losz: a dipḷmatic ǒn gol
Transcription of a Gardian editorial of 25 August 2023
Ɖ dis’piṛns v arṭfacts hz dlivrd a propganḍcù t neśnz campenñ fr ɖ rtrn v historicl treźrz
Frîde, 25 Ōġst 2023
Az ǒn golz g, ɖ reṿleśnz abt ɖ dis’piṛns v arṭfacts fṛm ɖ Britiś Ḿziym ɖt léd t Frîde nît’s reẓgneśn v its d’rectr, Hartwig Fischer, r î-popñ. Most v ɖ misñ objicts mt nt b v gret valy: nirli a ʈǎznd cem fṛm a bqst md bî ɖ faṃli v an 18ʈ-snć̣ri c’lectr, n hd bn stord awe in a dror wɖt īvn biyñ indivijli caṭlogd.
Bt ɖ naṛtiv z devstetñ. Ẃn ɖ dror wz opnd, it hz bn rportd, onli sevn îtmz rmend. Ɖ ḿziym hd bn wornd in 2021 ɖt objicts fṛm its c’lex́n hd bn trnñ p fr seil, bt Mr Fischer sd ɖt, aftr an intrnl invstgeśn, h wz confidnt ol hd bn acǎntd fr. It wz onli ẃn ɖ bōrd v d’rectrz wz alrtd ɖt frɖr ax́n wz tecn. Bî ɖ tîm ɖ ʈefts wr md public last wīc, a sīńr stāfmembr hd bn sact n ɖ Metṛpolitn p’līs cōld in. Nǎ ɖ d’rectr himslf hz gn, tù.
Dez lêtr, ɖ hed v ɖ Asośieśn v Grīc Arcioḷjists pǎnst, seyñ ɖ ḿziym cd no longr mnten ɖt it wz betr ɖn Grīs at pṛtctñ Grīc culćṛl heṛtij. Dspīna Cǒtsūmbá wz, v cors, rfŕñ t ɖ loñ-runñ dspyt ovr ǒnrśp v ɖ Parʈ̇nón marblz. Grīs’z culćrministr, Līna Mendoni, tld ɖ nyzpepr T Vima ɖt ɖ insidnt “riinforsz ɖ prṃnnt n just dmand v ǎr cuntri fr [ɖer] dfiṇtiv rtrn”.
It wl nt hv gn uņotist bî Jorj Ozbōrn, ɖ ćer v ɖ Britiś Ḿziym trustīz n formr ćanslr v ɖ xćecr, ɖt ɖs z ɖ lanḡj v a dipḷmatic pǎns. H wz rdyst t fībli pariyñ ɖt ɖ insidnt “onli riinforsz ɖ ces fr ɖ riimaɉneśn v ɖ ḿziym w hv imbarct upn”.
Dītelz v ɖs biłn-pǎnd “riimaɉneśn” – ẃć includ a mejr rībild n a cmitmnt t bcm a net ziro-carbn ḿziym – r dy t b rvild ɖs ōtm. Bt ɖ fremwrc, leid ǎt bî Mr Ozbōrn in a spīć t trustīz last yir, md it clir hǎ imposbl it z fr eni sć viźn t flot fri v clemz fr resttyśn v, in hiz wrdz, “ɖ treźrz w hold in trust fr ol hymncînd”.
Pndñ ɖ rzults v ɖ p’līs invstgeśn, it z imposbl t nǒ hǎ xtnsivli ɖs trust hz bn brocn. Tim Lōtn, ćer v ɖ ol-parti parḷmntri grūp on ɖ Britiś Ḿziym, akzd Grīs ɖs wīc v “bletnt oṗtynizm.” Bt ɖ rūmrmil hz bn ćrnñ, wɖ aṇcdotl rports ɖt insîdrʈeft fṛm YC ḿziymz hz bn wîdspred fr yirz.
Ɖ vast mjoṛti v stāf r undǎtidli onist n dedcetd t a voceśn ɖt z abt rsrć az wel az dsple: caṭlogñ z an xōstiv n ongwñ proses, n ɖ ḿziym hz sd ɖt mni v ɖ misñ objicts wr hld mnli fr acdemic prṗsz. Bt Mz Cǒtsūmbá hz a pônt. Ɖ ces drwz atnśn t ɖ probḷmz v rsponsbli cẹrñ fr n kretñ a c’lex́n v mor ɖn 8m objicts fṛm ol ovr ɖ wrld, sm v ẃć śd b rtrnd.
Ɖs z nǎ a dfînñ crîsis fr ɖ 21st-snć̣ri Britiś Ḿziym. Ɖ ćôs v Dr Fischer’z s’xesr z piṿtl. Ɖ ḿziym wl nīd t b sìn t pt its hǎs in ordr swiftli n dsîsivli f it z t pswed uɖrz t folo its riimaɉnñ v itslf az – in Mr Ozbōrn’z wrdz – a custodịn v ǎr comn hymaṇti.
