British Museum appoints new director due to thefts

Because of the theft scandal, the British Museum has changed management. The place of director Harving Fisher, who resigned in disgrace on August 25, is going to be temporarily given to 72-year-old Mark Jones, who began his career just in the British Museum (he worked for 34 years in the numismatics department) and successfully reformed the Victoria and Albert Museum, which headed from 2001 to 2011.

Sir Mark Ellis Powell Jones is one of the most titled and experienced specialists in the museum environment in Britain. He was nominated by the president of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, George Osborne, but before he can take the post, he must be approved by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. What lies ahead for Jones and how the crisis in the British Museum will resonate in the world, MK understood.

Foggy Albion will be in a fever for a long time from the scandal that erupted in the British Museum. It would seem unthinkable: in one of the largest museums in the world, more than 2,000 exhibits worth millions of pounds have been stolen and stolen for years. Some of them are sold for pennies on eBay. And this despite the fact that art dealers and art critics wrote to the management of the institution that they notice exhibits on the art market that suspiciously resemble those stored in the British Museum. However, Fisher and his subordinates ignored the messages.

At the same time, back in July, one of the curators, an archaeologist with a doctoral degree, Peter Higgs, was secretly fired from the museum: now he is suspected of theft, but no charge has been brought, the art critic has not been arrested.

A couple of days after Higgs was fired, which became known a month later, Fisher announced that he would leave his post in 2024 to take on bigger things. Now all this looks extremely suspicious.

Due to a crime scandal, several governments have redoubled their demands for the return of once-stolen artifacts that are no longer safe in a museum like the British Museum. Among them are Greece, Nigeria and China. And India, which began a campaign to return valuables taken out by the British back in May, has now announced that it will change its name to Bharat, because the country got its current name from the British during their colonial rule.

India has been considering a name change for years, but it seems that now (perhaps indirectly, but still) the British scandal has pushed the country to take more active steps.

India is demanding the return of hundreds of cultural property made of silver and gold from Britain. Among them are not only the exhibits of the British Museum, but also the famous Kohinoor diamond, which was taken out of India in 1850. And then he was framed and inserted into the tiara of Queen Victoria, then wandered from one British crown to another, until he adorned the symbol of Queen Elizabeth’s royal power.

The theft scandal has stirred up many problems, both international and domestic. It became obvious to everyone that the British Museum was a complete mess with cataloging (does it exist at all?), storage and security. And perhaps not only there.

A recent incident in the London National Gallery is indicative, on the roof of which, it is not clear how, a man in a tracksuit climbed, walked along the parapet for almost a day, because of which Trafalgar Square was blocked. In a word, the people who have to rake this mess have a special responsibility.

In addition to Mark Jones, archaeologist Karl Heron will have to pull the British Museum out of the puddle in which he sat down. He took the place of fired deputy director Jonathan Williams, who, like Fisher, knew about the thefts and did nothing.

Carl Heron as deputy director, in theory, is also a temporary figure, until 2024, when a new director is supposed to be elected. Museum Council President George Osborne announced the objectives of the new leadership: “To accelerate the cataloging of the collection, improve security and strengthen the pride of the museum.” The last one will be the most difficult. However, this is not all. The British Museum is about to undergo a major renovation, the project of which was prepared by Fischer. But Jones will now have to raise funds for it, which with the current image of the museum will not be easy.

However, he knows how to solve complex problems. Behind Sir Jones is a quality reconstruction of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He also had to deal with security issues. In 2004, thieves broke into the Victoria and Albert Museum and stole a number of valuable items worth a tidy sum. After that, Mark Jones installed a new alarm system in the museum, replaced all the old showcases, and installed modern CCTV cameras.

In addition, it was he who in 1996 curated the exhibition “Fake. The Art of Deception”, where more than 600 artifacts from Egyptian times to the present day were presented, most of which were acquired from the collection on the basis of false examinations, including by employees of the British Museum. That is, he was not afraid to go against his alma mater in the name of justice. So, now I have to deal with it.