‘Return the moai’: Chileans demand that the British Museum hand over Easter Island statue – 02/20/2024 – Science

The British Museum is facing pressure from social media users in Chile for the institution to return a stone monument taken from Easter Island.

The museum has two of the island’s famous moai statues. They were looted from the Chilean territory of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, in 1868.

The online campaign began after an influencer called on his followers to respond to the museum’s Instagram posts with “return the moai” comments.

The British Museum said in a social media post that it had disabled comments.

Easter Island, located in the Pacific and about 3,700 km off the coast of Chile, is known for its moai statues, which are said to embody the spirit of an important ancestor.

Built between 1400 and 1650 AD, many of the statues remain on the island today, but several have been taken to museums around the world — including the Hoa Hakananai’a in the British Museum’s collection.

The statue, along with a second smaller moai known as Hava, were given as gifts to Queen Victoria in 1869 by the captain of HMS Topaze, Commodore Richard Powell. The Queen donated the two statues to the British Museum.

Old requirement

Calls for the return of the Hoa Hakananai’a, meaning “stolen friend,” to Rapa Nui are not new.

Chilean influencer Mike Milfort’s campaign renewed demands and caused many of his followers to demand his repatriation in the comments section of several of the museum’s Instagram posts.

Milfort regularly talks about moai in his viral videos.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric also supported the sentiment behind the social media campaign in a recent radio interview.

The British Museum says it has disabled comments on a post, which had been shared in collaboration with a youth charity.

A spokesperson said the museum welcomed the debate, but that it needed to be “balanced”.

The museum claims to have good and open relationships with Rapa Nui colleagues and there have been several community visits to London since 2018.

Last year, Greece’s prime minister called for the Parthenon sculptures — or Elgin Marbles — to be returned to the country.

The sculptures are one of the most prominent artifacts in the debate over whether museums around the world should return items to their countries of origin.