[hillsboroughman]

Museums, as a concept, rest on a supply chain of plunder and pillage in the past and now increasingly, on theft, dubious commercial transactions etc.. No one can deny that local people and shady businessmen have been hand in glove with art collectors, dubious art historians and international smugglers, for thefts to happen on such a large scale.

The situation can improve if ordinary people feel within their hearts that museums by and large house stolen art from, usually, poorer countries. People should really stop visiting museums like the Met and LACMA. Otherwise they would just be encouraging past patterns of behavior.

[bombolo]

Some civilizations actually did produce art that can be displayed in a museum locally (if the british forgot to steal it)