V&A artefacts ‘loan’ rejected

– Britain must permanently return all artefacts from Ethiopia held by the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum and Addis Ababa will not accept them on loan, an Ethiopian government official said.

The call comes after the museum, one of London’s most popular tourist attractions, put Ethiopian treasures plundered by British forces in 1868 on display.

“It’d be excited if the items held at the V&A could be part of a longterm loan with a cultural institution in Ethiopia,” museum director Tristram Hunt said.

Among the items on display are sacred manuscripts and gold taken from the Battle of Maqdala 150 years ago, when British troops ransacked the fortress of Emperor Tewodros II.

The offer of a loan did not go far enough for Ethiopia.

Ephrem Amare, Ethiopian National Museum director, said: “It is clearly known where these treasures came from and whom they belong to. Our main demand has never been to borrow them.

“Ethiopia’s demand has always been the restoration of those illegally looted treasures.” –