We should not censor artefacts’ history, urges Oxford librarian

MUSEUMS and libraries should not attempt to hide the past or be “economical” about the truth, Oxford University’s chief librarian has said.

Instead, they should be “honest and open” about the provenance of their documents and artefacts, according to the head of the Bodleian Libraries.

Richard Ovenden’s remarks come as a number of institutions, including the Natural History Museum, prepare to launch reviews into their collections after the Black Lives Matter protests.

Mr Ovenden said there were no plans for similar reviews at the Bodleian but it is important to understand the origins and history of collections.

Items stolen or looted in the colonial era should be clearly labelled as such, he said. “If a document had been stolen or taken as a result of a war, then you should actually say that,” Mr Ovenden told The Sunday Telegraph. “Don’t try to hide the past or be economical with the truth.

“It is a responsibility that we have here really to be honest, to do research into their history and to be open about it, as many organisations are.”

As chief librarian, Mr Ovenden presides over the main Bodleian library and reading rooms, as well as the university’s 27 faculty libraries.

He said rather than try to hide the past, it is important to preserve it.

Citing the personal papers of Cecil Rhodes, the mining magnate and imperialist – which are held at the Bodleian – he said: “It is important that we preserve these for students to read and to make their own minds up about the past.”

Mr Ovenden went on: “I think that is absolutely vital for an open society to preserve knowledge. The Holocaust is a great example. Hundreds of millions of books and documents were destroyed by Nazis in order to destroy the Jewish race.

“It was a cultural genocide that went along with a human genocide. We have to preserve the knowledge.”

Mr Ovenden described how the Bodleian recently held an exhibition which showcased treasures from Ethiopia, some of them stolen by Britain after the Battle of Magdala in 1868.

A group of guest curators from the UK’s Ethiopian community were invited to curate the exhibition, he said, adding: “It is also important to give the community for which these are cultural treasures a voice in the narrative to explain why they are important.”

‘If a document has been stolen or taken as a result of a war, then you should actually say that’