‘What Empire Took, What Empire Left’ confronts the politics of museums, borders, and return in South Asia
Summary
An exhibition titled ‘What Empire Took, What Empire Left’ opens at Taragaon Next, Boudha on August 23 with a symposium and free public entry. The show examines colonial-era removal of sacred objects, manuscripts and ritual heritage across South Asia and the politics of restitution.
Key Points
- The exhibition ‘What Empire Took, What Empire Left: Museums, Borders and the Politics of Return in South Asia’ opens at Taragaon Next, Boudha on August 23.
- Curated by Arshiya Mansoor Lokhandwala and supported by the Saraf Foundation, it brings together eleven artists from South Asia and its diaspora.
- The show examines how sacred deities, manuscripts and ritual objects were removed from their original contexts and reclassified in Western museums.
- The exhibit spans heritage losses in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and frames return as a form of resistance.
