Ethiopia’s ambassador to British Teferi Melesse discussed with the Director of Victoria and Albert Museum, Dr. Tristram Hunt on how best to revitalize Ethiopia’s claim to the Maqdala treasures. World-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), (alongside other UK national cultural collections), houses a number of priceless treasures seized by the British Army 152 years ago at the Battle of Maqdala in 1868. During the occasion, ambassador Teferi and Dr. Hunt engaged in a productive discussion on how best to revitalise the Government of Ethiopia’s claim to the Maqdala treasures, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I am here to thank and appreciate the V&A for the remarkable manner in which it continues to look after the Maqdala treasures, and to repeat and underline my Government’s fervid claim to the Maqdala treasures,” the ambassador said. Dr. Hunt on his part thanked the Ambassador for his visit, and expressed the “V&A’s readiness to revamp its working relations with the Ethiopian Embassy”, offering to explore a new bilateral proposal for future partnership.
While speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival earlier in October about the return of the treasures, Tim Reeve, the deputy
director of the V&A, said that museums must start
telling a more honest story about provenance. “There is no dispute about whether or not they were borrowed; they were looted and that’s a story we have tried to tell very openly and very honestly at the V&A.”
