british museum lending program 2732038

The British Museum has launched a new long-term lending program, transferring some 80 Greek and Egyptian antiquities to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai, India, for a three-year exhibition. Director Nicholas Cullinan presented the initiative as a collaborative alternative to the contentious debate over repatriation, aiming to share artifacts with former British colonies without permanently deaccessioning them. The loans are part of a 15-year partnership between the two museums, and Cullinan has signaled plans to negotiate similar arrangements with China, Nigeria, and Ghana.