How to Return Stolen Art (Update)

Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.) SOURCES: Patricia Allan , museum consultant, former curator of world cultures for the Glasgow Museums. Andrea Bayer , deputy director for collections and administration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lonnie G. Bunch III , Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Victor Ehikhamenor , Nigerian writer and artist. Patty Gerstenblith , professor emeritus of law at DePaul University College of Law. Tom Wilkening , professor of economics at the University of Melbourne. RESOURCES: " After Seizures, the Met Sets a Plan to Scour Collections for Looted Art ," by Robin Pogrebin and Graham Bowley ( The New York Times, 2023). " Nigeria Benin Bronzes: Buhari Declaration 'Blindsides' Museum Officials ," by Barnaby Phillips ( B.B.C., 2023). " Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy ," by the Smithsonian Ethical Returns Working Group (2022). " Protecting Antiquities: A Role for Long-Term Leases? " by Michael Kremer and Tom Wilkening ( Working Paper, 2015). EXTRAS:…