Katy Spisak
The British Museum is facing increased pressure from social media campaigners demanding the return of the moai stone statue to Rapa Nui island.
The social media campaign began when Chilean social media influencer Mike Milford encouraged his followers to spam the posts of the British Museum’s Instagram account demanding the repatriation of the moai.
Social media campaigners called for the return of the Hoa Hakananai’a statue, also known as “Stolen Friend.” In an online video, Milford said: “My followers began spamming ‘return the moai’ on Wikipedia, and then the comments section of the British Museum Instagram was full of people posting ‘return the ,oai’.”
@thenewsmovement Another day, another conflict over cultural artefacts held in the British Museum. After comment sections were flooded on the British Museum’s instagram with calls to return their two Moai 🗿 statues from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the Museum limited their comments. It all seems to have been sparked by Chilean TikTok influencer @MikeMilfort*.*🇭🇹 ‘s meme campaign to get the museum to return its Moais. But some natives from Rapa Nui have complained about the social media campaign, arguing that it reduces the statues’ cultural significance to a joke. Despite the calls for their return, it’s not clear that the Moai or other disputed items in their possession will be returned to the places they came from. rapanui easterisland moai mikemilfort
The Chilean territory of Rapa Nui island, also known as Easter Island, is well known for its Moai statues. The indigenous people of Rapa Nui island believe that these statues embody the spirits of their ancestors.
In 1868, two of these moai statues were transferred to England as a gift to Queen Victoria. They were later donated to the British Museum.
Following recent calls for the return of the moai statue, the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, expressed his support for the campaign. In a recent radio interview with Radio Chiloé he said: “The English should give us back the moai.”
Other countries are also calling for the repatriation of their historical artefacts. Egypt is calling for the return of the Rosetta Stone, an “icon of our Egyptian identity.” Last year, Greece’s prime minister called for the Parthenon Sculptures to be returned from the museum.
The British Museum have since deactivated comments on one post, which had been shared in collaboration with a youth charity. A spokesperson for the British Museum said that they welcomes the debate but it needs to be “balanced against the need for safeguarding considerations, especially where young people are concerned.”
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Featured image courtesy of Christian Córdova via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
