What happens after the Grand Egyptian Museum?

The wish for the return of the statue of Ramesses II seated and the renovation of the Egyptian Museum of Turin

Abstract

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) aims to become the largest archaeological museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization. The sumptuous mega museum’s inauguration aims to refute the argument of a supposed “lack of infrastructure” for storing Egyptian collections, often used as a justification for not repatriating reclaimed objects. In response, several institutions that house Egyptian collections have invested in architectural and exhibition renovation projects. Such projects often contribute to the exhibition valorization of reclaimed objects and can incorporate decolonial critique into the museum´s narrative. However, these actions can be interpreted as a strategy to justify the permanence of reclaimed objects in their collections. Adopting an exploratory and qualitative methodology, this article´s main objective is to investigate a case representative of the observed phenomenon: the Egyptian interest in the return of the Seated Statue of Ramesses II and the architectural renovation of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, commissioned by OMA + Tabocchini Architecture.