Politics, nationalism and the return of looted artefacts

Description

Cultural institutions that find their collections contain artefacts have been stolen or obtained illegally are reckoning with how to return important pieces of cultural history.

But when borders, religion and ethnicity has shifted since the time an artefact was created, how can things be returned to their rightful owners? Is it enough to simply return something to the location it was taken from?

Dr Will Brehm has been studying the ways that states can use cultural heritage to sanction certain versions at the expense of others. 

Guest: Will Brehm, Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education, University of Canberra