Culture Secretary tells museums to keep ‘contested heritage’ displayed

On 22 September 2020, the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden wrote to DCMS Arm's Length Bodies to outline the Government's position on contested heritage following the Black Lives Matter protests. The letter was sent to a number of national museums and galleries as well as other Arm’s Length Bodies and invited them to share what contested heritage means in the context of their organisation.

In the letter, he wrote:

“History is ridden with moral complexity. Statues and other historical objects were created by generations with different perspectives and understandings of right and wrong. Some represent figures who have said or done things which we may find deeply offensive and would not defend today. But though we may now disagree with those who created them or who they represent, they play an important role in teaching us about our past, with all its faults.

It is for this reason that the Government does not support the removal of statues or other similar objects. Historic England, as the Government’s adviser on the historic environment, have said that removing difficult and contentious parts of it risks harming our understanding of our collective past. Rather than erasing these objects, we should seek to contextualise or reinterpret them in a way that enables the public to learn about them in their entirety, however challenging this may be. Our aim should be to use them to educate people about all aspects of Britain’s complex past, both good and bad.

As set out in your Management Agreements, I would expect Arm’s Length Bodies’ approach to issues of contested heritage to be consistent with the Government’s position..... The significant support that you receive from the taxpayer is an acknowledgement of the important cultural role you play for the entire country.”

The full list of recipients included: Arts Council England, British Film Institute, British Library, British Museum, Charity Commission, Churches Conservation trust, Historic England, Historic Royal Palaces, Horniman Museum, Imperial War Museum, Museum of the Home, National Archives, National Gallery, National Lottery Communities Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Museums Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Royal Armouries, Royal Museums Greenwich, Royal Parks, Science Museum Group, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Tate Gallery, V&A Museum and Wallace Collection.

Click here to read the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s letter.