By: Coco Xu
The British Museum has long been the spotlight of controversy over all of its artifacts that its home country plundered from other nations during its days of imperialism. Now, a college art student has given the museum a taste of its own medicine with a little relic “heist” of his own.
On June 18, 28-year-old Ile Sartuzi walked up to a tabletop with several historical coins laid out on it and picked up a 17th century British coin before examining it for a few moments. Then, he stealthily placed a fake wax-made copy of the coin on the table in the artifact’s place and slipped the authentic coin in the museum’s donations box.
No one noticed a thing. The museum itself did not realize what really happened until July, when officials saw footage of the stunt posted on Sartuzi’s Instagram account. The museum called the performance “disappointing,” although its spokesperson, Conner Watson, said Sartuzi had acted perfectly within legal bounds. After all, the coin had been returned to the museum unscathed, just not in the ways the museum intended.
Sartuzi’s “heist” was meant to reflect Britain’s past of stealing relics from the areas it colonized, although he failed to incite any major changes to the museum. “It’s a tired argument,” Mr. Watson explained. “We’re quite open about what is looted and what is a contested object.”
Born on a Brazilian island, Sartuzi came to Britain in 2022 to pursue an arts degree at Goldsmiths, University of London. He performed his stunt as part of his final-year project. He got his idea for the project during his first visit to the British Museum, where the table displaying coins for curious visitors to pick up caught his eye. The table’s layout reminded him of a magician’s tricks. Inspiration struck.
Throughout the next year, Sartuzi consulted lawyers about how to legally execute his plans and went to the museum 20 times to analyze the structure of the museum and figure out the best way to perform his stunt. Finally, on June 17, 2024 he was ready.
Unfortunately, the museum volunteer running the exhibition asked Sartuzi to show both his hands. He had no choice but to give up and try again the next day. On June 18, Sartuzi shaved his beard so that he would not be recognized. Three fellow students filmed his every move as he flawlessly completed his short heist.
The administrators of Goldsmiths’ Art department were met with a very pleasant surprise when presented with Sartuzi’s project. Richard Noble, the head of the department, said the project received “a very high mark.”
As for the current whereabouts of the coin, there is no cause for worry. Mr. Watson told The New York Times that it has been found and is now resting safely in the museum’s exhibitions.
Image Credit by Neslihan Baran Sami