By Gloria Bell, Associate Professor of Art History, McGill University Pope Leo XIV met with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 15 to, in the words of the Vatican, “gift” the return of 62 Indigenous “artifacts” held in the Anima Mundi collection of the Vatican Museums. The papal narrative that these belongings are “gifts” needs correction. The Vatican says the artifacts are “part of the patrimony received on the occasion of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition (VME) of 1925.” However, as I document in my book Eternal Sovereigns: Indigenous Artists, Activists, and Travelers Reframing Rome the majority of the Indigenous belongings in the Vatican Museums were stolen from Indigenous communities during the 1920s and displayed at this exhibition. The study divulges an important story, examining the history of the…
Register
