Chileans flood British Museum with calls to return Moai statue

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
19 Feb 2024 09:21
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Chilean social media flooded the British Museum with calls for the return of a moai statue to Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

The moai known as Hoa Hakananai'a in the British Museum. (AFP)

The British Museum is addressing an onslaught of Chilean social media users flooding its Instagram posts, demanding the return of a moai statue, a stone monument from Easter Island.

The museum possesses two moai, removed from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) by British surveyors in 1868. Persistent calls have urged the British to repatriate them to Rapa Nui, which falls under Chilean jurisdiction.

Since January, Chilean social media users have swarmed the museum's Instagram comment section, as well as targeting its YouTube and Facebook pages.

In response, the museum closed comments on recent Instagram posts but has since reopened most of them, albeit with limited commenting capabilities on certain posts.

Santiago-based influencer pushes online campaign

The online campaign gained momentum after Santiago-based influencer Mike Milfort urged his 1 million followers to voice their demand for the museum to return the monoliths.

Milfort's viral videos frequently feature discussions about the stolen moai, sparking a hashtag trend that even caught the attention of Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who expressed support for the cause during an interview on Chilean radio. However, the initiative has faced criticism on the island itself. Pedro Edmunds Paoa, the mayor of Rapa Nui, expressed that Boric "should not politicize something that is so holistically, spiritually, and culturally important to us."

Rapa Nui, located 2,300 miles west of mainland Chile, boasts a unique Polynesian identity. Residents have voiced aspirations for increased autonomy from Chile, which annexed the island in 1888.

The British Museum indefinitely disabled comments on a post created in partnership with the charity the Youth Project. A spokesperson cited the decision as being in the interest of the "comfort and security" of the Youth Project.