Give the Easter Islanders their statue back – it doesn’t belong in the British Museum | Simon Jenkins

If the spiritual importance of the artefact matters to its owners, why deny them? This is a political issue, not an aesthetic one

Be prepared. The great museums of Europe are about to see an invasion of former colonies demanding the return of their stuff. This week the governor of Easter Island, Tarita Alarcón Rapu, tearfully pleaded with the British Museum to have back her ancestor, immortally embodied in a statue in its possession. “You have our soul,” she said. Her audience must have cringe...