The Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre that loaned 10 ancient statues of warriors for an exhibition demands compensation of $4.5 million from the Franklin Institute for damaging a sculpture.
Source: Peopleapp.com/South China Morning Post
The Chinese authorities demand a severe punishment for 24-year-old American Michael Rohana. In the US, he is charged with stealing a thumb of a 2000-year-old sculpture from the Franklin Institute on December 21, 2017, South China Morning Post reports.
The American museum has apologised for the situation, but the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre condemns the incident: “The terracotta warriors are national treasures of our country,” an unnamed Chinese official told the Beijing Youth Daily. “Their historical and artistic value are impossible to value. [...] We express strong resentment and condemnation towards this theft and the destruction of our heritage.”
The museum says it had loaned its sculptures 260 times to 60 countries over the past 40 years, but had never experienced “such a noxious incident”. Ten terracotta warrior are currently on display at the World Museum in Liverpool until October 2018. The exhibition in Philadelphia runs until March 4.
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