The Contested Crown: Repatriation Politics between Europe and Mexico

by Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll

Following conflicting desires for an Aztec crown, this book explores the possibilities of repatriation.
 
In The Contested Crown, Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll meditates on the case of a spectacular feather headdress believed to have belonged to Montezuma, emperor of the Aztecs. This crown has long been the center of political and cultural power struggles, and it is one of the most contested museum claims between Europe and the Americas. Taken to Europe during the conquest of Mexico, it was placed at Ambras Castle, the Habsburg residence of the author’s ancestors, and is now in Vienna’s Welt Museum. Mexico has long requested to have it back, but the Welt Museum uses science to insist it is too fragile to travel.
 
Both the biography of a cultural object and a history of collecting and colonizing, this book offers an artist’s perspective on the creative potentials of repatriation. Carroll compares Holocaust and colonial ethical claims, and she considers relationships between indigenous people, international law and the museums that amass global treasures, the significance of copies, and how conservation science shapes collections. Illustrated with diagrams and rare archival material, this book brings together global history, European history, and material culture around this fascinating object and the debates about repatriation.

200 pages, Hardcover

Published February 16, 2022

Reviews

[Patti Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book, but did not go into the history of the crown headdress as extensively as I thought it would.

However, the author did cover the repatriation issue between Europe and Mexico / Latin America well.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Contested Crown," written by a historian, is an interdisciplinary meditation on repatriation politics. Chapter by chapter, the author looks at the issue of repatriation, focusing on the story of an Aztec headdress held in a Vienna museum. The book brings up a range of ways to see this story: We see the story as a family one, we see the saga through the eyes of modern protestors, we see the problem of framing and context in understanding art, we see repatriation in light of post-Holocaust efforts at restitution, we are reminded of different understandings of what constitutes rights, medicine, or even historical appreciation--and more. What's good here is just the range of the book and the way the author moves from straight political narratives of power to discussions of art, performance, and even ontologies. Really fascinating--a book I was glad to have read.

(This book was provided to me by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

--- "it is precisely the language of identification, passion, and creative association that can move the discourse on decolonization forward." (von Zinnenburg Carroll: 30)

This book deals with the repatriation of one crown from Indigenous Mexico. The book shows the reasons for and against that repatriation and how the Nazi Holocaust helped in the debate. The book also shows how museums should change the way in which they approach Indigenous artefacts. Although the book is supposed to focus on one particular object, it also touches on other objects that have been also considered for repatriation. All this helps to offer a relevant analysis on the topic of colonial art by using the perspective of the Indigenous and not that of the European, which was excellent. I enjoyed reading this book very much although sometimes I felt there was a repetition of one or two ideas throughout the whole book.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zinnenburg does an amazing job at giving cultural context and giving the pros and cons of expatriating the crown to Mexico