The Director of the National Archaeological Museum (MAN), Isabel Izquierdo, stated on Monday, 1st April, that the museum’s position regarding the potential return of the Guanche mummy from its collection to the Museum of Nature and Archaeology in Tenerife “has not changed”.
Although Izquierdo expressed empathy towards Canary Islands, she pointed out that this is not the first relocation request received by MAN, emphasizing that within the museum there is “a historical context”.
“The Guanche mummy is exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum following strict conservation criteria. It is not about displaying the human remains just for the sake of it, but rather providing a historical context,” Izquierdo noted.
The Canary Islands Parliament Plenary approved on 20th March, with the rejection of Vox, a Non-Legislative Proposal from the Nationalist Group requesting the relocation of the Guanche mummy exhibited at MAN since 2015 to Tenerife.
In this sense, the museum director has stated that the mummy represents “archaeological, historical, and ritual value” of Canarian pre-Hispanic history.
“The mummy is part of our permanent exhibition, it is one of the key Canarian archaeology pieces for our visitors, who amount to more than half a million annually. We must respect the technical criteria of the institutions and museum professionals,” she demanded.
Regarding this, Izquierdo assured that each restitution, return, or loan request is “thoroughly” evaluated by the museum team, but the final decision will be made by the board of trustees.
Thus, she urged that the technical criteria of the institutions, “best practices” for preserving the pieces, and on the other hand, the legal aspect should be respected.
“The documentation (of the Guanche mummy) is in perfect order, and, above all, what concerns us most: the preservation of the artefact. The mummy has never been intervened, it has not been restored, because the best restoration is no restoration,” Izquierdo concluded, emphasizing “the high technological maintenance level” of the piece.
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On 20th March, Nationalist Group representative Ana Oramas expressed disappointment that all national governments have opposed this transfer due to political reasons or “technical” issues such as the “irreparable risks” that the relocation could pose, something she considered as “overcome” as there have been mummy congresses in the Canary Islands and in 2013, two mummies from Argentina arrived and are now exhibited in Tenerife. She relied on the position of the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, to move away from a “colonialist” view of culture.
