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Should our museums be funded by dictators?
PHIL MILLER investigates the National Army Museum in Chelsea and its links to the Gulf
Children play outside the National Military Musem, funded by Sultan Qaboos, dictator of Oman
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FROM protests against BP’s sponsorship of the British Museum, to anti-Shell demonstrations at the National Gallery, the debate over who funds our cultural institutions continues to rage. Now another London landmark is coming in for criticism, this time over its links to a Gulf dictatorship.
The National Army Museum (NAM), next door to the Chelsea pensioners hospital, is a public body that describes itself as a “leading authority on the British Army and its impact on society past and present.” But when a refugee from Oman recently toured the museum, he was surprised to see almost no mention of what British troops had done in his homeland.
At last count there were nearly 200 British military personnel stationed in Oman, more than anywhere else in the Gulf. And yet one of the only signs at NAM that the British army has some connection to Oman is a transparent plaque proclaiming: “The Museum is grateful to the following for their generous support of the major redevelopment in 2017 … principal supporters … His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said.”
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