Toledo Museum of Art partners with Ethiopian Heritage Authority to find solutions for ‘objects in limbo’

The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) has partnered with Ethiopia’s Ethiopian Heritage Authority (EHA) to facilitate the return of five Ethiopian objects from a private collection that lack provenance documentation. Collector Bob McCarthy approached TMA about donating the objects so they could be repatriated, and TMA director and CEO Adam M. Levine described a “donut hole” affecting items acquired in good faith between the Unesco 1970 Convention and the American Alliance of Museums’ 2008 adoption of related best practices. TMA assistant director of strategic initiatives Sophie Ong, who is leading a reinstallation of the museum’s Cloister gallery, said the partnership aims to research and ultimately transfer ownership of such undocumented items, which TMA calls “objects in limbo.” The Cloister gallery reinstallation is expected to be completed next year and will emphasize connections among regions including Ethiopia, Armenia, and the Byzantine and Islamic Empires while displaying objects with documented provenance.

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