![\"V&A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Renewed-Conflict-in-Northern-Ethiopia-Threatens-Historic-Rock-Hewn-Churches-in-Lalibela.jpg?fit=780%2C780&ssl=1\")
\nVictoria and Albert Museum director Tristram Hunt says productive talks with Ethiopia\u2019s ambassador Hailemichael Aberra Afework are still aimed at displaying Maqdala-era treasures in Addis Ababa. The Guardian\u2019s Vanessa Thorpe wrote that the plan continues even though the Ethiopian Government has objected to a long-term loan that would, in Addis Ababa\u2019s view, acknowledge British ownership.<\/p>\n\n
The objects \u2014 including a chalice, a wedding dress, and jewellery \u2014 were taken after the 1868 British expedition against Emperor Tewodros II at Maqdala and later reached the V&A through the British treasury. A 2018 V&A exhibition, organised with the Ethiopian embassy in London, told that contested story on the 150th anniversary of the battle and intensified the restitution debate.<\/p>\n
Hunt said the museum was \u201cworking towards\u201d a display in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian officials want a clearer path than a loan that leaves title in London. The gap between exhibition diplomacy and ownership politics remains the obstacle.<\/p>\n
For Ethiopian audiences, seeing sacred and royal objects on home ground would be more than a touring show. It would test whether major British museums can move contested African collections beyond storage and temporary loans.<\/p>\n