Nicholas Thomas

Director, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology


Nicholas Thomas, who has been Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology since 2006, is an anthropologist and historian. His books include Entangled Objects (1991), Oceanic Art (1995), Discoveries: the voyages of Captain Cook (2003), and Islanders: the Pacific in the Age of Empire (2010), which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize.
He has collaborated with artists including painter John Pule and photographer Mark Adams on projects exploring cross-cultural art histories in the Pacific and curated exhibitions for many museums and art galleries in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He is currently a member of the Conseil d’orientation scientifique of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the International Advisory Board of the Humboldt-Forum in Berlin.

We need to confront uncomfortable truths

by | 04.12.17

Should cultural artefacts in museums around the world be returned to their places of origin? It’s a hotly contested debate, and last week, during a three-day visit to Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron made a significant intervention. In a speech at the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, he stated that the return of African artefacts to their countries of origin… Read full article