Hi Nathaniel,
I have voiced my opinion on this before, and am happy to share it again.
The need to repatriate objects of cultural importance to their "homeland" is a relatively recent invention, spurned by the push for nationalism and nationalist retentionism by political entities. Why does a Roman antiquity found in Tunisia belong to Italy? Not only was there no nation-state of Italy in existence 2,000 years ago, but is that object not a part of the Tunisian cultural identity? The same can be said of edged weapons from the modern day incarnations of the Philippines or Indonesia, which through trade and migration invariably found their way from island to island, long before these current national identities ever existed.
Furthermore, there are considerations regarding how an item came into the possession of someone halfway around the world from its culture of origin. This aspect of the discussion came to light regarding several Moro weapons I am in possession of that formerly belonged to a Brigadier General who earlier in his career played an important role in the Moro Insurrection - both as a warrior and a diplomat, even at one time serving as an analog to the "best man" at a wedding between one datu and the daughter of another.
This recent "nationalist retentionist" push limits access to objects that are as much a tribute to
makind's culture as they are to that of any contemporary political identity. This, in turn, limits the opportunity to learn more about the incredible journey we as a race have all taken to this point, a tale more aptly told to much wider audiences by regional encyclopedic museums. I don't know when I will make it to Cairo. But the San Diego Museum of Man has an impressive permanent ancient Egypt exhibit that has educated countless individuals like myself who may otherwise never have the chance to visit these artifacts if they were to be found only in Africa.
Lastly, with regards to the value of private collections, what you see in a museum gallery represents an insignificantly small percentage of a museum's collection, the rest of which remains stored underneath in the vaults, far from the view of the public's eye. It is us, the community of private collectors, who stoke the fire of interest, and (albeit on a much smaller scale) provide what an object stored in the far corner of a museum vault cannot - an opportunity to enlighten someone about a culture that represents a small part of the tapestry of mankind and the journey we have all taken together.
