I took this photo at the Victoria and Albert Museum a couple months ago. I absolutely love that all the museums in London are free. It’s such a fantastic system. Though… one could make the argument that a lot of the items in their collection were acquired in a colonial manner and so access to them must be universal. If you’re interested in this type of discussion- ownership of items taken from foreign lands, culture exchange, etc.-  last summer Michael Kimmelman wrote an intriguing article for the International Herald Tribune launching off of the ongoing debate over the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum: Who Draws the Borders of Culture? I read it a year ago and I still think back to it. Read it, it is good.

Enough about that, I’m matching this photo today to an Ola Podrida song Run Off the Road. The closing line is “You finally knew that you were lost.” Depending on your opinion of colonial culture, the items in the V&A can been seen as being either lost or found.

Run Off the Road by Ola Podrida