I think if I was to donate something to a museum I would insist on writing a contract which states that 1) the recipient is the museum, and 2) the item must be publicly displayed.
It’s quite annoying when visiting historical sites in post-revolutionary societies where it’s only the empty buildings left and all the content is long gone (destroyed or stolen).
One solution to Bill M’s dilemma might be to lend the item to an Asian museum located in the US, with a long term view to returning it to its country of origin in the future when governance has improved?
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