Looking at how looted Indian artefacts in British museums quietly reinforce old power structures, I hope to challenge the stories we inherit — and the ones institutions continue to tell.

Across the world, museums continue to display objects taken from India during colonial rule — often without acknowledging the violence, loss, and cultural displacement that allowed these artefacts to arrive behind their glass vitrines. My research focuses on these objects, especially those looted after the British defeat of Tipu Sultan in 1799, and how their continued display in institutions such as the Royal Collection Trust and the V&A Museum shapes public understanding of India today. These displays are not neutral; they quietly sustain the narratives of empire through omission, framing, and silence.

My jewellery pieces emerge directly from this research. Each work is an act of reclamation — a way of confronting the lingering legacy of colonial extraction through the language of metal, stone, and making. They draw from the histories of objects taken from India, from the absence left behind, and from the emotional realities of seeing one’s cultural heritage treated as a trophy rather than testimony. These wearable works function as small but intentional counter‑monuments: tactile reminders that the stories embedded in these artefacts still matter, still hurt, and still demand justice.

You are here because you scanned a postcard that says GIVE IT BACK.

This is not a slogan — it is an invitation.

Museums have held looted artefacts for generations. Change begins when people question these histories, ask for accountability, and remind institutions that their collections are not harmless. By sending the postcard with your own handwritten message, you become part of a collective gesture toward restitution, dignity, and historical honesty.

A few suggested messages and names of museums can be found below. I acknowledge that artefacts of cultural significance have been looted from several cultures, and I would be very happy to see these postcards used to help the fight for the return of looted artefacts from any other culture. I only ask that you send me a copy of the postcard before it goes out so that I can create a repository of these messages.

Please send a copy of the message to hello@bakedwithlight.com or @baked_with_light on Instagram.

This project — through research, writing, photography, and jewellery — asks us to rethink what we consider “heritage,” and whose stories we allow to be told. It challenges the comfortable narratives that museums present and highlights the gaps between what is displayed and what is suppressed. It calls for a future in which artefacts taken through force can finally return home.

Thank you for taking this step.

Your message adds another voice to a growing chorus asking institutions to do the right thing.

To give it back.