After a violent pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, museum curators were quick to pick up what they left behind.
Discarded signs, stickers, flags and other ephemera are among the objects that curators at the National Museum of American History, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution, have been collecting to add to their archive.
"As an institution, we are committed to understanding how Americans make change," said Anthea M Hartig, the museum's director, in a statement. She said that the museum's Division of Political and Military History has been documenting the 2020 election and now "will include objects and stories that help future generations remember and contextualise January 6 and its aftermath".
She also asked the public to save and share materials "that could be considered for future acquisition" and could help educate future generations about the event. The museum also collected material, such as signs and banners, from the Black Lives Matter protests last summer.
The objects that have been collected from the Capitol Hill riot were those found in the National Mall. One of the museum’s curators, Frank Blazich, found a sign that read: “Off with their heads – stop the steal”.
Inside the Capitol , a federal investigation is under way following the death of five people during the attack. Questions too have been raised about how rioters were able to breach the building’s security.
Authorities are also clearing up the damage and gathering left-behind objects as those who forced their way in smashed windows, vandalised offices and destroyed property. The clean-up by Capitol staff will include removing graffiti, as well as dealing with residue from pepper spray, tear gas and fire extinguishers.
Several items have gone missing, including laptops from senators’ offices, as well as official records. Historical objects were also stolen, seemingly taken as souvenirs by people like Adam Christian Johnson, who was photographed carrying the House Speaker’s lectern. The lectern and gavel were eventually recovered intact.
Congress' art collection did not endure direct significant damage, but a representative for the Committee on House Administration told The Washington Post that seven historically significant art pieces were covered in "corrosive agent residue", including a marble statue of former president Thomas Jefferson and portraits of James Madison and John Quincy Adams. The items are now with the Smithsonian for assessment and restoration.
Other objects from inside the Capitol, including damaged name plates, will also be shared with national museums.
Jane Campbell, a historian and president of the US Capitol Historical Society, a nonprofit educational organisation, is creating an archive of her own, collating first-person accounts, videos and social media posts as a form of digital documentation.
"As a historian I want everything preserved," she told the Post. "I think the people who did the attack on the Capitol are insurrectionist, immoral and bad news all the way around … but if they left stuff behind, it should be preserved and studied later. We have to look at, 'What did we learn?' "
RACECARD
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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