SAFE is pleased to confirm a June 17 report CultureGrrl blog post that "the Met will indeed adhere to AAMD's new, stricter standard."
In an email sent to Prof. Colin Renfrew and SAFE president Cindy Ho on January 2, the Met's Elyse Topalian, Vice President for Communications said:
"I understand from an internet advertisement that you intend to deliver the SAFE Beacon award lecture, entitled "Combating the Illicit Antiquities Trade: the 197O Rule as a Turning Point (or How the Metropolitan Museum lags behind the Getty)" and that you "ask how long the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum can maintain the policies that led them to acquire the notorious 'Euphronios Vase'?".
In response to your question, please be advised that in June 2008 the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art accepted the Association of Art Museum Directors's June 4, 2008 Guidelines on the Acquisition of Archaeological Materials and Ancient Art, and on November 12, 2008, the Board of Trustees adopted a revised Collections Management Policy incorporating those guidelines. I enclose a copy of the Museum's Collections Management Policy for your reference. Philippe de Montebello served on the committee developing the AAMD guidelines, as he did for the museum group's 2004 guidelines."
SAFE is now pleased to make available the Metropolitan Museums's new Collections Management Policy to our readers, which Ms. Topalian has told us is "not confidential" and "posting is due to be completed soon" on the Met's website (www.metmuseum.org).
In addition to the Beacon Award lecture in Philadelphia Professor Colin Renfrew will deliver a lecture in New York "Combating the Illicit Antiquities Trade: a Time for Clarity". Prof. Renfrew tells SAFE that, "although the AAMD guidelines are only advisory...I think this is a huge step forward." This newly published "Collection Management Policy" will be studied further and discussed in Professor Renfrew's upcoming lectures.
SAFE welcomes this news as the Met now conforms with the requirement that museums disclose their acquisition policies. Museums play an essential role in the safeguarding of cultural heritage, especially the Met, as one of the world's leading and most beloved cultural institutions. (Rafael Macia/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
Sphere: Related Content
After nearly four years and amidst much anticipation and speculation, the US has agreed to grant China's request to implement import restrictions on antiquities into the US, as fellow state parties to the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (UNESCO 1970). This bilateral agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), takes effect beginning January 16, 2009, and will be considered for renewal in five years. The details of the agreement can be found here.
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