Cultural Heritage in Danger

Cleveland Museum of Art: Returns Announced

2008-11-19T13:55:00.004-05:00

The Cleveland Museum of Art announced today that it would be returning 14 items to Italy. Many of the items were from Apulia, Campania, Sicily, Etruria and Sardinia. One of the more important pieces was an Apulian volute-krater attributed to the Darius painter.

Image
MiBAC.

Why Context is Crucial: The Oriental Institute's New Find at Zincirli

2008-11-19T02:27:00.004-05:00

The Oriental Institute announces a major new discovery of a stele at Zincirli in southeastern Turkey. A funerary monument recovered there reveals that people who lived in an important Iron Age city there believed the soul was separate from the body. They also believed the soul lived in the funerary slab. (Photo at left by Eudora Struble.)

This find offers a great illustration of the importance of context to understanding artifacts, even when those artifacts include writing...

For the full story, go to The Punching Bag.

New books: "Loot" and "Unholy Business" reviewed

2008-11-17T10:21:00.008-05:00

In the November 16 edition of the Washington Post, author of "Stealing History" and SAFE Beacon Award Winner Roger Atwood reviews two new books about stolen ancient artifacts and their journeys to museums around the world.

"Loot" has also been reviewed by journalist Hugh Eakin, Karl Meyer (“The Plundered Past”)

Other reviews of "Unholy Business" have been written by Johathan Lopez (AP), Tim McGirk (Time)

Have you read these books? Tell us what you think.

Easter Island project receives major grant for site preservation

2008-11-11T09:57:00.012-05:00

According to a news release issued by Larry Coben, co-chair of The Archaeological Institute of America Site Preservation Task Force:

The Archaeological Institute of America Site Preservation Task Force (“AIA”) announced today that it had awarded a $94,000 grant for the preservation and conservation of Easter Island’s famous megalithic moai statues. The AIA gave the grant to the Easter Island Statute Project (the “Project”), directed by UCLA archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg and co-directed since 2000 by Rapa Nui’s Cristián Arévalo Pakarati. The Project will develop and apply stone preservation techniques to arrest the rapid deterioration of these statues as a result of the fragile nature of their volcanic stone, climate change and unregulated tourism.

The Project will utilize the grant to focus initially upon the conservation of two of Easter Island’s most famous moai, known as the “mama” and the “papa”. According to local tradition, the statues were named while poking fun at the early 20th century explorer Katherine Routledge and her husband William Scoresby Routledge, who were the first to explore and map the island. These statues stand in the Rano Raraku quarry, the source of most of the statues’ stones and still the location of almost 400 giant statues. The knowledge gained in the study of the mama and papa will then be utilized to preserve the numerous additional statues on the island.

According to Dr. Van Tilburg, “this grant will jumpstart our efforts to preserve this remarkable cultural resource for future generations of local Rapa Nui and the world at large. The fragility of the stone, coupled with the fact that Rano Raraku is a major tourist destination, creates an urgent conservation imperative. We thank the AIA for their assistance in this monumental task”. Added co-director and local resident Pakarati, “The AIA grant will enable we local Rapa Nui people to conserve and benefit from the cultural heritage of our ancestors”.

The grant is the second by the AIA’s new Site Preservation Task Force, and the first outside of the Mediterranean region. The Task Force was created earlier this year to combat the accelerating loss of our priceless cultural heritage. “The Easter Island Statue Project exemplifies the new paradigm of preservation that the Task Force seeks to employ,” said University of Pennsylvania archaeologist and Task Force co-chairman Larry Coben, “not only that all preservation will be carried out to the highest technical standards, but most critically that successful preservation requires the empowerment of, and economic development for, local communities.”

The grant was awarded in a ceremony in the office of Rapa Nui Mayor Petero Edmonds, who thanked the AIA. According to Edmonds, “for projects to be successful they require the empowering and strong involvement of the local community. This Project is a wonderful example of the sort of local, national and international cooperation required”.

The AIA Site Preservation Task Force and Grant program is dedicated to combating the loss of the world’s priceless cultural heritage. The Task Force was formed in 2008 in response to the rapidly accelerating destruction of ancient monuments and sites due to war, looting extreme weather, alternative economic uses and neglect. The Task Force believes that new approaches are required for successful and sustainable preservation. In particular, sustainable preservation requires a focus upon people not stones; that is, success requires the empowerment of and economic development for local communities. The all volunteer Task Force thus consists not just of archaeologists, but experts in business, economics, development and international relations.

Photos: Larry Coben

Loot versus Looting: Time to Address the Primary Policy Challenge

2008-11-09T23:02:00.003-05:00

The always astute Hugh Eakin concludes his review of Sharon Waxman's newly released Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World, by noting that restitution is a sideshow that distracts from the real and pressing issue, which is the looting of archaeological sites:

The larger problem is Waxman's portrayal of the antiquities crisis as mainly a "tug of war" over coveted museum pieces. In fact, the more important battle concerns unprotected archaeological sites, and it is far less a matter of repatriating objects than of figuring out how to stop latter-day looters from destroying our collective past. That vital challenge remains unsolved.

All of us who care about our collective past ought to be focusing now on generating and promoting realistic policy and legal measures that will reduce looting of sites in the most cost-effective way. I have suggested a few such solutions (impose a modest tax on antiquities sales with revenues dedicated to funding site protection in the countries or regions of origin; jawbone wealthy collectors to fund a non-profit foundation to develop low-cost anti-looting technologies and shunt assistance to those countries facing the most pressing difficulties; persuade countries, with the US leading the way, to contribute to the UNESCO fund dealing with the problem). Others have suggested market-based mechanisms that would incentivize site protection; public-spirited initiatives to spur cities, universities, or even facebook members to adopt particular archaeological sites; and, of course, cultural-sensitivity campaigns designed to tamp down on the demand side of the antiquities market by demonizing collecting as akin to buying baby seal fur.

With a new president -- from the University of Chicago, my home institution -- about to take office, there is a real opportunity to move forward. What we need now is a robust discussion where all these options and others are put on the table, critiqued, and refined. Weigh in now!

Interpol's 7th International Symposium on the Theft of and Illicit Traffic in Works of Art, Cultural Property and Antiques

2008-11-06T09:10:00.011-05:00

Read the meeting minutes of the symposium which took place 17 – 19 June 2008 in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 187 member countries.

The participants note "...a lack of awareness among the general public of the importance of cultural heritage and the need for it to be protected," and recommend that "INTERPOL, UNESCO and ICOM:
- Jointly seek ways of raising awareness among law-enforcement services, those responsible for safeguarding religious heritage, the major players in the art market and the conservation world, and the general public, with regard to protecting cultural property and combating illegal trafficking."

Debate: Colin Renfrew and James Cuno

2008-11-05T10:40:00.007-05:00

On BBC's "Today", Colin Renfrew, a former director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University, locks horns with the Art Institute in Chicago director James Cuno, over issues of ownership, due diligence, and museum acquisition practice.

Professor Renfrew is recipient of the SAFE 2009 Beacon Award Winner. Dr. Cuno authored the book "Who Owns Antiquity?"

Also read about the debate between Dr. Cuno and Dr. Donny George in the earlier SAFECORNER post "James Cuno: 'There is not a credible museum in this country that has an object in it that it knows to have been stolen from someplace else.'"

Oscar Muscarella reviews "Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade"

2008-10-27T18:03:00.017-04:00

Dr. Oscar Muscarella, expert on the ancient Near East and a tireless, vocal advocate against the looting of antiquities, gave praise to SAFE's work in a book review published in the International Journal of Classical Tradition. Muscarella reviewed the Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade, a volume edited by Neil Brodie - winner of the 2008 SAFE Beacon Award - Morag Kersel, Christina Luke, and Kathryn Walker Tubb. In his piece, Muscarella wrote:

"[Paula Kay] Lazrus is the only author in this volume to cite the organization called Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE; pp. 272-273), created and guided by non-professional-archaeologist citizens...from the beginning they determined that membership is open to all citizens, academics and “lay” people, based on the reality that the plunder problem is a global issue, and not one solely for academics. SAFE is unique in the United States, and indeed, there is no academic organization...that equals their goals of involving the public, as well as their on-going accomplishments."

Roger Atwood, author of Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World, told SAFE that in his review, Dr. Muscarella "is spot-on, as usual."

Join Muscarella on November 7 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he will lead a SAFE Tour through the Ancient Near Eastern and other collections. To read Dr. Muscarella's book review in its entirety, please click here.

Ivory tower passivity

2008-10-27T02:43:00.010-04:00

A week ago there was good news in conservation circles which in the view of some of us has potential significance for the antiquities trade. An announcement was made that since a lot of fresh material was dishonestly being passed off as old ivory, from the new year a major Internet auction portal was banning the sale of objects ivory altogether. This was a recognition that the poaching is directly encouraged by the ease with which illicit products can be misrepresented as legitimate and bought and sold globally. In this the Internet auction and sale sites play a major role – the campaign slogan called it “killing by keystrokes”. The parallels between the unregulated antiquities market and the dismembering of the world’s archaeological record as a source of collectables for entertainment and profit is clear.
In a blog posting last week I asked where are the archaeological and heritage lobby groups insisting that the same sales outlets “take the same sort of measures to protect the world's archaeological heritage from being similarly dismembered?” Still sleeping it seems. In Britain for example organizations concerned with the conservation of the archaeological resource have been slow to take up the torch. The Council For British Archaeology has said nothing on the topic yet, the Institute For Archaeologists (as it now is) likewise, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers UK (ALGAO) also. From past history RESCUE seems unlikely to be concerned. The Portable Antiquities Scheme has so far made no public mention that it intends to pursue a similar policy for documentless portable antiquities. On the Britarch archaeological discussion forum, there has been virtual silence on the issue. Only one archaeological forum in Britain has raised it. On the British Archaeological Jobs & Resources (BAJR) forum Scottish pro-
collecting archaeologist David Connolly (‘BAJR’) calls for a ban on the sale of antiquities without properly documented provenance. He writes:
It seems that Ebay can ban sales if it comes under enough pressure... so what about antiquities? […] Come on EBay... you know you can... And no... I don't mean NO sale... I mean properly regulated and transparent.
The point is however that its no use calling on eBay “come on eBay, you know you can” without a strong, persistent and loud lobbying campaign from those who care enough to mount one – like the conservationists fighting for the elephant. Would British archaeologists actually lobby for this, or are they content to leave alone the thoroughly disreputable state of the home antiquities market for fear of alienating the “metal detectorists” who currently sometimes bring them finds to look at?

At the moment it is independent organizations like SAFE and Heritage Action in the UK which are actively calling for something to be done, and professional archaeological organizations like those mentioned above are sitting back passively almost as if they are waiting for the fuss about portable antiquities collecting to stop. Where are the successors of the campaigning archaeologists of the so-called “Rescue Years”?

The Met sends off Museum Director with "pieces of history"

2008-10-25T09:18:00.008-04:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art paid tribute yesterday to its outgoing director Philippe de Montebello with the show “The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions.” which opened with the 16th century tapestry "The Triumph of Fame". The exhibition, which Holland Cotter of the New York Times called “A Banquet of World Art, 30 Years in the Making” was described as a “priceless send off” by National Public Radio.

During his tenure as director De Montebello is known to have acquired 84,000 pieces for the Met, which he calls an “encyclopedic museum.” In recent years, the museum attracted much controversy over the acquisition of artifacts that were shown to have been looted. The objects include:

• The “Lydian Hoard” (returned to Turkey in 1993)

• Two Angkor statues (returned to Cambodia in 1997)

• The “Euphronios Krater” (returned to Italy in 2008)

and 15 pieces of Hellenistic silver known as The Morgantina Silver, which will remain in the museum until 2010.

SAFE wishes Philippe de Montebello well as he becomes the first professor to teach the history and culture of museums at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, and welcomes the museum’s new director, Thomas P. Campbell.

Photo from from AP Photo by Mary Altaffer: Philippe de Montebello, left, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is joined by James R. Houghton, chairman of the Metropolitan's board of trustees, January 2008.

ICOM Releases Red List of Looted Afghanistan Antiquities

2008-10-24T11:24:00.005-04:00

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has released a "Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk." ICOM distributes red lists to museums, professionals, law enforcement, and customs to raise awareness about trafficked and looted antiquities. It is well known that the cultural heritage of Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered as results of instability following the respective invasions. Some people have taken advantage of the instability as means to loot historically significant sites and museums and spirit that material out of the country.

It is hoped that this new red list will promote the return of illicitly removed goods Afghanistan and raise awareness about the problems of looting there. The effectiveness of past red lists is chronicled in the current list of antiquities from Afghanistan. Already there are some optimistic signs coming from the international community following the release of red list on Afghan antiquities since a squad from the Metropolitan Police of London have volunteered to "clamp down" on looted Afghan art ("Police to clamp down on trade in looted Afghan art," Telegraph, 21 October 2008).

It is also interesting to note that ICOM named SAFE as one of its partners in the current red list. For a complete list of partners, see page 4 of the red list.

Good news/bad news: New Iraq Cultural Heritage Project

2008-10-17T02:14:00.003-04:00

The good news: in its waning days, the Bush administration seems finally to have ponied up substantial money ($13 million) to assist Iraq in conserving and preserving its cultural heritage. The bad news: the new initiative, the Iraq Cultural Heritage Project, appears at first glance at least to focus solely on professional development for conservators and other museum professionals, rather than also including some funding to improve security on Iraq's archaeological sites.

For more, go to The Punching Bag.

Bonhams Withdraws Lots

2008-10-15T09:49:00.004-04:00

Bonhams has withdrawn ten lots from its two sales of antiquities today. One of the lots, an Apulian krater, had formerly formed part of the Robin Symes collection; other piecess were due to be sold as part of the Graham Geddes collection. Many of the objects seem to have surfaced through Sotheby's in London, a pattern already noted for other items returned to Italy from collections in North America.

Job opportunities in Iraq

2008-10-14T15:00:00.002-04:00

International Relief and Development, a non-profit NGO, has posted two cultural heritage employment opportunities in Iraq that may be of interest:

Project Director, Cultural Heritage Project (Tracking Code 2008149)

and Program Coordinator Cultural Heritage Project (Tracking Code 20088156)

Brent Benjamin to join CPAC: "An outrageous appointment..."

2008-10-12T13:02:00.013-04:00

The Museum Security Network has started a discussion over the appointment of St. Louis Art Museum director Brent R. Benjamin as a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. "Doing so the USA will defame itself internationally." Ton Cremers, one of the Museum Security Network's moderators and creator of the original Museum Security Network mailing list protests. The St. Louis Art Museum has been criticized by Zahi Hawass, secretary general for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, for "not returning the mask and has threatened to turn the dispute over to authorities."

Members of the coin collecting and lobbying community have called the appointment "positive news" and "as protecting the rights of collectors." Are the political powers of lobbying winning out over issues concerning cultural property?

Read about the controversy here and on the LOOTING MATTERS blog, in which David Gill asks, "Does the Bush administration mean to send out a signal that it does not care about claims on cultural property in North American museums?"

SAFE hopes this appointment does not represent a change in direction for CPAC. To date, CPAC has not turned down a single MOU request from any country, a laudable record among those of us who are concerned about stopping looting worldwide.

Photo: St. Louis Commerce Magazine

The Art of Deception

2008-10-08T15:19:00.003-04:00

This documentary by Al Jazeera (aired March, 2008) tells the tragic story of how the growing demand for Indonesian antiquities caused the disappearance of more than 60% of the collection of Indonesia's oldest museum's, and perhaps even death of an archaeologist.

Read the story here.

Part 1

Part 2

Italy Defends Treasures (and Laws) With a Show

2008-10-08T14:13:00.007-04:00

"An exhibition celebrating a century-old piece of legislation may not seem an obvious crowd pleaser. But for the curators, it’s a way of arguing that Italy’s art treasures would be vastly diminished were it not for its strict — some assert, draconian — cultural-heritage laws.

That’s why every statue, vase and archaeological shard on display in “Ruins and the Rebirth of Art in Italy,” a show that opened last week at the Colosseum in Rome, has a story to tell."

Elisabetta Povoledo writes in "Italy Defends Treasures (and Laws) With a Show" in today's New York Times.

Photo: Italian Culture Ministry

The Museums Will Be Protected Next Time Round

2008-10-06T22:42:00.001-04:00

The military has just released FM 3.07, its new field manual on Stability Operations. Those concerned that the lessons of the looting of the Iraq National Museum might not have been learned will be pleased to find that among the "Essential Stability Tasks" is that of protecting key personnel and facilities. The eight tasks under this heading include the requirements to "protect and secure places of religious worship and cultural sites," and to "protect and secure strategically important institutions (such as government buildings;medical and public health infrastructure; the central bank, national treasury, and integral commercial banks; museums; and religious sites)."

A bare mention, but nonetheless extremely important, and arguably far more consequential than the ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention....

For more, hit The Punching Bag.

What cultural nations do...

2008-09-30T15:32:00.008-04:00

My eye was initially caught by the large photo in the article (Egypt to retrieve ancient statue from Netherlands) about a case that has already been in the news recently about the shabti bought by a private collector which has been identified as coming from Sakkara and having been stolen. The accompanying text contains, unintended by the author, a comment which raises a question. It says:

the export of archaeological artefacts is strictly forbidden from Egypt, as from other cultural nations.

So what do we call nations which do little to prevent and punish the import of precious archaeological evidence which has been looted from the archaeological record in other countries only to be sold as aesthetically pleasing collectable gee-gaws? Cultural? I think not. It's nice to see from this case that some private collectors are trying to find out where "their" treasures come from and have scruples.

Hague Ratification: Fighting the Last War?

2008-09-26T13:40:00.003-04:00

The Senate has at long last ratified the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. This ends decades of unflagging lobbying by cultural heritage protection advocates, led by the indefatigable Patty Gerstenblith and others. They are to be congratulated on achieving this legislative victory.

But lest anyone think that the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict is now assured, it is important to recognize what ratification of Hague does and does not accomplish....

For more, go to The Punching Bag

SAFE applauds Penn Cultural Heritage Center

2008-09-05T10:46:00.003-04:00

Nearly forty years ago, the University of Pennsylvania Museum led the way in the adoption of ethical museum collecting practices by issuing the "1970 Philadelphia Declaration," which renounced the acquisition of unprovenanced antiquities by collecting institutions. This long and distinguished history of leadership now takes an important new turn with the launch of Penn Cultural Heritage Center under the directorship of Dr. Richard Leventhal.

SAFE applauds the creation of this new center, which you can read about in their August 18 Press Release.

More word on whether looting of sites is over

2008-09-04T15:54:00.003-04:00

If it were not already clear that the rosy scenario painted by Dr Abbas is difficult to accept at face value, Mounir Bouchenaki, the Director-General of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, writes to say that, although "we have unfortunately no direct information, since no mission can go to the field," the word he is getting is not terribly encouraging:

...according to various colleagues having been to Baghdad (only in the green zone) and one UNESCO colleague having been to Samarra, the situation is not completely under control. To give you one example from yesterday's meeting I had with one official from the Italian Ministry of Culture who was in Nassiriyah on August 10th. He said that the situation is still very tense and there are problems of security. He had to fly with the support of the American army from Baghdad to Nassiriyah. According to him the lack of control by the Department of Antiquities of the archaeological sites is certainly leading to ongoing illegal excavations.

Does this prove that looting is ongoing at sites throughout Iraq? No. Does it prove that the Department of Antiquities is not fully in control. Yes. Does it lead one to suspect that looting is going on at the many places where the Department of Antiquities is not in control? Yes. Does it underline, yet again, the importance of American military support for the efforts of the SBAH? Yes.

"Cultural Heritage Sites Safe," at least those that have been guarded

2008-09-03T15:12:00.002-04:00

The State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ninewah Province has issued a report of an assessment of important archaeological sites in northern Iraq that was conducted jointly with Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in May 2008. The headline trumpets the finding: "Cultural Sites Safe." To be more specific, the team visited Hatra, Nineveh, Nimrud, Khorsabad (Dur Sharrukin), the Mosul Cultural Museum, the al Hadba Leaning Minaret in the old city of Mosul, and the St. Elijah Chaldean Monastery ruins. They report that, "even though the sites showed signs of deterioration due to the lack of onsite archaeologists and conservators, none of the sites showed signs of looting or extensive vandalism." The first thing to say about this report is that it is heartening to see that the Provincial Reconstruction Teams are working with Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage....
For more, go to The Punching Bag

Two Pieces from the Shelby White Collection in Athens

2008-09-03T10:44:00.003-04:00

Two pieces from the Shelby White collection went on display at the National Museum, Athens, Greece today (press release, in Greek). One of the pieces, a fragmentary funerary stele, had featured in the Glories of the Past exhibition (1990-91) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The second, a bronze calyx-krater, had been part of a touring exhibition, Greek Bronze Vessels from the Collection of Shelby White & Leon Levy (2005); a detail from the krater appears on the cover of the exhibition catalogue.

Seven other pieces from the Glories of the Past exhibition were returned to Italy earlier this year.

Is the Looting Really Over?

2008-08-30T21:07:00.003-04:00

Martin Bailey strikes again, with an interview with Dr Abbas al-Husseini, described as "the leading archaeologist in Iraq," who tells readers of the Art Newspaper that "looting is over". Bailey's new piece is a followup on an article earlier this summer that as he notes "generated considerable controversy" because it suggested that no post-2003 looting had occurred. Though the article spins Abbas' comments as corroborating this view, at least now the Art Newspaper has admitted that some looting went on after 2003. The position now is that, in Abbas' words, looting did occur post-2003, though it "declined very considerably in 2004 and has diminished yet more since then." Paul Barford, fellow SAFEcorner blogger, is right to see this as cognitive progress of sorts. Still, the overall message to readers is: relax, looting is no longer a problem, since "professional looting has ended." But there is reason to treat Dr Abbas' claims, as reported by Mr Bailey, with some skepticism....
To read more, go to The Punching Bag