Following on from the event that i posted about last year, a video is now available online showing the debate that took place on the subject of Who owns culture

Austria’s museum of ethnology in Vienna is in discussions about the return of an Aztec feather headdress to Mexico. There are suggestions that this could happen as some sort of artefact swap – possibly forming a template for how other similar cases could be resolved.

From:
Winnipeg Free Press

The Canadian Press – ONLINE EDITION
Mexico says possible deal to return Aztec headdress may be model for disputed artifacts
By: Mark Stevenson, The Associated Press
Posted: 01/18/2011 10:06 AM

MEXICO CITY – Talks between Mexico and Austria on the temporary return of an Aztec feather headdress could be a model for the return of other hotly-contested artifacts, and may provide a chance to resolve persistent questions about the five-century old piece, academics said Tuesday.

The exchange could give Mexico the headdress on loan from the museum of ethnology in Vienna where it is currently held, while Mexico could send back a gilded carriage once used by a member of Austria’s royal family who ruled Mexico in the 1860s.
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Since Nigeria’s independence from Britain, over 50 years ago, their government has asked for the return of various artefacts – but so far with little success.

From:
Modern Ghana

EXCELLENCE AND ERUDITION: EKPO EYO’S MASTERPIECES OF NIGERIAN ART
Author: Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Sun, 16 Jan 2011

For many of us, the name Ekpo Eyo has come to stand for excellence and erudition. The first Director-General of the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments, has produced several articles and books of the highest quality on Nigerian art, and his recent book, From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art, (2010, Federal Ministry of Information and Communication, Abuja) is no exception. It is a masterpiece in its own right.

After an introduction to Nigerian art that gives the historical background of the arts and archaeological art, the introduction deals with accounts of discoveries and examines issues in the preservation and conserving of Nigerian cultural heritage. I enjoyed thoroughly Eyo’s discussion on what art is and the early Western views of African art as well as the topic of primitivism, tribality and universalism:
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More coverage of the decision by the Metropolitan Museum to return some artefacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb to Egypt.

From:
Examiner

Met to return 19 objects to Egypt
January 11th, 2011 6:14 pm ET

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently agreed to return nineteen objects to Egypt.

All from the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun, the objects range in size from small studies to three-quarter-inch jewelry elements. According to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, these nineteen objects were allegedly stolen from their home country earlier in the 20th century when excavations of the tomb were under way. The artifacts include a blue lapis lazuli sphinx originally a charm on a bracelet, a reconstructed blue faience bead collar, and a bronze figurine of a dog, among others.
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In the UK, most of the major museums are prohibited from deaccessioning any of their artefacts – often by specific clauses in their governing charters. Smaller museums also have difficulty doing so, as they may struggle to get funding grants if they do. Most of the issues in the UK with regards to deaccessioning are in terms of it being used as a blocking mechanism to prevent serious debate on many restitution claims.

In the USA, the situation is very different – more museums are independent of government & are free to sell items in their collections – this however raises potential new controversies with the deaccessioning of valuable items being used as a source of quick money.

From:
New York Times

Small Town, Big Word, Major Issue
By ROBIN POGREBIN
Published: December 27, 2010

LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. — This small city up the hill from the Erie Canal is known for manufacturing paper and tea, for rooting on its Mounties at high school football games, for deposits of quartz that glint like diamonds and for the Victorian mansion that houses its 100-year-old library.

And now it’s also known locally as the place where the library director took a stand — or started a fuss, depending on your point of view — when the library board started selling historical items from its collection.
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More coverage of the statements made by Egypt about reclaiming Cleopatra’s Needle, an ancient obelisk, from New York’s Central Park, due to allegations of negligence. Note that, although the obelisk is part of a pair (with the other in London), the claim only relates to the one in New York at present.

From:
Artinfo

Egypt Threatens to Reclaim Cleopatra’s Needle From Central Park, Citing Negligence
Published: January 10, 2011

CAIRO— Zahi Hawass, the ubiquitous, media-savvy Egyptian antiquities director whose blockbuster King Tut exhibition just finished its United States tour over the weekend, cannot be accused of resting on his laurels. After having convinced the Metropolitan Museum of Art to return 19 small artifacts that he said were taken illegally from Egypt, he’s now turning his sights to bigger game in the museum’s backyard — Cleopatra’s Needle, the 3,500-year-old obelisk that resides next to the Met in Central Park, and which Hawass now accuses the Parks Department of failing to properly maintain.

Despite its moniker, the obelisk was not built under the famous Egyptian queen’s reign, but by her predecessor of a century and a half, Thutmose III, around 1450 B.C. Its provenance is not in question — the Egyptian Khedive (or viceroy) first suggested giving it as a gift to New York City in 1869 in honor of the completion of the Suez Canal and the resulting trade relationship between the U.S. and Egypt. The gift became official in 1877, after William Vanderbilt promised the tens of thousands of dollars necessary for transporting the obelisk, and it was erected near the newly-established museum in 1881. But Hawass claims that the city has allowed the monument’s hieroglyphics to deteriorate, LiveScience reported.
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More coverage of the canceled sale of the disputed Oba mask by Sotheby’s.

From:
Independent

Sotheby’s cancels sale of ‘looted’ Benin mask
Online protests halt auction of ‘plundered’ 16th-century artefact
By Rob Sharp, Arts Correspondent
Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Sotheby’s has scrapped its February sale of a controversial £4.5m mask believed to have been looted by British forces from 19th-century West Africa.

A number of private individuals contacted the auction house last week to complain about the sale of the 16th-century ivory mask, once thought to have belonged to an ancient Nigerian king. Local government officials in Nigeria have publicly condemned the sale and criticised the object’s current owners, the descendants of a former British government official involved in an 1897 British invasion of Benin, a city-state in what is now Nigeria.
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In a story that has parallels with the Axum Obelisk in Rome, Egypt has threatened to demand the return of Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park, New York, Because it feels that the obelisk is not being properly looked after there.

From:
Yahoo News

Egypt threatens to take back New York obelisk
By Kristina Cooke – Sun Jan 9, 5:21 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Egyptian government official charged with protecting his country’s ancient monuments is threatening to take back an iconic obelisk in Central Park unless New York City takes steps to restore it.

The stone obelisk “has been severely weathered over the past century” with no effort made to conserve it, Zahi Hawass, secretary general for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, wrote in a letter this week to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Despite coming in for a lot of bad press recently in Germany for economic reasons, the country’s media are being much more supportive to Greece in their appreciation of the efforts being put into restoring the Acropolis.

From:
Greek Reporter

German Media Praises Acropolis Restoration Efforts
Posted on 09 January 2011 by Venetia Aftzigianni

The German media is impressed by the quality of renovations on the Acropolis. Begining in the mid-1970′s, the project has involved painstaking repairs on major monuments, including the Parthenon, the Erechtheion and Athena Nike Temple, and the Acropolis walls. The architectural masterpieces suffered from pollution and a flawed reparation attempt in the 1930′s. Workers used iron clamps in their repairs that eventually rusted and cracked the marble.

German journalists have uncharacteristically praised Greek efforts.
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A more in depth look at some of the issues stemming from the canceled auction by Sotheby’s of a disputed Queen Idia mask

From:
Compass (Nigeria)

Galway family can’t sell what does not belong to them – Prince Akenzua
Friday, 07 January 2011 00:00 Emmanuel Agozino

In 1996 Prince Godfrey Eweka Akenzua II was appointed the leader of Benin Kingdom’s centenary anniversary of the 1897 invasion on Benin. Ever since, he has remained the arrowhead of the people’s global campaign for repartration of their looted artifacts, scattered around the world. Nigerian Compass’ Art Correspondent, EMMANUEL AGOZINO, visited Prince Akenzua’s palace in Benin City, Edo state and discussed the current development around the Sotheby’s proposed sale of Queen Idia Mask with him.

Prince, from your angle, what is the issue?
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Whilst the loan (& hopeful extension of the loan) of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran should be welcomed, there is an issue to consider, that in the context of Iran, President Ahmadinejad is trying to use it in some ways to give himself an additional sense of legitimacy within the country. There is no right or wrong answer, but in the end, whilst the location of artefacts is a political issue, this does not necessarily justify them being used as a political pawn to suit other motives.

From:
CAIS

Cyrus the Great Cylinder and Ahmadinejad’s quest for legitimacy
Saturday, 08 January 2011 10:18
By Amir Taheri

LONDON, (CAIS) — Hoping to regain a measure of legitimacy in the wake of the disputed presidential election in 2009, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be trying to recast himself as a nationalist leading a struggle against foreign foes.

We have already noted this trend in previous columns as, slowly but surely, the president abandoned the standard Islamist discourse in favour of a nationalist one.
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Contrary to other recent reports, it appears that there is still doubt about whether the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran will be extended for three months as requested.

From:
Tehran Times

Monday, January 10, 2011
Cyrus Cylinder show extension not confirmed
Tehran Times Culture Desk

TEHRAN — The National Museum of Iran (NMI) curator said on Wednesday that so far, the report on the extension of the showcase for the Cyrus Cylinder in Tehran has not been officially approved.

Bloomberg and several other foreign websites published a report on Wednesday announcing that the British Museum has agreed to extend its loan of the artifact for three more months in response to a request by Iranian authorities.
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