Discussion continues on a total ban on trade in Iraqi artefacts until the situation in the country has stabilised.

From:
The Guardian

Ban proposed on Iraqi antiquities trade
Maev Kennedy
Thursday May 1, 2008
guardian.co.uk

A worldwide ban on buying and selling any Iraqi antiquities was proposed yesterday in London by a senior Iraqi official, as the only way of ending an illicit trade which has left looted sites resembling lunar landscapes, pitted with hundreds of holes and trenches.

Dr Bahaa Mayah, an archaeologist and adviser to the Iraqi Minister for Tourism and Antiquities, speaking at the British Museum where Iraqi, British and American experts had gathered to discuss the plight of looted antiquities, said, “we have to stop this problem at the roots”. A ban on trading in any Iraqi artefacts would strip them of their commercial value, he said, and mean there was no longer any financial incentive to dig them out of the ground.

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Many arguments have arisen from the looting of Iraq. Much of the trade in looted artefacts though is directly reliant on dealers in the west & not enough is being done to stop this.

From:
The Independent

Iraqi expert accuses West over antiquities trade
By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent
Thursday, 1 May 2008

A senior Iraqi official has accused the West of not doing enough to stop the thriving trade in antiquities smuggled out of the country’s depleted archeological sites and sold in auction houses across Britain, America and Europe.

Dr Bahaa Mayah, a special adviser to Iraq’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, called for an immediate global ban on the sale of at least 100,000 artefacts that have been stolen since the invasion.

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Many excuses are made by the museums of the west for the retention of artefacts. In this case, the argument is that making art works out of artefacts, particular those originating from “primitive” cultures will increase their chance of survival.

From:
Afrikanet

WOLF LEPENIES AND THE ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BERLIN.
Written by Dr. Kwame Opoku
Sunday, 27 April 2008
WHY DO EUROPEANS, EVEN INTELLECTUALS, HAVE DIFFICULTY IN CONTEMPLATING THE RESTITUTION OF STOLEN AFRICAN CULTURAL OBJECTS? WOLF LEPENIES AND THE ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BERLIN.

Universal culture can only be achieved when all cultures are able and free to make their contribution but this cannot be done when the guardians of one culture hijack the masterpieces of another culture. (Picture: Mask pwo or mwana pwo, Chokwe, Angola. Ethnology Museum, Berlin.)

In a recent article in a leading German newspaper, Abschied vom intellektuellen Kolonialismus with the title, Farewell to intellectual Colonialism; What Berlin can learn from the debate over the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. (1) Wolf Lepenies, holder of the Peace Price of the German Book Industry and recipient of several other academic distinctions, reminded me once again of the enormous difficulties Europeans, even intellectuals, seem to experience when they deal with African problems and above all, when they consider matters in which the interests of Europeans and Africans are involved. Somehow they seem unable or unwilling to give to Africans the same consideration as they give to others.

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The donation of artefacts back to Canada by the Elgin family has now been delayed by the British Government. One fears that any return decision on the Elgin Marbles would probably suffer a similar fate.

From:
Ottawa Citizen

Red tape likely to delay Elgin artifacts display
Library and Archives’ acquisitions yet to receive OK from Britain
Paul Gessell, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

Library and Archives Canada held a news conference yesterday to announce it has acquired, through a combination of donation and purchase, thousands of personal letters, state documents, paintings and other artifacts owned by Lord Elgin, governor general from 1847-1854.

The announcement was somewhat premature. Britain still has not given the green light for the export of all the loot.

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Some more information on the return of the lekythos to Greece yesterday from Switzerland. Looting Matters also discusses this event in more detail, looking at the secrecy that seems to surround some of the coverage of it.

Greek Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis has also used this event to highlight again the need for the Elgin Marbles to be returned.

From:
MSNBC

Ancient urn returns to Greece
Campaign underway to reclaim illegally exported antiquities
Associated Press

updated 3:41 p.m. ET April 21, 2008ATHENS, Greece - A 2,400-year-old funerary urn has been returned to Greece and put on display, part of a campaign to reclaim illegally exported antiquities from museums and art dealers around the world.

The marble urn was displayed Monday at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

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Following negotiations by the Greek Government, a lekythos or flask used for oil has now returned to Athens from a private collection in Switzerland.

From:
Athens News Agency

04/21/2008
Ancient lekythos returned

Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis on Monday officially presented an ancient marble oil flask or lekythos dating from the 4th century B.C. that was returned to Greece from a private collection in Switzerland, at a press conference held at the National Archaeological Museum.

The procedure to repatriate the ancient artifact was completed last Thursday and in a few days it will be taken to the museum’s conservation workshops, where it will remain for two months.

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When restitution is discussed by museum professionals & collectors, the alarmist view that their collections will be reduced to a shadow of what they once were is often raised. Here, Michael Conforti discusses an enhanced way of handling loans to deal with this issue.

The first half of the article here is not directly relevant to the topic.

From:
Time Magazine Blogs

March 28, 2008 10:55
More Talk With: Michael Conforti
Posted by Richard Lacayo

Let’s finish that conversation with Michael Conforti, director of the Clark in Williamstown. Ma. He’s also upcoming president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, so in this part we talk about some issues affecting museums generally.

LACAYO: As everybody knows, Italy’s been reclaiming antiquities from American museums that were looted from archeological digs. So museums are taking more seriously the cultural property laws of other nations. But we also want museums that can show people what other cultures have created. Are there arrangements that could protect archeological sites but still supply museums with works?

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Lindow Man, the body found in a bog in 1984, returned to Manchester today, on loan from the British Museum. BBC Radio Manchester has identified the benefits of displaying artefacts in the vicinity of where they were found - of retaining their local identity & interviewed me this morning for their new programme. You can listen to this interview in mp3 format here.

From:
Manchester Evening News

Lindow man returns home
Yakub Qureshi
18/ 4/2008

A MAN frozen in time for the last 2,000 years received a warm welcome on his returned home to the north west.

The Lindow Man became one of the region’s most celebrated residents after his discovery in a peat bog near Wilmslow in 1984.

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The descendants of Lord Elgin are donating some artefacts belonging to one of their ancestors. Unfortunately, the ancestor in question is the Eighth Earl of Elgin, not the Seventh & the country in question is Canada. The two issues are not really conected, except through the involvement of the same family, but parallels can (& will) still easily be drawn.

From:
Ottawa Citizen

Friday » April 18 » 2008
Lord Elgin rock show coming to capital region
Stones thrown at former governor general part of collection being handed over by descendants
Paul Gessell
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, April 18, 2008

London has the Elgin Marbles. Ottawa is about to get the Elgin Rocks.

The marble sculptures were removed in the early 19th century from the Acropolis in Athens by the 7th Earl of Elgin. The rocks were thrown at the 8th Earl of Elgin, governor general to Canada, in 1849 by an English-speaking mob in Montreal angry over a bill compensating Quebecers involved in the rebellions of 1837-38.

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The British Museum & British government often argue over the semantics of the lack of formal restitution requests as a reason for avoiding dealing with the Elgin Marbles issue. In reality though, such procrastination & stalling will eventually be overcome, proving that these arguments are delaying tactics rather than valid reasons.

From:
Afrikanet

IS THE ABSENCE OF A FORMAL DEMAND FOR RESTITUTION A GROUND FOR NON-RESTITUTION?
Written by Dr. Kwame Opoku
Sunday, 13 April 2008

“The restitution of those cultural objects which our museums and collections, directly or indirectly, possess thanks to the colonial system and are now being demanded, must also not be postponed with cheap arguments and tricks.”
Gert v. Paczensky and Herbert Ganslmayr, Nofretete will nach Hause. (1)

In a recent report on the Benin exhibition in Berlin, Benin - 600 Years of Royal Arts in Nigeria, an official of the Ethnology Museum Berlin, presumably, the Director of the African Section of the Museum, is reported to have stated that there has been no formal request for restitution from the Benin/Nigerian authorities and therefore the question of restitution did not arise as far as the Ethnology Museum of Berlin was concerned. (2) A reporter who was at the opening of the exhibition has stated that the Nigerian Minister of Culture, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode announced plans of his government to recover the stolen bronzes in “a very diplomatic and civilised way”; but that his government was not primarily concerned with restitution but interested first of all in international scientific co-operation to elaborate an inventory of all the pieces which had been once in the palace in Benin. (3)
Irrespective of what exactly the Nigerian Minister of Culture said at the opening of the Benin exhibition, we have heard this argument before from Austrians, Germans and others with respect to stolen cultural objects in their museums that there has been no formal/official demand and so the question does not arise for them. We would like to comment briefly on what may appear, at first sight, to be a reasonable position from the point of view of a holder of stolen or found property. Certainly it is a useful tactic if an owner does not bother to reclaim lost/stolen property for the holder to remain passive.

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My response to the Evening Standard’s article on Neil MacGregor’s tenure at the British Museum was published in their letters page today.

From:
Evening Standard (London)

Old Issue for the British Museum
Friday 11th April 2008

Fiona Maddock’s interview with Neil MacGregor highlights many great achievements that he has made during his tenure at the British Museum, but manages to skim over other critical issues.

Whilst most artefacts in the museum were acquired through legitimate means, the ownership of a significant minority of items is disputed. MacGregor talks about the functioning of a post colonial collection, making much of prominent ties forged with China, but such integration with other parties happens only when the museum has the upper hand & can dictate the terms.

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The British Museum & other institutions claim that they took artefacts to preserve them & that the artefacts were taken legitimately. Institutions who hold looted artefacts, in many cases hold the copyright on images of the artefact as well - deriving a source of revenue for themselves, whilst denying it from those who are arguably the rightful owners.

From:
African Path

Africa: The Crown Affair
April 09, 2008 11:34 AM
By Melford Ita

A documentary film scheduled for release soon will raise key issues over Article 11 of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on cultural objects taken across borders. Melford Ita reports.

It is a cold winter morning in Germany but I am sitting in the warm comfort of a high-speed train, the Inter City Express (ICE) en-route to Brussels. It is a long trip, so I reach for my laptop and log on. An editorial alluding to Markets and Investments grappling with the interpretation of a copyright law with the British Museum draws my attention. It reads, Article 11 of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on cultural objects declares as illicit, “the export and transfer of ownership of cultural property under compulsion arising directly or indirectly from the occupation of a country by a foreign power.”

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