Showing results 1 - 12 of 22 for the tag Books.

August 21, 2008

A plea for fair & equal treatment of cultural property

Posted at 12:52 pm in Similar cases

Dr Kwame Opoku responds to this article in Culture Kiosque reviewing James Cuno’s book.

From:
Culture Kiosque

READER COMMENT: A PLEA FOR FAIR AND EQUAL TREATMENT
By Dr. Kwame Opoku

NEW YORK, 21 AUGUST 2008 — Dr. Kwame Opoku, a retired legal adviser in Vienna, Austria, responds to Culturekiosque contributor Alan Behr’s recent review of James Cuno’s new book, “Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage” Princeton University Press).

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August 19, 2008

More on Stealing Athena

Posted at 6:47 pm in Elgin Marbles

More on the historical novel Stealing Athena. If nothing else, books such as this raise awareness of the background of the Elgin Marbles & in many cases lead people to find out more about the subject.

From:
Toronto Sun

Sun, August 17, 2008
Book in brief
By YVONNE CRITTENDEN

[...]

STEALING ATHENA
By Karen Essex
This intriguing novel by Karen Essex is based on a true story of obsession. It’s about the two ancient Greeks who developed the glory that is the Parthenon and the man who, centuries later, rescued — or stole, depending on one’s point of view — the best of the remaining marbles for his own country: England.

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August 18, 2008

Avoiding the subject of provenance

Posted at 12:43 pm in Similar cases

Even otherwise excellent books published by museums, can tend to gloss over how items came to leave their homelands.
If museums aren’t ashamed of how artefacts were acquired, then why don’t they discuss it clearly.

From:
Modern Ghana

ONCE MORE BENIN: REVIEW OF BENIN: ROYAL ARTS OF A WEST AFRICAN KINGDOM BY KATHLEEN BICKFORD BERZOCK
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Fri, 15 Aug 2008

This book corresponds to what I think the average visitor to an exhibition needs: a short introduction to the subject-matter, with illustrations and sufficient information for the reader to understand the significance of the theme without being burdened by too many pages.

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August 17, 2008

James Cuno & cultural property

Posted at 5:50 pm in Acropolis, Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

James Cuno wants trade in cultural properties to be a free market - because his institution would stand to gain from this, being relatively wealthy. Suffice to say, he arguments against Cuno’s reasoning have been covered many times already.

From:
Culture Kiosque

A HUMANIST PLEA FOR FREE-RANGING ANTIQUITIES
By Alan Behr
NEW YORK, 14 AUGUST 2008

There are few subjects in law more contentious than property rights, and when property stirs the emotions, there can be no end to the bickering. Divorce proceedings are notorious for that, as anyone knows who has ever battled a soon-to-be-ex-spouse to exhaustion over a sofa, clock or spaniel of no value or charm.

Nations can play that game too, and because they do it with antiquities, they are finding that the Zeitgeist is in their favor, reports James Cuno in his new book, Who Owns Antiquity? (Princeton University Press, 256 pages). Cuno is the president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago — one of the encyclopedic art museums (to use Cuno’s phrase) that are the quiet protagonists of his book. They are the museums that, like bees ranging over a broad field, pollinate the world with the art, history and culture of its constituent regions. The Elgin Marbles were carved in Athens and the Rosetta Stone was found in Egypt, but they are now displayed at the British Museum, in London. The Pergamon Altar was built by the Greeks, removed from what is now Turkey and is on view in Berlin. I used to be able to take a ten-minute walk to The Metropolitan Museum to see the Euphronios krater , one of the finest surviving bowls of classical Greece, but I can’t do that anymore because it was packed off — not to Greece, but to Italy.

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August 1, 2008

The most important of Egypt’s artefacts

Posted at 1:02 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

A new book looks at the story of the Rosetta Stone as being the most important artefact from Egypt, as it was this which helped the modern world to begin the process of understanding much of the background behind ancient Egypt. If a piece is this important though, setting aside issues of ownership & acquisition, should it not be located in the context of the other stories that it helped to unlock? Its impact and significance could be understood far better for those visiting Egypt than those visiting London.

From:
Newsday

The artifact that explained the other Egyptian artifacts
By MARY FOSTER | Associated Press Writer
5:05 PM EDT, July 31, 2008

“Discovery at Rosetta” (W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. 288 pages. $22.95), by Jonathan Downs: It’s the most important Egyptian artifact ever discovered — the key to the tale of the astonishing ancient civilization and its many accomplishments.

Egypt has always intrigued. The civilization with its pyramids, monuments, burial practices, pharaohs and deities was a mystery for generations. People wondered at the marvels left behind, but could only guess at the meanings they held.

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How the Benin Bronzes left Benin

Posted at 12:42 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

Inspired by Kwame Opoku’s writings on the Benin Bronzes, David Gill looks at the story of how the Benin Bronzes ended up in the great museums of the western world & how this relates to James Cuno’s analysis of the importance of artefacts such as these within an Encyclopaedic museum.

From:
Modern Ghana

Some Thoughts on the Benin Bronzes
By David Gill
Feature Article | Wed, 30 Jul 2008

James Cuno (in Who Owns Antiquity? [2008]) takes six objects from the holdings of the Art Institute of Chicago to demonstrate its character as an “encyclopedic museum”. The third piece is a bronze plaque from Benin that was acquired in 1933; Cuno speculates that it probably “left” the kingdom of Benin following the punitive raid by the British in 1897.

Kwame Anthony Appiah (Cosmopolitanism [2006]) also uses the Benin bronzes as he asks the question, “Whose Culture Is it, Anyway?”

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July 21, 2008

Does culture know of political borders

Posted at 12:48 pm in Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

Most people would acknowledge that culture is often very much aligned with political borders. James Cuno however would disagree that this is the case.

Kwame Opoku’s response to Cuno’s interview helps to outline the many inaccuracies in Cuno’s contentions.

From:
Spectator

‘Culture knows no political borders’
Tiffany Jenkins
Wednesday, 16th July 2008

Tiffany Jenkins talks to James Cuno about looting, exporting and owning antiquities

James Cuno is a busy man. I pin him down between two projects: promoting the new Modern Art Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago, opening next year, where he is president and director, and the launch of his new book Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage (Princeton University Press, £14.95), which is provoking controversy on both sides of the Atlantic.

He was prompted to write it, he tells me, ‘as an intervention into the war, or should I say “discussion”, between museums, archaeologists and nation states, about who can acquire antiquities’.

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July 14, 2008

Is Cuno relenting on restitution?

Posted at 1:16 pm in Similar cases

Cuno’s comments at the opening of the exhibition Benin - Kings and Rituals: Royal Arts from Nigeria suggejst that he is willing to consider restitution claims. At this point though it is unclear whether he has had a change of heart since the publication of his book, or if his quote was taken out of context. If it is the former though, then it is a very positive step.

From:
Modern Ghana

BENIN EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO: CUNO AGREES TO CONSIDER REQUEST FOR RESTITUTION OF BENIN BRONZES
By Dr. Kwame Opoku
Feature Article | Mon, 14 Jul 2008

As readers know, the exhibition, Benin - Kings and Rituals: Royal Arts from Nigeria, which started in Vienna, in 2007, went on to Paris and Berlin, was opened in Chicago, on 10 July and will be there until 21 September 2008.

For various reasons, including the fear of litigation and judicial attempts to seize some of the Benin bronzes, only some 220 objects will be displayed in Chicago compared to some 300 objects in Berlin. The bad consciences of some of the holders of these objects seem to have been activated by the previous protests in Chicago and the discussions on the illegality and illegitimacy of their possession. Hence some owners were not willing to let their artefacts cross the Atlantic to the USA where judges are quick to order seizure of artworks which are alleged to have been stolen or dubious provenance.

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The Parthenon Sculptures inspire a historical novel

Posted at 1:06 pm in Elgin Marbles

Two more reviews of Karen Essex’s new book Stealing Athena, a story with the Parthenon Marbles at its heart & inspired by the Author seeing the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

From:
Los Angeles Times

This time, Karen Essex tackles ‘Stealing Athena’
The author’s historical novels give voice to powerful women who flout traditional roles. Her latest involves the Elgin Marbles.
By Swati Pandey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 14, 2008

Novelist Karen Essex remembers when she first encountered the name Aspasia, a courtesan in ancient Greece, while wading through a copy of Plutarch in graduate school.

“Plutarch suddenly starts talking about Aspasia as Pericles’ mistress,” she said, mentioning the Athenian leader. Aspasia “had the respect of the most intelligent men in an Athens in which women weren’t even citizens and were completely sequestered. It was very titillating, and just a tease, because Plutarch mentions her, and that’s it.”

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July 7, 2008

Is there good reason for the Elgin Marbles to remain in Britain?

Posted at 1:29 pm in Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

James Cuno’s new book expounds his views that we should not be moving towards more reunifications of artefacts. The Daily Telegraph (somewhat predictably) chooses to agree with him in their review of his new book, although others have already pointed out the numerous flaws in his reasoning.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Why the Elgin Marbles should stay
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 06/07/2008

Jonathan Keates reviews Who Owns Antiquity?: Museums and the Battle Over Our Ancient Heritage by James Cuno

Connoisseurs of little-known facts will rejoice in the existence of a department of Unesco called the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation.

Besides defying all efforts to reduce it to a manageable acronym, the name surely deserves some sort of accolade for its verbosity.

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July 5, 2008

Has James Cuno become a “nationalist retentionist”?

Posted at 10:06 pm in Similar cases

James Cuno has tarred just about anyone asking for the return of artefacts as a nationalist retentionist. He argues that many of the artefacts in question were formed by different nations from those currently located in the same geographic region that are asking for the pieces to be returned. Whilst this may be true though, this makes for a fairly weak case in justifying their retention in somewhere such as New York or London, as they were clearly never produced with these locations in mind either.

Up to this point, Cuno can be seen as merely misguided in his reasoning. The question is though, whether something far more insidious is taking place in his arguments & that Cuno is himself a nationalist retentionist, who plays by a different set of rules to those that he applies to the actions of others.

From:
Afrikanet.info

IS JAMES CUNO A “NATIONALIST RETENTIONIST”?
Written by Dr. Kwame Opoku
Friday, 04 July 2008

James Cuno, Director, Art Institute of Chicago, has become known for his constant attacks on those he terms “nationalist retentionists” and who, according to him, pretend to be successors to ancient civilizations and inheritors of their cultural objects with which they have no real connections except that these objects happen to be within the territories of the present nation States.

In his recent book, Who owns Antiquity? Cuno declares: “What is the relationship between, say, modern Egypt and the antiquities that were part of the land’s Pharaonic past? The people of modern-day Cairo do not speak the language of the ancient Egyptians, do not practice their religion, do not make their art, wear their dress, eat their food, or play their music, and do not adhere to the same kind of laws or form of government the ancient Egyptians did.”(1)

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June 21, 2008

Cuno & the credible museum

Posted at 11:51 am in British Museum, Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

In many ways, once James Cuno’s arguments are deconstructed, one can only conclude, that he has been planted in the museums world by restitution organisations to make their own campaigns appear more credible. Unfortunately though, it appears that he is for real - & more worryingly, is one of the candidates for becoming Director of the Met once de Montebello retires later this year.

From:
Kwame Opoku (by email)

CUNO AND CREDIBLE MUSEUMS
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.”

This statement attributed to Cuno must surely rank as one of the most blatant misrepresentations of our times. http://safecorner.savingantiquities.org/

Cuno and others have engaged a lot of people with the concept of “universal museum” which they now refer to as “encyclopaedic museum”. See “Encyclopaedic Museum Starter Kit”, http://www.artnose.org/museumstarter.htm

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