After my initial Q&A topic of “what is the future of our Cultural Heritage” of some months ago it is almost a follow-up by asking the next logical question “Would transparency in museum matters stop the illicit trade in Cultural Heritage remains?”
The notion of illicit trade encompasses the purchasing as well as the sale of cultural heritage relics and remains.
People like to hoard things they like and pay for it, whereas there are others who sell whatever they have received in the past by a gift or a purchase. So, CH objects remain in good hands.
However, when it involves public as well as private museums, there are at this moment no ways to get access to what they got, was loaned to them or was purchased from where and when in the past.
What we need is transparency by having a look into the inventory list of every museum in the world. The reason is that there are less exhibited objects above ground than there are in the museum vaults, which no mortal will ever see, discuss and admire. Things have disappeared from the face of the world, but many of them still exist somewhere, but we have no way of knowing where.
The question of transparency is not just a question, because I would like to provide an answer of another type of social behavior that bore fruit until the very present. I have in mind an organization as Interpol that has stored fingerprints of millions around the globe and active collaboration between police forces everywhere can tap into Interpol’s huge database. Criminals can be traced as a result of Interpol’s work.
I suggest that in the footsteps of Interpol an organization will be founded on international level, which will have a data base of ALL museum inventories—large and small--from everywhere, so that we first of all will get a glimpse of what every museum has and secondly, illicit trade in CH goods around the world can be checked if they were stolen from a museum and ended up elsewhere, as well as the new acquisitions of goods in all the countries that will and eventually must be connected with this database.
In a second stage, also antiquarians will be included with their entire inventory so that one would receive a window into legal/illegal transactions from the past and the present.
Of course, as there are sets of fingerprints in Interpol files which are missing in its database, likewise there will always remain CH goods that clandestine will be moved from post to hole. Nevertheless, the newly made database would be a start to keep an eye on the lucrative sales of stolen goods.
Perhaps, even Interpol itself would be highly interested to let share a subdivision of its database so that it—with its super speedy search machines- would get immediate answers on wheel and deal in the antiquity- and Art world.
I just want to remind you of the pieta sculpture in the basilica of the St. Peter that was damaged by a lunatic, as well as the killing of four people in a museum in Brussels, Belgium who visited to learn more about cultural heritage. Also that can happen in our world to day.
Well I guess there is a big issue in sharing informations about collection around the world. Lot of stuff are own by people/institution after stole it during war (ex: Chinese cultural heritage).
For me we should "give it back", at least in the idea even if we don't move the items "physicly". Such "inventory" would be automaticly "faked" to avoid political issu :/
Protection of cultural heritage would imply a strong organisation to look after it. I'm still student but I didn't see for now so much cooperation in this way even if many people are willing to work for it. Something like the blue shield seem to be not enough "stuffed" to work correctly in the order to achieve this purpose.
It's an organisation like this who should done such work, but not enough "strong" apparently.
About your comment Mr.Gunneweg. The damage of cultural heritage is hard to avoid when you show it to "anybody". Tourism become "cheap" thing for more and more country and they are not always sensitive to cultural heritage. I guess if we choose to "show cultural heritage" we need to show a replica, or hire more people to watch over it during the visit.
It's "funny" how government around the world valu cultural heritage but give less and less money for it.
In another hand, what happen in Bruxelle is nothing related to cultural heritage, just political matter, even if it's sad (I heard that the museum was one of the few "jew place" not under protection, maybe the reason but we don't know enougth). But civil wars are also a big problem for cultural heritage (ex: Syria). Here again another problem, even if we have the possibility to protect those place, there is human died around.
As I said, I'm just a student, but I realized there is not enough "communication" between groups invovled in cultural heritage. And for such project it's very important in my point of view. I hope the situation will get better!
First of all it is important to have strict laws to protect archaeological finds and works of art.
Secondly, museums should have a strict policy of what comes in.
Databases should be kept.
Before purchasing an exhibit, all its documentation should be carefully checked for forgery and at the same time, it should be checked whether another museum somehow lost an artifact that seems to be similar. There are databases like that on the internet. Check
http://www.museum-security.org/reporting_stolen_property.html
and
http://www.lapada.org/p/advice-&-information/useful-links/loss-registers-&-stolen-art
Vladimir,
I did not intend to show CH artefacts "to anybody", but to have a database of photographs and description of the objects that everybody can SEE or have virtual access to--making some exceptions for unpublished finds waiting to be published--but that NOBODY can touch or handle, except for the experts in various places where the objects are.
Transparency is needed in our world not only in the art or archaeological domain. Banks, Insurance Companies, Pension Funds, State Budgets and Municipality Tax income too fall under the same topic of 'transparency'. We really do not know where our money is, where it goes to and what is done with it.
Nonetheless, for the time being, I wanted to focus on CH only and that would be enough to keep us busy for the next decade. Someone, somewhere should start with it and airing the problem as I intended can only help to make people aware that there is a problem in taking care of CH and museums private collectors in particular. I do not see a big problem why antiquity shops wherever on earth would not be obliged to make their goods transparent to the authorities as a starter. When the inventory list are in, some volunteers must be found to deal with the archiving of all that info into a database or databases that later can be unified into a global data set.
Tourism is another necessary evil when it concerns CH. The care lies in the hands of local or state supervision. Tourism is a lucrative income, and needed in countreis which have not very much more than tourism as their source of national income. Having said this, I remember when visiting the Gizeh Plateau and the 6 pyramids there, one was asked to pay 20 Egyptian Pounds, but one had to take a taxi back to town to find a WC, since there were no WCs on the Gizeh Plateau, in spite of the money from millions of paying tourists. I am sure that everybody in her/his place can recollect a similar story, somewhere.
Perhaps that an overseeing view of an organization as for example Green Peace is required to tackle the taking care of CH. When Green Peace started, many were laughing, prophesying that they would not be able to accomplish anything. At present, Green Peace is an organization of volunteers for whom every country is afraid and mankind needs to be afraid for something, which our forefathers understood when they not only passed laws, but also punishments for those who thought to be able to do what they wanted.
Franz Rolando, in saying that "Few institutions could be against [my] desires of transparency" does not mean that nothing can be done. Of course, there will be a lot of various organizations that will be against anything which goes against their way of making money or control--is power--which they have at present. As long that nobody opens her/his mouth, the aforesaid institutions or individuals are secure. Nobody challenge them and they can continue in what they are good.
With Facebook, blogs and Twitter at our disposal today, we can make people all around the globe aware that there are problems that should not be problems if we collaborate to get rid of them. I write 'collaborate' because in my profession I have seen what collaboration can achieve if we want to collaborate with others. As a starter, we published during 9 years, four 4 books on a single site in Israel that happen to have the famous Dead Sea scrolls. The t project was in my head for a decade, but I saw that only collaboration and public opinion could be beneficent. At the closure of our endeavour, we have 157 scientists from all over who collaborated. Also I had individuals who did not believe in the Qumran project. I don't hear them any longer at present, in other words our endeavour WON.
Likewise, I see also CH protection on a larger scale. The solution is in our heads and we have to do some brain storming to get it organized.
A contribution to face illicit trade antiquities coul be given by the surveillance of sites and areas of archaeological interest by exploiting the new remote sensing technologies
I think it is important to monitor and stop the phenomenon before the illict trade. The pillaging of antiquities not only denies cultural heritage to the new generations but, it is a dame to knowledge. Archaeological looting causes the destruction of the cul-tural context in which the looted objects were found. This makes the interpretation of archaeological remains complex or impossible, thus causing an irreparable damage to cultural identity and to scientific research on the human past
Nicola, the remote sensing technology is good when it is set up in a coffee bar, restaurant, even a big square in a city and the like, but to use such equipment in excavated sites in the middle of nowhere, would soon result in stealing the equipment and going to work with more energy than before in robbing graves and illegally digging for more artefacts.
Not everything can be solved by sophisticated equipment. I suggest more the awareness of the population and informers who report what they see and feel what is fishy to the police who has to take care of whatever is needed. The human factor is sometimes more rewarding than whatever remote sensing can provide.
Yes I agree. But in some countries ..I mean countries like Egypt, Iraq, Peru... so wide areas with a difficult accesibility you can ignore the devastating acivity of grave robbers in territories non investigated by archaeologists, yet.
If you want I can send you some publications on the use of remote sensing for the monitoring of archaeological looting....including some paper of mine
The awarness of population sound utopic. I guess between the value of cultural heritage and money they can earn by stealing some items, the choice is quicly made. And i cant blame them as i don't live in their condition ( at least for the poor local population). Same problem for wildlife, forest, even mineral exploitation.
Find a real solution sound also utopist, I'm young and would like to get involved in this field (of CH protection) but most of the groups or plan for that look not well organized or even 'working'.
I guess this job we are talking about is bound to blue shield purpose.
Most of people in the field of conservation i talked with seem to not value so much this group ( in practical term). I can easly understand, it's a very hard job.
As i'm very interested in this, i tried to contact this organisation and no reply. So i guess it can be nice to increase a network and support this group or work with.
As i'm very new in this field, i still lack of real experiences, so i will take any information about 'how to get involved' in the topic we are talking about.
Some notes on Spanish bibliography can be found in https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275517657_Fighting_against_the_archaeological_looting_and_the_illicit_trade_of_antiquities_in_Spain.
For sure, the main protection of CH in Museums and also in other hands is registering. And publish contents is the function.
Article Fighting against the archaeological looting and the illicit ...
Dear Dr
Happy days to you! I hope this letter do not disturbing you!
I am disseminating my discoveries to whole world, see my project attaching file: Nature mechanism- force origin. Which scientific organizations or funding can support me €10000? pleas you could help me for this!
Best wishes to you!
yours sincerely,
Zheng sheng ming
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