Every year in Cultural Property News. Reports and feature stories you can read nowhere else.
2023 and 2024 saw our most productive work in the realm of cultural heritage protection and policy advocacy. Our research, comprehensive reports, and unique voice helped to shape national conversations around cultural property law and preservation of heritage.
Groundbreaking Research and Analysis
National Museum of the American Indian, 2005 Powwow. MCI Center. Photo Walter Larrimore, 15 August 2005, public domain.
We launched 2023 with an in-depth analysis of proposed revisions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. NAGPRA: Major Changes Proposed for 2023, laid the foundation for our continued work into 2024 with The New NAGPRA: ‘Traditional Knowledge’ In, Artifacts Out broke down 350 pages of federal regulation that sped up repatriations and gave tribes authority over exhibitions and museum narratives – overruling Congress’ legislative intent. The new NAGPRA rules have emptied vitrines and closed galleries – and have been interpreted by some major museums to require wholesale return of photographs and research materials to tribes that plan to destroy them.
Major Reports to the State Department
In coordination with Global Heritage Alliance, we produced 15 major reports as testimony to the U.S. State Department, analyzing import restrictions and heritage agreements that have a profound impact on the global art market and cultural exchange. Our standout contributions in 2023-2024 include:
Three saddhus seated at temple on Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, Nepal, performing the vitarka mudrā. Photo Markus Koljonen, May 10, 2008, CCA-SA 3.0.
Cambodia and “Stone Temple Nationalism” – How politics drive heritage policies.
Will U.S. Sign Uzbekistan Art Embargo 50,000 BC to 1917? – Investigating the sweeping scope of proposed restrictions.
State Dept Renews Blockade on Libyan Art, Ignoring Law and Facts – Exposing the legal and factual oversights in renewed restrictions.
2023 CHINA MOU – Building China’s Art Monopoly and Destroying Minority Culture and Identity – Poignant reporting on US policy impacting Tibetan and Uyghur minorities.
Honduras Wants Import Restrictions After 20 Years of Noncompliance with U.S. Law – Addressing longstanding legal and policy failures.
U.S. Signs MOU with Yemen. This Time, No Testimony Allowed. – Critical public input denied.
Reliefs of Maya glyphs and a skull; Copán Archaeologic Site, Honduras, Maya archaeological site of Copán. Honduras, 29 December 2004, Author LBM1948, CCA -SA 4.0 International license.
Misuse of U.S. Heritage Law: State Department Seeks Blockade on Nepalese Art.
CPAC Ignores Statute in New ‘Evidence-Free’ MOU with India – Highlighting statutory neglect in cultural property agreements.
Commentary: Renewal of Algerian MOU – Exposing flaws in Algeria’s agreements.
2024 India Report: U.S. Art Blockade Inevitable Despite Destruction and Neglect – Discussing the consequences of art blockades.
Ecuador: Turmoil, Neglect, and a History of Legal Looting – Exposing mismanagement.
Ukraine Requests 1.4 Million Years’ Import Restrictions on Art – Investigating the unprecedented breadth of restrictions.
Deadria Farmer-Paellman at the British Museum’s display of Benin Bronze Plaques, photo courtesy Mike Wells.
Lebanon in Chaos: Will US Sign Heritage Agreement? – Assessing Lebanon’s unstable cultural landscape.
El Salvador Seeks MOU Renewal Despite 37-Year History of Import Restrictions and Corruption – Highlighting long-standing issues of compliance.
Mongolia Now – A current look at Mongolia’s heritage policies and needs.
In-Depth Cultural and Political Commentary
Our publications in 2023-2024 spanned over 100 articles that dissected controversies in the art and cultural sectors:
Is the EU Sleepwalking Into an Art Market Nightmare?
Demonstration for the rights of the Uyghurs in Berlin, photo Leonhard Lenz, 19 January 2020, CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Law Note: UK Ivory Act Expanded
Return of Benin Bronzes: Why Are the Victims of Slavery Hushed Up?
Afghanistan: Taliban Ban Images of ‘Living Things’ While Preserving Ancient Buddhist Sites for Mining
China 2024: The Smothered Screams of Muslim Genocide
Afghanistan Sites Demolished by Bulldozers
WMF Turns Over Angkor Wat to APSARA Despite Human Rights Concerns
Museum and Collector Rights
The Philosopher, bronze, Hellenistic Greek or Roman, circa 150 BCE to 200 CE, Cleveland Museum of Art.
We defended the rights of museums and collectors against unjust seizures and misleading legal narratives. Notable cases included:
Cleveland Museum of Art Fights Back Against NY DA’s Seizure of Famous Bronze Statue
At Great Expense, Manhattan DA Returns Fakes to Lebanon
Betrayal of Tibet: DA’s Controversial Returns to China
Religious, Human and Cultural rights
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, in Shusha, Nagorno Karabakh, photo by Vladimer Shioshvili, 4 August 2007, CCA-SA 2.0.
We focus on efforts to protect minority group heritage, promote lawful cultural exchange and government transparency. CCP/Cultural Property News works with Uyghur, Tibetan, Middle Eastern Jewish, Orthodox Christian, and Armenian minority communities.
The Careful Collector Series
Peter Tompa’s Careful Collector Series was expanded to 32 articles, covering diverse topics from Orders and Decorations to Meteorites and WW2 Art Repatriation. His expert advice continues to guide responsible collecting practices.
Interviews
Interviews with figures like Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a trailblazer in slavery restitution, Portable Antiquities Scheme head Michael Lewis and curator Angie Bolton, and notorious art dealer Georges Lotfi, spark necessary debates on practical preservation solutions and prosecutorial overreach.
Outstanding Contributors
We are honored to have published work from authors such as Hartwig Fischer, Olga Gillies, Mariam Hale, Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, Ivan Macquisten, Julian McBride, Juan Javier Negri, Valentina Tarquini, Peter Tompa, Joanna Van der Lande, and Mike Wells. Their insightful analyses have enriched our publications.
2023 and 2024 have been years of strong public outreach and unwavering advocacy. We remain committed to defending global cultural heritage and informing policy with integrity and dedication.
Newsletter – Cultural Property News – World News Bites
Our new World News Bites email campaign started in mid-October with 23 easy to read, short stories. We will continue alternating World News Bites with quarterly editions of feature articles.
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