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# Cultural Property News

Cultural Property News

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## Posts

- [Art Moves: Three Vatican Parthenon Fragments go to Greek Archbishopric, then Acropolis Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-moves-three-vatican-parthenon-fragments-go-to-greek-archbishopric-then-acropolis-museum/) - In March 2023, three symbolically important though hardly artistically significant fragments of the hundreds of scattered sculptures from the Parthenon were gifted by the Vatican in an “ecumenical donation” to the Archbishopric of Athens, center of the Orthodox Church of Athens and All Greece. In announcing the decision last year, Pope Francis had been careful
- [Law Note: Netherlands Court Rules Crimean Gold Must Go To Ukraine](https://culturalpropertynews.org/law-note-netherlands-court-rules-crimean-gold-must-go-to-ukraine/) - The Dutch Supreme Court ruled on June 9, 2023 that over 1000 gold objects from Ukraine that had been on loan to Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson Museum in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea, should be returned to Ukraine. The Supreme Court upheld an earlier lower court decision, saying the museum “must return these artistic treasures to
- [Art Moves: Kogi Sacred Masks Go from Germany to Colombia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-moves-kogi-sacred-masks/) - The Ethnological Museum of Berlin has officially handed back two wooden sacred masks belonging to the Kogi (Cogui or Kágaba, meaning cougar) people, an indigenous community descended from the pre-Columbian Tairona culture who live in the highlands of the Sierra Navada de Santa Marta in present day Colombia. According to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation,
- [Law Note: UK Ivory Act Expanded](https://culturalpropertynews.org/law-uk-ivory-act-expanded/) - UK’s Ivory Act 2018 expanded to hippo, sperm whale, narwhal, orca and walrus Ivory from hippos, sperm whales, narwhals, orcas and walruses will be added to the UK’s highly restrictive Ivory Act 2018 if an extension of the Act is passed by Parliament, as many expect. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- [EU Action Plan Replays Bogus Claims About Art Market](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-action-plan-replays-bogus-claims-about-art-market/) - The May IADAA Newsletter, commenting on the EU Action Plan Against Trafficking in Cultural Goods, takes a critical look at the European Commission’s overall policy on cultural goods and its disastrous effects on art market’s future. The Action Plan: Adopts UNESCO’s patently false anti-art market campaign, The Real Price of Art (skewered here in “UNESCO
- [SPECIAL REPORT: 2023 CHINA MOU - Building China’s Art Monopoly and  Destroying Minority Culture and Identity](https://culturalpropertynews.org/special-report-2023-china-mou-building-chinas-art-monopoly-and-destroying-minority-culture-and-identity/) - Testimony to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State on the 2023 Request for Renewal of the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China Submitted May 26, 2023 by the Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance.[1]
- [Pop Music Against Oppression](https://culturalpropertynews.org/pop-music-against-oppression/) - Don’t be angry lil’ pinky You have shown pinkish heart with purity Desiring for dogs, cats, bats, and civets It is illegal to breach Firewall You’ll be missed if the Pooh discovers it from the lyrics to "Fragile," Namewee. Sometimes it is
- [Controversy Roils “Disturbingly Informative” Mütter Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/disturbingly-informative/) - Former staff and supporters of the outstandingly quirky Mütter Museum in Philadelphia are raising concerns about its future, saying that an overzealous director and CEO are attempting to change its unique character by sanitizing controversial exhibits and removing online videos from public view. The Mütter Museum, considered the finest museum of medical history in the
- [Will U.S. Sign Uzbekistan Art Embargo 50,000 BC to 1917?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-state-dept-uzbekistan-art-embargo-50000-bc-to-1917/) - PRECIS Late last year, as part of an effort to boost U.S.-Uzbekistan government relations and increase cooperation on issues such as security, the U.S. Department of State accepted a request for an agreement to block U.S. access to Uzbekistan's ancient and ethnographic art from 50,000 BC to 1917. A Cultural Property Advisory Committee hearing took
- [Taj Mahal Update: Conservation and Preservation at India's Premier World Heritage Site](https://culturalpropertynews.org/taj-mahal-update-conservation-and-preservation-at-indias-premier-world-heritage-site/) - The Taj Mahal's situation is often described as a straightforward conservation problem: a singular masterpiece is deteriorating; therefore the state must restore and protect it. That description misses the complex issues that have surrounded the Taj in its hundreds of years of history – and that complicate its preservation today. The Taj is simultaneously a
- [Bulldozing Culture: China's Systematic Destruction of Uyghur Heritage Reveals Genocidal Intent](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bulldozing-culture-chinas-systematic-destruction-of-uyghur-heritage-reveals-genocidal-intent/) - Magnus Fiskesjö is a former director of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden, a former Cultural Attaché at Sweden's Embassy in Beijing, and currently an associate professor of anthropology, archaeology and Asian studies at Cornell University, USA. An extensive bibliography and list of resources is appended at the end of this article. The
- [The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 1](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-antiquities-trade-a-reflection-on-the-past-25-years-part-1/) - Joanna van der Lande has worked in the art and auction business for over 30 years. Having read Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University in the 1980s she set up the Antiquities Department at Bonhams Auction house, London in 1990. She served on the UK Ministerial Advisory Panel on Illicit Trade (ITAP) from 2000
- [Turkish Request Alarms Armenians, Greeks, Turkish Jews, Orthodox and Syriac Christians in Diaspora](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkish-request-alarms-armenians-greeks-turkish-jews-orthodox-and-syriac-christians-in-diaspora/) - This article has been updated to add corrected text. A request from the Republic of Turkey to block United States importation of Turkish art and ethnographic materials from the Prehistoric Period to 1923 is pending before the Cultural Property Advisory Committee in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Testimony will be taken
- [Committee for Cultural Policy 2018 Year-End Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/committee-for-cultural-policy-2018-year-end-report/) - Together, we have traveled far! The Committee for Cultural Policy was formally recognized in 2013 as a charitable, non-partisan think tank. Our earliest work was to analyze cultural policy and to support public education for a diverse global audience. We sponsored public lectures, published a comprehensive White Paper: A Proposal to Reform U.S. Law and
- [No Country for Old Achaemenids](https://culturalpropertynews.org/no-country-for-old-achaemenids/) - "There’s like 20 RCMP officers flooding my place, the sunshine’s coming in, the crystals are making rainbows everywhere, the bougainvillea flowers are glowing in the sunrise light,” Simon Metke, Edmonton yoga instructor, interviewed after Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized a Persepolis fragment from his meditation room. “We are simply flabbergasted at what has occurred,” statement
- [Pakistan Museum Trashes Ancient Statues](https://culturalpropertynews.org/pakistan-museum-trashes-ancient-statues/) - The fate of ancient Buddhist artifacts in Pakistan’s museums once again made headlines after Gandharan period stone statues were discovered in a rubbish pile, visible from the street, at the National Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. The statues, which are said to be from the 3rd-5th century, have traveled from their original site, somewhere in Northwest Pakistan, to
- [Pompeii’s Director Breaks Archaeological Traditions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/pompeiis-director-breaks-archaeological-traditions/) - A fusion of contemporary and ancient artworks will soon be created from the ruins of Pompeii. The ancient city, smothered in the ashes of Vesuvius, is the source of archaeological fragments that will be incorporated into contemporary artworks. An exhibition, Pompeii at Madre: Archaeological Material, includes a project for contemporary artists, who will work in
- [Egypt Policies: Finders Keepers to Death Penalty](https://culturalpropertynews.org/contradictory-ideas-from-egypt-digging-for-treasure-finders-keepers-and-death-penalty/) - A religious leader in Egypt has issued a ruling on Islamic law, a fatwa, saying that any person who finds gold or treasure on his land has the right to keep it, so long he gives a tithe of the value to charity. Vehement objections were immediately raised to the fatwa by scholars, archaeologists, and
- [Update: Stonehenge Tunnel Gets Official Green Light](https://culturalpropertynews.org/update-stonehenge-tunnel-gets-official-green-light/) - After a 50-meter realignment and budget increase of £200 million, UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has given final approval to a 1.8 mile long tunnel that will run under the ancient site of Stonehenge, replacing the current highway that just skirts the prehistoric site. Many archaeologists felt the massive construction would have far reaching effects
- [EU Regulations Use Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-eu-regulations-on-art-trade-using-a-sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut/) - In past years, the EU has issued regulations on cultural items traveling internally within EU markets. A 1993 EU Directive ensured return and enabled compensation in appropriate circumstances. Directive 2014/60/EU provided for the physical return of cultural objects that had been unlawfully removed from EU countries’ territory. Reasonable limits were set on claims, and due
- [Neglect of Egypt’s Antiquities Bigger Issue Than Theft](https://culturalpropertynews.org/neglect-of-egypts-antiquities-bigger-issue-than-theft/) - For many years, poor storage methods, disabled security devices, and falsified and missing documentation have characterized Egyptian antiquities storage facilities, according to a story in the Al Ahram Al Arabi in 2016, translated as Antiquities stores “thefts, neglect and destruction”…Storage ruin. Well-known archaeologist Monica Hanna was quoted in another article in Al-Monitor, saying, “…this campaign
- [A Journey with Ceremonial Objects](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-journey-with-ceremonial-objects/) - It’s a five-hour drive from Santa Fe into the tall mesas of the Arizona-New Mexico borderlands, but the scenery is spectacular and there is a warm welcome at the end of the journey. Since December of 2016, representatives of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA) have been delivering sacred and ceremonial items back to
- [Court Says Statue 600 years in Japan Should Go to to Korean Temple](https://culturalpropertynews.org/court-says-statue-600-years-in-japan-should-go-to-to-korean-temple/) - A South Korean court was asked to resolve a long-running dispute over the ownership of a 14th century Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012. This month, the local Daejon District Court ordered the statue to be given to a Korean temple instead, causing a furor once again in Japan and damaging the
- [North Dakota Pipeline Destroys Native Burials](https://culturalpropertynews.org/north-dakota-access-pipeline-plows-through-native-sites-graves/) - The Obama administration temporarily suspended construction on the North Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile crude-oil pipeline route that crosses three states, on September 15. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has joined forces with environmentalists in a two-year opposition to the pipeline, which they say threatens numerous Native graves and sacred sites and as well as
- [History-Changing Discoveries in London Construction Site](https://culturalpropertynews.org/history-changing-discoveries-in-london-construction-site/) - The earliest manuscripts in Britain, dating from 43 AD/CE to around 80 AD/CE, were discovered during a Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) excavation at the three-acre London construction site for the new European headquarters of Bloomberg, the international financial news and information company. Archeological workers unearthed 405 waxed wood tablets from the excavation site of
- [Instant Conviction of Japanese Dealer](https://culturalpropertynews.org/instant-conviction-of-japanese-dealer/) - One of the most shocking episodes in the Asia Week 2016 series of seizures was the lightning-fast conviction of Japanese art dealer Tatsuzo Kaku under a plea agreement with the New York prosecutor, just one week after he was arrested. The case against Mr. Kaku, age 71, took only eight days to pass through the
- [Commentary: Sarah Parcak's TED Prize - Can International Crowdsourcing Replace Source Country Commitment?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/commentary-sarah-parcaks-ted-prize-can-international-crowdsourcing-replace-source-country-commitment/) - Speaking in Vancouver on February 16, Dr. Sarah Parcak proposed using her $1 million TED Prize to build an online “interactive citizen science program” to engage the public in monitoring archaeological sites and to share the information gathered with archaeologists and local authorities. Parcak, an Egyptologist, is known as a “space archaeologist” because she uses
- [Battle over Rights to Richest Shipwrecked Treasure](https://culturalpropertynews.org/battle-over-rights-to-richest-shipwrecked-treasure/) - The governments of Spain, Colombia, and a private salvage company, Sea Search Armada (SSA), are battling over rights to the richest cargo ever discovered on the ocean floor. The San Jose was headed from the New World back to Spain in 1708, during the War of Spanish Succession. The ship is believed to have been
- [French Government Reverses Donation to Guimet of Chinese Gold Ornaments](https://culturalpropertynews.org/french-government-reverses-donation-to-guimet-of-chinese-gold-ornaments/) - A July 2015 exhibition at the Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou, China showcased a repatriation from France to China that took place at the expense of a Paris museum. The French government, acting through cultural minister Fleur Pellerin, “facilitated” the repatriation of a collection of gold plaques and harness decorations to China. The collection was
- [Cultural Cookbook 3: Papuan and East Asian Medley](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-cookbook-3-papuan-and-east-asian-medley/) - Recipes from Papua New Guinea From the mettle-testing menu of the as-yet-only-dreamed-of Extreme Cuisine Restaurant, some of these recipes from a friend raised on an alligator farm in Papua New Guinea contain surprising ingredients. Sago grubs and fruit bats (flying fox) are considered comestibles within the ecology of the Pacific Island nations, but these recipes
- [At Great Expense, Manhattan DA Returns Fakes to Lebanon](https://culturalpropertynews.org/at-great-expense-manhattan-da-returns-fakes-to-lebanon/) - Precis A major, multi-year investigation at the New York District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has ended in chaos. At least eight of nine ‘ancient’ mosaics returned with great fanfare to Lebanon (with more on their way to Syria) were called ‘treasures,’ irreplaceable examples of the countries’ heritage worth millions of dollars – but they were
- [Stolen Goods vs Stolen Souls: Cambridge University Hands Over 116 Benin Bronzes to Oba](https://culturalpropertynews.org/stolen-goods-vs-stolen-souls-cambridge-university-hands-over-116-benin-bronzes-to-oba/) - Cambridge University has quietly signed over 116 Benin bronzes and ivories from its Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology while dismissing objections from the Restitution Study Group and the Edo Afrodescendant Coalition. Is the museum washing its hands of the objects when giving them to a private claimant in Nigeria? How do communities ensure public accountability,
- [Asante Restitution: When Objects, Bodies, and Histories Collide](https://culturalpropertynews.org/asante-restitution-when-objects-bodies-and-histories-collide/) - The proposed restitution of Asante-linked instruments from Los Angeles to Ghana exposes the limits of standard repatriation narratives, particularly when provenance is uncertain and human remains are involved. Rather than resolving historical injustice, the case highlights competing claims, ethical ambiguities, and the need for negotiated, context-specific outcomes. Restitution: Asante objects, African claims The proposed return
- [Magnificent Mayan Lintel Returned to Wrong Country?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/magnificent-mayan-lintel-returned-to-wrong-country/) - A New York repatriation of a carved Maya lintel to Mexico may have sent a masterpiece to the wrong country, as current scholarship increasingly points to Guatemala as its likely origin. The Laxtunich case exposes how political spectacle and rushed cultural-property enforcement can outrun evidence, turning restitution into misdelivery. Antiquities returns follow a familiar ritual.
- [China Update: Trade and Plunder from the Summer Palace to Taiwan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/china-update-trade-and-plunder-from-the-summer-palace-to-taiwan/) - President Donald Trump’s recent visit to China was supposed to be focused on trade relations - a subject tied closely to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s framing of Communist Party rule as the force that “ended national humiliation.” Whether President Trump knew it or not, trade relations in China aren’t ever just about current manufacturing or
- [Trade Wars and Tariffs: The Cost of Uncertainty](https://culturalpropertynews.org/trade-wars-and-tariffs-the-cost-of-uncertainty/) - Recent U.S. court rulings and fresh tariff measures have created a volatile trade environment for collectors, dealers, auction houses, and museums. Although cultural goods have long been treated differently from industrial imports, shifting legal interpretations may disrupt cross-border trade, raise costs, and weaken the United States’ dominant position in the international art market. The art
- [HEAR Act: Congress Rewrites the Rules for Nazi-Looted Art Claims](https://culturalpropertynews.org/congress-rewrites-the-rules-for-nazi-looted-art-claims/) - The Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2025 significantly reshapes the legal landscape by eliminating time-based and procedural defenses, ensuring that Nazi-looted art claims are decided on their merits rather than dismissed on technical grounds. Its passage highlights the tension between claimants seeking justice and museums urging caution, while noting that courts will ultimately
- [Cultural Heritage Under Fire in the 2026 Iran War](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-heritage-under-fire-in-the-2026-iran-war/) - The 2026 war on Iran has caused damage not only to military and state infrastructure, but also to a number of historically significant cultural and religious sites across the country. As reports from UNESCO, Iranian heritage authorities, and preservation experts accumulate, the conflict is raising questions about how modern warfare affects cultural heritage even when
- [Fact Check: Yuanming Yuan - The 1860 Looting of the Summer Palace](https://culturalpropertynews.org/fact-check-yuanming-yuan-the-1860-looting-of-the-summer-palace/) - Antique and ancient artworks from the sacking and burning of the the Yuanming Yuan, or Old Summer Palace, are among the most sought after objects for Chinese public and private collections. Objects thought to have been looted from the Yuanming Yuan are not only highly sought after in the Chinese market; many Yuanming Yuan artworks
- [Facts on Terrorism and the Art Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/facts-about-the-art-trade-terrorism-and-the-size-of-the-illicit-market/) - Phony claims about involvement of the legitimate art trade with ISIS, and about art dealers supporting terrorism continue to be fed to the media, despite reputable, solid analysis that contradicts these false allegations. The most comprehensive resource is a 78 page report commissioned by the Dutch National Police, Central Investigation Unit, War Crimes Unit: Cultural Property,
- [The Greece MOU Request: Broad Restrictions, Thin Evidence](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-greece-mou-request/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy objects to renewing the U.S.–Greece cultural property agreement because the current restrictions have become so broad—covering huge time periods, many object types, and especially coins—that they function more like a general embargo than a targeted tool against looting. CCP argues that Greece has not shown, in a concrete and measurable
- [The 25-Year Bolivian MOU: Restrictions Without Results](https://culturalpropertynews.org/25-year-bolivian-mou-restrictions-without-results/) - CCP opposes renewing the U.S.–Bolivia MOU because the import restrictions have been in place since December 4, 2001—nearly a quarter century, with renewals in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021—yet Bolivia has not shown meaningful, measurable progress in protecting its patrimony or meeting the practical “self-help” expectations that were written into earlier MOUs and never fulfilled.
- [Egypt Wants a Heritage Embargo, Not Protection](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egypt-wants-a-heritage-embargo-not-protection/) - Egypt has failed to meet the requirements for extending U.S. import restrictions under the CPIA, The current agreement functions less as targeted anti-looting policy than as a sweeping embargo on nearly all Egyptian cultural material. Egypt has not demonstrated the required “self-help.” It has neglected archaeological sites, poorly managed storerooms, censored scholarship, and spent a
- [Smithsonian Teetering: Trump’s Demand for Possession and the New Politics of “Americanism”](https://culturalpropertynews.org/smithsonian-teetering-trumps-demand-for-possession-and-the-new-politics-of-americanism/) - President Trump’s relationship with the Smithsonian has shifted from ceremonial partnership in his first term to an escalating second-term campaign to police “Americanism,” using executive orders, public firings, paperwork demands, and funding threats to force ideological compliance. How has the White House leveraged the Smithsonian’s hybrid public status and federal dependence to turn America’s flagship
- [Shumla’s Hearthstone and Alexandria Projects - The Oldest 'Books' in North America](https://culturalpropertynews.org/shumlas-hearthstone-and-alexandria-projects-the-oldest-books-in-north-america/) - Shumla’s Alexandria and Hearthstone projects are transforming the Lower Pecos Canyonlands rock murals from awe-inspiring mysteries into a scientifically dated, digitally preserved, 4,000+ year visual tradition - a hunter-gatherer symbolic worldview. Walk into a limestone rock shelter in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands and your sense of scale recalibrates. Above the line where daylight can reach,
- [France Rewrites the Rules of Return](https://culturalpropertynews.org/france-rewrites-the-rules-of-return/) - France has taken another step toward a permanent administrative procedure “for the declassification of cultural property” from French museums for its restitution to a foreign state. This procedure is limited to property that has been established or is strongly suspected of having been unlawfully appropriated between June 10, 1815, and April 23, 1972. The law
- [White House Terminates Membership in ICCROM](https://culturalpropertynews.org/white-house-terminates-membership-in-iccrom/) - A January 7, 2026 White House memorandum ordering U.S. withdrawal from dozens of international bodies has reduced America’s role as a cultural and arts policymaker and ended long-standing support for global heritage protection through ICCROM. The result is a self-defeating retreat that can be corrected only by separating legitimate reforms from the needless dismantling of
- [Italy: sovereignty in food – “sovranità alimentare”](https://culturalpropertynews.org/italy-sovereignty-in-food-sovranita-alimentare/) - Italy’s push for “food sovereignty” under Giorgia Meloni’s government turns cuisine into a strategic tool involving identity, economics, and geopolitics, while clashing with the messy reality that Italian food has always been hybrid and today is dependent on migrant labor. With UNESCO recognition elevating Italian cuisine as global intangible heritage, the politics of “authenticity” expose
- [Tibet: From Pasture to Pit](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tibet-from-pasture-to-pit/) - Ongoing repression of villagers and pastoralists' rights in Kashi in Tibet remind us that cultural and environmental abuse continues daily against ordinary people in China – especially those deemed minorities. Reports from Tibet regularly tell of longstanding restrictions on Tibetan religious and cultural life: limits on prayer gatherings, bans on festivals and circumambulation, surveillance in
- [Murals in the Crosshairs: Trump’s Push to “Remake” Washington Could Erase Federal Art in 2026](https://culturalpropertynews.org/murals-in-the-crosshairs-how-trumps-push-to-remake-washington-could-erase-federal-art-in-2026/) - Four federal buildings in Washington, D.C., some prized for New Deal era murals, others for landmark modernist architecture, are examples from a growing preservation fight heading into 2026. Preservationists say the coming year may decide whether irreplaceable art stays in place, is relocated at great risk, or is lost entirely through demolition and redevelopment. In
- [2025 Year in Review- Repatriation on Demand Continues as Law of the Land](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2025-year-in-review-repatriation-on-demand-continues-as-law-of-the-land/) - The past year was another difficult one for collectors, the trade, and museums. Despite the Trump administration’s “America First” rhetoric, repatriation on demand—framed as a “soft power” remedy for “past wrongs”—remains the default posture of the State Department, law enforcement, and, increasingly, U.S. museums. U.S. Import Restrictions under the Cultural Property Implementation Act The Cultural
- [Guarding memory in times of war: Ukraine’s journey in prosecuting war crimes against cultural heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/guarding-memory-in-times-of-war-ukraines-journey-in-prosecuting-war-crimes-against-cultural-heritage/) - Ukrainian attorney Roman Shpyrka describes his personal experience as Advisor to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (2023–2025), showing how Ukraine is strengthening accountability and the rule of law amid full-scale war - through prosecutorial reform, anti-corruption enforcement, and the pursuit of justice for grave international crimes. I never set out to become an expert in
- [NEA, NEH, PBS and American Museums in Trump’s World. What’s Going On?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nea-neh-pbs-and-american-museums-in-trumps-world-whats-going-on/) - “Museums were never built for comfort. They are built for learning, understanding, and chronicling the truth of our past.” Congresswoman Alma Adams, North Carolina Soon after his inauguration, President Trump defined his goals for American culture. On March 27, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,”
- [Lawsuits Holding the Line: Federal Funding for Libraries and Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/holding-the-line-where-federal-funding-for-libraries-and-museums-stands-now/) - Cultural Property News reported earlier on President Trump's March 14 executive order reducing six different federal agencies to “the minimum presence and function required by law.” (See Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services Gutted, CPN, April 2, 2025.) Since that time, the contest over federal support for libraries and museums has moved from threat
- [The Hazara Genocide](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistan-the-hazara-genocide/) - Introduction The persecution of the Hazara people of Afghanistan is one of the most enduring and least acknowledged genocides of the modern world. Understanding the Hazara tragedy means understanding Afghanistan itself: its geography, its complex history, and its long struggle between cultural diversity and centralized political domination. The story of the Hazara persecution begins with
- [Protesters in Red Hats Invade... Benin’s MOWAA Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/protesters-in-red-hats-invade-benins-mowaa-museum/) - SUMMARY On November 9th, 2025, as 250 Nigerian and international guests - donors, diplomats, and the heads of national cultural agencies - gathered in Benin City at the new Museum of West African Art's opening event, protesters in red baseball caps broke into the museum, forcing its closure. The protesters insulted the guests and accused
- [The Azerbaijan Paradox: UNESCO Cultural Diplomacy in the Caucasus](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-azerbaijan-paradox-unesco-cultural-diplomacy-in-the-caucasus/) - There is a Kafkaesque contradiction inherent in Azerbaijan’s November 10, 2025 election to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP). The appointment raises serious doubts about UNESCO’s credibility as a steward of impartial heritage protection. The appointment took
- [Forced Relocations at Ngorongoro World Heritage Site](https://culturalpropertynews.org/forced-relocations-at-ngorongoro-world-heritage-site/) - The lives of the Maasai people in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, in northern Tanzania are at risk – not through war or unavoidable ecological catastrophe – but because the UNESCO World Heritage system has failed to balance heritage preservation and human rights. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area sits within prime pastoral country in the Arusha region
- [The New Costs of Collecting: How 2025 Tariffs Are Reshaping the Art and Antiques Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-new-costs-of-collecting-how-2025-tariffs-are-reshaping-the-art-and-antiques-trade/) - Between January and November 2025, the landscape for importing art and historical objects into the United States has changed significantly through the imposition of tariffs. Original fine art, including paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture, remains duty-free when imported, continuing a long-standing U.S. policy of exempting cultural works understood as expressive and informational. By contrast, antiques,
- [Private Ownership Also Pre­serves](https://culturalpropertynews.org/private-ownership-also-preserves/) - Juan Javier Negri has forwarded this article which La Nación, a large Buenos Aires daily newspaper, recently published as an editorial. The recent inaug­ur­a­tion of the 18th Buenos Aires Antique Book Fair, organ­ized by the Asso­ci­ation of Antique Book­sellers of Argen­tina, brings back to the table a debate as old as it is cur­rent: who
- [People First, Patrimony First: Why Extending the Afghanistan “Emergency” Makes Law and Ethics Collide](https://culturalpropertynews.org/people-first-patrimony-first-why-extending-the-afghanistan-emergency-makes-law-and-ethics-collide/) - PRECIS This article is based upon testimony submitted September 8, 2025 to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the U.S. Department of State in opposition to the renewal of an emergency cultural property agreement that imposed import restrictions on art and artifacts from Afghanistan. Months before the CPAC committee heard and took testimony on the
- [Turkey’s Cultural Heritage Request: A Case Against Renewal](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkeys-cultural-heritage-request-a-case-against-renewal/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc and Global Heritage Alliance, Inc submit this testimony to Cultural Property Advisory Committee Regarding the Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the United States of America Submitted September 8, 2025 to the U.S. Department of State PRECIS Turkey seeks
- [Twenty Years Is Long Enough: Rethinking the Colombia Cultural Property Agreement](https://culturalpropertynews.org/twenty-years-is-long-enough-rethinking-the-colombia-cultural-property-agreement/) - Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc. and Global Heritage Alliance Testimony submitted to Cultural Property Advisory Committee Regarding the Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the United States Submitted September 8, 2025 to the U.S. Department of State PRECIS The Committee for Cultural Policy
- [Cameroon: Corruption, Civil War, and Cultural Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cameroon-corruption-civil-war-and-cultural-heritage/) - PRECIS Cameroon has asked the United States to impose sweeping import restrictions on virtually all of its cultural heritage, covering everything from Stone Age tools to nineteenth-century masks and regalia. The request amounts to a blanket embargo rather than the narrow, targeted protections envisioned under U.S. law. The reality is that the United States plays
- [Indian Dessert Name is Casualty in Conflict with Pakistan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/indian-dessert-name-is-casualty-in-conflict-with-pakistan/) - As diplomacy broke down and missiles tracked through the sky between India and Pakistan this spring, sweet shops in Rajasthan launched a patriotic sugar offensive, renaming age-old desserts like Mysore Pak and Aam Pak to the more nationally palatable Mysore Shree and Aam Shree. Why? Because "Pak" sounds suspiciously like... Pakistan. And nothing kills an
- [India's Govt Controls Art & History with U.S. Blockade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/india-govt-controls-art/) - On July 28, 2025, the U.S. State Department announced sweeping new import restrictions on Indian art and artifacts—covering an implausible 1.7 million years of history. Under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of India, the United States will prohibit the import of nearly all archaeological material from India dating from 1.7 million
- [Turkey Declares Ancient Armenian Cathedral of Ani is Mosque](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkey_declares_armenian_cathedral_mosque/) - The Cathedral of Ani or Surp Asdvadzadzin Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and masterpiece of Armenian medieval architecture in Kars in northeastern Turkey, is currently being restored in a partnership between Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and the World Monuments Fund. Turkey’s Anadolu Agency announced on July 3 that, upon completion of restoration, the site
- [France Sets Conditions for Colonial Restitution—but Not Without Control](https://culturalpropertynews.org/france-sets-conditions-for-colonial-restitution-but-not-without-control/) - On 30 July 2025, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati presented to the Council of Ministers a legislative proposal regarding the restitution of cultural property removed from former French colonies. A Senate report is expected September 11 and the legislation will be submitted for a vote of September 24, 2025. The proposed new law is
- [Savoy-Sarr Report on African Art Restitution: A Summary](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-savoy-sarr-report-for-president-macron-a-summary/) - French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on November 28, 2017: “Starting today, and within the next five years, I want to see the conditions put in place so as to allow for the temporary or definitive restitution of African cultural heritage to Africa.” Within a few months, President
- [When Regulation Becomes Punishment: The EU 880’s Cultural Import Maze](https://culturalpropertynews.org/when-regulation-becomes-punishment-the-eu-880s-cultural-import-maze/) - Cultural Property News thanks Ivan Macquisten, Adviser to the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA) and the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) for sharing this contribution. NEW GUIDANCE FOR EU'S 2019/880 LAW MAKES A MOCKERY OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URSULA VON DER LEYDEN'S MISSION STATEMENT ON POLICY AND LAW-MAKING A document just released by
- [Weaponizing Regulation: Hidden Dangers of the Art Market Integrity Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/weaponizing-regulation-hidden-dangers-of-the-art-market-integrity-act/) - PRECIS On July 23, 2025, U.S. Senators John Fetterman, Chuck Grassley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Dave McCormick, Bill Cassidy, and Andy Kim introduced the Art Market Integrity Act. They called the bill “a commonsense proposal to apply anti-money laundering (AML) safeguards to high-risk art transactions.” In 2020, there was an attempt, strongly backed by the Antiquities Coalition,
- [FATF's Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks](https://culturalpropertynews.org/fatfs-comprehensive-update-on-terrorist-financing-risks/) - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name Groupe d’action financière (GAFI ), is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 by the G7 to combat money laundering. Its mandate later expanded to include terrorist financing and the financing of weapons proliferation. FATF sets international standards through its “40 Recommendations,” which guide
- [Archaeologists Diane and Arlen Chase Unearth First King of Caracol in Belize](https://culturalpropertynews.org/archaeologists-diane-and-arlen-chase-unearth-first-king-of-caracol-in-belize/) - In the spring of 2025, deep beneath the dense jungle canopy of Belize, archaeologists Diane and Arlen Chase uncovered one of the most important royal tombs ever found in the Maya world: the resting place of Te K’ab Chaak, the first known ruler of Caracol. Te K’ab Chaak’s name, translated as “Tree Branch Rain God”
- [Shesrig - Living Conservation Movement of Ladakh](https://culturalpropertynews.org/shesrig-living-conservation-movement-of-ladakh/) - In the heart of Leh’s Old Town, tucked among weathered mud-brick homes and winding alleys, the homegrown Ladakh heritage organization Shesrig Ladakh has become a center for preservation of the region’s most ancient art. Founded in 2017 by art conservator (and national-level ice hockey player) Noor Jahan, this independent conservation studio is more than a
- [Hudson’s Bay Company Bankruptcy Involves 4000 Artworks, Artifacts, and Historical Records](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hudsons-bay-company-bankruptcy-involves-4000-artworks-artifacts-and-historic-records/) - Canada’s oldest and most historically significant corporation, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), is at the center of an unfolding cultural heritage controversy. Following its declaration of bankruptcy in March 2025 and court-supervised efforts to liquidate assets, the company has received legal authorization to begin the process of auctioning off more than 4,400 artworks, artifacts, and
- [Egypt’s Great Transfiguration Project Threatens Saint Catherine’s Monastery](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egypts-great-transfiguration-project-threatens-saint-catherines-monastery/) - Egypt’s Great Transfiguration Project, cloaked in the language of spiritual unity and global tourism, is in fact desecrating the sacred landscape of Sinai, endangering Saint Catherine’s Monastery, displacing the indigenous Jabaliya Bedouin, and violating international heritage protections. While the Egyptian state proclaims it a “gift to the world,” the project has triggered outrage from UNESCO,
- [Cultural Property Advisory Committee Hearing Blasts Through New Vietnam MOU and Four Renewals](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-property-advisory-committee-hearing-blasts-through-new-vietnam-mou-and-four-renewals/) - At the May 20, 2025 CPAC hearing, opponents of renewed and expanded cultural property agreements with five countries raised serious concerns over the inclusion of widely circulated ancient coins and ancient artifacts, arguing such restrictions exceed the intent of the Cultural Property Implementation Act and lack evidentiary support. Despite claims of looting, critics highlighted that
- [Slamming the Door on EU Art Imports: Part 2 How “Terrorism” Incentivized EU Legislative Overreach](https://culturalpropertynews.org/slamming-the-door-on-eu-art-imports-part-2-how-terrorism-incentivized-eu-legislative-overreach/) - Born from panic and propaganda, the EU’s Regulation 2019/880 was justified by explosive—but unproven—claims that ISIS funded terrorism through a billion-euro antiquities trade. Despite law enforcement investigations, academic reports, and customs operations finding no evidence of such trafficking, the European Commission clung to the myth, empowering a regulatory regime built on fear, not fact. As
- [Slamming the Door on EU Art Imports: Part 1 Legal & Economic Challenges of Regulation 2019/880](https://culturalpropertynews.org/slamming-the-door-on-eu-art-imports-part-1-legal-economic-challenges-of-regulation-2019-880/) - On June 28, 2025, the EU will enact a sweeping cultural import regime under Regulation 2019/880 that demands impossible documentation for decades-old, lawfully traded antiquities—threatening to paralyze the European art market under the guise of anti-trafficking reform. By shifting the burden of proof entirely onto importers and imposing personal liability, the regulation weaponizes bureaucracy against
- [Lanier v. Harvard Settles: Property Rights to Images of Enslaved People](https://culturalpropertynews.org/lanier-v-harvard-settles-property-rights-ethical-authority-institutional-access-and-historical-reckoning/) - The Origins of the Daguerreotypes and the Fight to Claim Them In 1850, Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, the preeminent natural scientist of his day and founder of the science of glaciers - but also a proponent of the racist theory of polygenism - commissioned photographer Joseph T. Zealy to create a series of daguerreotypes depicting
- [Ethics, Morals and Law: India’s Claim to Piprahwa Gem Relics](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ethics-morals-and-law-indias-claim-to-piprahwa-gem-relics/) - Much in the news has been Sotheby’s proposed (and then suspended) sale of the Piprahwa Gems, a collection of gem relic duplicates from the Stupa found in 1898 on the estate of William Claxton Peppé close to the border of Nepal in North East India. The story of their discovery and what happened afterwards is
- [Hagia Sophia at Risk: Restoration or Rewriting of History?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hagia-sophia-at-risk-restoration-or-rewriting-of-history/) - The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, one of the most important monuments of world heritage, is again at the center of intense global scrutiny. Turkey’s ongoing restoration project on the nearly 1,500-year-old structure is raising alarm among conservationists, historians, and human rights advocates. However, there are concerns that the work to reinforce the ancient dome against
- [A Real Stolen Art Story: Monastery Heist at San Ginés de la Jara](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-real-stolen-art-story-monastery-heist-at-san-gines-de-la-jara/) - In an era when breathless headlines declare nearly every vase or statue with a shadowy past as “stolen,” it's refreshing—if a bit ironic—to encounter a case where art was, in fact, stolen. In what appears to be a very “insider job,” sacred carvings, a bell, Roman columns, and a bearded bust of Simeon the Stylite
- [Gran Pajatén - Archaeological Discoveries in Peru’s Cloud Forest](https://culturalpropertynews.org/gran-pajaten-archaeological-discoveries-in-perus-cloud-forest/) - In May 2025, the World Monuments Fund revealed the discovery of over 100 previously undocumented archaeological structures at Gran Pajatén, a significant Chachapoya site nestled within Peru's Río Abiseo National Park. The site straddles the La Libertad and San Martín regions between the Marañón and Huallaga rivers. Previously, Gran Pajatén was thought to consist of
- [Healer to Pharaohs: Royal Physician's Tomb Discovered in Saqqara](https://culturalpropertynews.org/healer-to-pharaohs-royal-physicians-tomb-discovered-in-saqqara/) - Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a masterfully decorated tomb belonging to a royal physician who served the pharaohs over 4,000 years ago. Discovered in the vast necropolis of Saqqara, the tomb belonged to Teti Neb Fu, a prestigious healer who lived during Egypt’s Old Kingdom, under the reign of King Pepi II around the 23rd
- [Testimony: No Justification for Renewing Costa Rican Import Restrictions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/testimony-no-justification-for-renewing-costa-rican-import-restrictions/) - A storm swept over Mercedes and up turned a great tree. The next day in the earth that still clung to the upturned roots, he caught the glitter of gold and upon examination thirty pieces of ancient gold craft were found. The great tree had grown over the grave of some for- gotten chief and
- [Vietnam's Request for Cultural Property Agreement Stretching from 1945 to 77,000 years ago](https://culturalpropertynews.org/vietnams-request-for-cultural-property-agreement-stretching-from-1945-to-77000-years-ago/) - UPDATE! The CPAC hearing on renewal of MOUs with Italy, Chile and Morocco and a new proposed MOU with Vietnam is now scheduled for May 20, 2025! Despite the manifold changes at the Department of State, this particular committee's operational staff and its appointed members, representatives of the fields of archaeology, museums, the art trade
- [Chile Requests Five Year Extension of U.S. Import Restrictions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chile-requests-five-year-extension-of-u-s-import-restrictions/) - UPDATE! The CPAC hearing on renewal of MOUs with Italy, Chile and Morocco and a new proposed MOU with Vietnam is now scheduled for May 20, 2025! Despite the manifold changes at the Department of State, this particular committee's operational staff and its appointed members, representatives of the fields of archaeology, museums, the art trade
- [CCP & GHA Response to Morocco's Request to Restrict U.S. Access to Antiquities and Ethnological Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-gha-response-to-moroccos-request-to-restrict-u-s-access-to-antiquities-and-ethnological-art/) - UPDATE! The CPAC hearing on renewal of MOUs with Italy, Chile and Morocco and a new proposed MOU with Vietnam is now scheduled for May 20, 2025! Despite the manifold changes at the Department of State, this particular committee's operational staff and its appointed members, representatives of the fields of archaeology, museums, the art trade
- [Testimony on the Republic of Italy's 25th Year Request for U.S. Import Restrictions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/testimony-on-the-republic-of-italys-25th-year-request-for-u-s-import-restrictions/) - UPDATE! The CPAC hearing on renewal of MOUs with Italy, Chile and Morocco and a new proposed MOU with Vietnam is now scheduled for May 20, 2025! Despite the manifold changes at the Department of State, this particular committee's operational staff and its appointed members, representatives of the fields of archaeology, museums, the art trade
- [What Happens When Precious Newari Paintings Go to Kathmandu?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/precious-newari-paintings-go-to-kathmandu/) - Nepal’s Department of Archaeology held a press conference in its Kathmandu offices on March 30, 2025, unveiling three extraordinary examples of Newari paintings. The paintings were taken from the Itumbaha Monastery in Nepal in about 1980 and returned this year by New York prosecutors. The three paintings are more than 500 years old; their description
- [Colgate University Voluntarily Returns 895 Mesoamerican Artifacts to Mexico](https://culturalpropertynews.org/colgate-university-voluntarily-returns-895-mesoamerican-artifacts-to-mexico/) - Administrators from Colgate University, a “little Ivy” liberal arts school in upstate New York, have worked for several years with officials the Mexican government to complete the return of almost 900 ancient artifacts to Mexico from the United States. Colgate University voluntarily repatriated 828 objects—adding to a previous return of 67 pieces—after conducting an internal
- [Trump's Tariffs and the Art Market](https://culturalpropertynews.org/trumps_tariffs_and_the_art_market/) - U.S. President Trump's recent tariff announcements have introduced confusion and something close to panic within the international art and antiques trade. The directive, unveiled in an April 2 Rose Garden press conference and set to take effect on 9 April, introduced tariffs ranging from 10% to 54% on goods from over 60 countries. As
- [Careful Collector No. 35 – Days Gone By: When You Could Purchase US, Foreign, and Ancient Coins at Your Local Department Store](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-35-days-gone-by-when-you-could-purchase-us-foreign-and-ancient-coins-at-your-local-department-store/) - Art Friedberg grew up as part of perhaps the only family coin business operated out of major department stores. During college at George Washington University, he started working at his family’s concession at Woodward and Lothrop in downtown Washington, DC. The operation sold a wide variety of US, foreign, and ancient coins as well as
- [Cleveland Museum's High-Tech Sleuthing Identifies Bubon Statue](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cleveland-museum-study-identifies-bubon-philosopher/) - The Cleveland Museum of Art announced in February 2025 that it would return one of its most famous artworks, a larger than life-sized, headless bronze statue, to the Republic of Turkey. The statue was long thought to represent a Roman emperor but is now identified as a Greek philosopher. In the last five years, there
- [Opinion: It's Time to Make Collecting Great Again!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/time-to-make-collecting-great-again/) - Many cultural goods are extremely common. For example, some items like historic coins exist in the millions. Since there are insufficient resources to care for them all, private collectors are essential to their preservation. Yet, under recent administrations, State Department bureaucrats have worked hand in hand with leftward-leaning archaeological advocacy groups to promote repatriating the
- [Earliest Evidence of Human Transportation by Travois Found in NM White Sands National Park](https://culturalpropertynews.org/earliest_evidence_of_human_transportation/) - At an ancient lake site in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin at White Sands National Park, an international research team led by Dr. Matthew R. Bennett has opened up an unexpected view into the past. Dating back to approximately 22,000 years ago—during the frigid conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum—the archaeological team identified a series of
- [Looting and Destruction of Sudan National Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/looting-and-destruction-of-sudan-national-museum/) - In the latest development in Sudan’s protracted civil conflict, photos shared by cultural authorities show the looting of collections and destruction of the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum. Videos posted on social media in March 2025, following the Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF) recapture of the museum premises from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), depict
- [Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services Gutted](https://culturalpropertynews.org/federal-institute-of-museum-and-library-services-gutted/) - An executive order issued by President Trump on March 14 called for reduction in six different agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to "the minimum presence and function required by law." The staff of IMLS responded simply by continuing to show up for work, many wearing black. So, when Deputy Secretary
- [More Bricks in Wall Against Art: Vietnam Import Ban Sought](https://culturalpropertynews.org/more-bricks-in-wall-against-art-vietnam-import-ban-sought/) - Watch for our special supplement articles on Vietnam, Italy, Chile, and Morocco coming January 24! As 2025 begins, the United States blocks import of virtually all art and antiques from thirty-four countries. Blanket import restrictions deny access to museums, collectors, and hundreds of small businesses to ancient, antique and ethnographic art, coins, and collectibles that
- [Prosecutorial Overreach or Ethical Reckoning? The Manhattan DA’s Latest Campaign Against Almagià and Princeton](https://culturalpropertynews.org/prosecutorial-overreach-or-ethical-reckoning-the-manhattan-das-latest-campaign-against-antiquities-traders/) - The Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit’s aggressive campaign against antiquities traders and collectors has focused in on yet another target, just in time for the U.S. State Department to argue that looting is still a serious threat to Italy’s cultural heritage – even if the looting took place decades before. The Cultural Property Advisory
- [Factum Foundation and Selene Project Are Revolutionizing Digital Documentation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/factum-foundation-and-selene-project-are-revolutionizing-digital-documentation/) - The Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, headed by Adam Lowe, has long been a leader in the digital preservation of cultural heritage – and in building collaborative projects with institutions and communities. Through its Selene Project, Factum Foundation is transforming how institutions study and share cultural artifacts in Europe, Africa and the Middle
- [Careful Collector 34: What the Second Trump Administration Might Mean for Collectors](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-34-what-the-second-trump-administration-might-mean-for-collectors/) - [1] Donald Trump is now the second US President to be elected twice to non-consecutive terms, the first one being Democrat Grover Cleveland in 1893. The big question for readers of Cultural Property News is what his political comeback will mean for collectors. Will the new Administration help “Make Collecting Great Again” or will it
- [Papuan Tribes Refuse Return of Ritual Skulls, Citing Curses and Loss of Relevance](https://culturalpropertynews.org/papuan-tribes-refuse-return-of-ritual-skulls-citing-curses-and-loss-of-relevance/) - Efforts to return ritual skulls collected by colonial missionaries to their place of origin have faced an unexpected obstacle: the modern-day Papuan communities have firmly refused to take them back. Ritual skulls, crafted by the Iatmul people who live along the Sepik River, were initially used in ceremonial practices. These intricately decorated objects incorporated human
- [Buying Greenland: Strategic Interests, Viking Myths, Archaeology and Project Iceworm](https://culturalpropertynews.org/buying-greenland-strategic-interests-viking-myths-archaeology-and-project-iceworm/) - Plans to purchase Greenland have intrigued U.S. leaders for centuries. As originally proposed by President Trump in 2019, its purchase was supposedly driven by strategic and economic interests – but earlier attempts were primarily motivated by the public's fascination with a romanticized Viking past. American enthusiasm for linking Greenland to the United States stemmed from
- [Denmark Michelangelo Exhibition: Another Side of Art Reproduction](https://culturalpropertynews.org/denmark-michelangelo-exhibition-another-side-of-art-reproduction/) - One hundred fifty years ago, students of art history learned through engravings and often heavy-handed reproductions and plaster casts of iconic works. Few could afford to travel to see original world masterpieces. Today’s technologically sophisticated replicas can be perfect copies, so far as the human eye can tell. But how does the lack of authenticity
- [Scandiknavery! Fakes, Fantasy, the Cold War and Cultural Histories](https://culturalpropertynews.org/scandiknavery-fakes-fantasy-the-cold-war-and-cultural-histories/) - “You will forgive me for saying that this controversy does not interest me or my people.” Nez Pierce Chief Richard Halfmoon to Yale University Press director Chester Kerr after being asked to comment on whether Columbus or Leif Erikson ‘discovered’ America at an autograph party for a book on the Nez Pierce, quoted in Harry
- [Successful Repatriation: The Utimut Process in Denmark & Greenland](https://culturalpropertynews.org/successful-repatriation-the-utimut-process-in-denmark-greenland/) - Yes, there can be successful repatriation, cooperative engagement, and positive partnerships between indigenous communities, museums holding artifacts, and national governments. Today, talk of repatriation too often descends to polemics; when museums are automatically 'colonialist,' and artifacts are all deemed 'stolen' and 'looted,' there is little hope for productive discussion. At such times, it is worth
- [John Gilmore Ford (1928–2024) A Life Devoted to Art, Preservation, and Public Access](https://culturalpropertynews.org/john-gilmore-ford-1938-2024-a-life-devoted-to-art-preservation-and-public-access/) - It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of John Gilmore Ford, a longtime member of the Committee for Cultural Policy's Board of Directors, on December 21, 2024, at his home in Baltimore, Maryland. John is survived by his wife Berthe Diana Ford, his partner in cultural advocacy and in philanthropy in support
- [Cultural Cookbook 4: Heirloom Desserts from Hazel's Berkeley Kitchen](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-cookbook-4-heirloom-desserts-from-hazels-berkeley-kitchen/) - The following recipes come straight from my grandmother Hazel Pinkerton’s recipe box! Hazel and my grandfather Clarence “Pop” Williams were born just after the turn of the century in Berkeley, California; Hazel in a house built by her father and his construction crew and Pop in an old water tower at the edge of the
- [Cultural Cookbook 2: Dastarkhan from Afghanistan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-dastarkhan-from-afghanistan/) - Our end-of-year gift to you is a compilation of unusual recipes to read... and to cook, collected from our own travels and those of friends. A Dastarkhan from Afghanistan The Afghan dastarkhan, literally 'tablecloth' is a word used to describe the multiple dishes, a table setting , for an enormous meal served to family and
- [Cultural Cookbook 1: Recipes from Roving Writers](https://culturalpropertynews.org/recipes-from-roving-writers-of-the-17th-19th-centuries/) - What villainy to say, "They made me eat Manas' boots!" The Memorial Feast for Kokotoy-Khan, A Kirgiz Epic Poem, A.T. Hatto, Oxford University press, 1977. When I look back through a half century of letters, faxes and finally e-mails to me at home from loved ones somewhere east of Suez, there is one thing that
- [Careful Collector No. 33: Angie Funds Her Hoard](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-33-angie-funds-her-hoard/) - [1] Angie Bolton is one of those lucky few people who genuinely seems to enjoy her work. Her passion for community-based cultural heritage preservation has come in handy first as a Finds Liaison Officer with the Portable Antiquity Scheme (PAS) and now as the Curator of Archaeology for the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The
- [Cultural Property News 2023-2024 Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-property-news-2023-2024-report/) - 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
- [Nigeria Gives Benin Ruler Exclusive Ownership of Bronzes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nigeria-gives-benin-ruler-exclusive-ownership-of-bronzes/) - PRECIS A Nigerian federal government Order issued on March 23, 2023 may significantly impact global discussions on repatriation. In one of his last acts before leaving office, Nigeria’s outgoing President Muhammad Buhari issued a Notice of Presidential Declaration on the Recognition of Ownership and Order Vesting Custody and Management of Repatriated Looted Benin Artefacts in
- [UK: Reparations and Repatriation at 'Reckoning with History'](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-reparations-and-repatriation-at-reckoning-with-history/) - On October 8th a debate took place at the House of Lords (UK) called ‘Reckoning with History: A Critical Discussion on the Reparations Debate’. The area of reparations for the slave trade and colonial expansions is becoming increasingly politicized along cultural lines. Cultural politics straddle party-political lines, as attested by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for
- [Careful Collector No. 32 – What the Heck is It?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-32-what-the-heck-is-it/) - [1] Norton Disney, a small village of a little over 200 souls located in Lincolnshire in the East Midlands, summons up all one associates with such picturesque places in the English countryside. It has a long history befitting such places. Archaeological investigations have determined that it was inhabited during the Iron Age and Roman Empire
- [Ukraine - Russians steal ancient statues from Mariupol, looted artwork spotted in Crimea, Customs seizes medieval sabers.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ukraine-russians-steal-ancient-statues-from-mariupol-looted-artwork-spotted-in-crimea-customs-seizes-medieval-sabers/) - UKRAINE - World News Bites Russians Removing Ancient Monuments from Mariupol Ukraine’s Center for National Resistance reported that Russian forces in Mariupol, Donetsk region, are illegally exporting Ukrainian museum artifacts from the occupied territories. Recently excavated 11th-12th century stone statues from the Polovtsian culture were handed over to the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore by
- [Museum of the Bible Exhibition Unveils Afghan Liturgical Quire](https://culturalpropertynews.org/museum-of-the-bible-exhibition-unveils-afghan-liturgical-quire/) - AFGHANISTAN - World News Bites “You have captured my heart and will be safely protected.” From a poem for Sukkot in the Afghan Liturgical Quire A new Museum of the Bible (MOTB) exhibition centers around a remarkable object, the Afghan Liturgical Quire (ALQ), a rare
- [Brazil Opens Two Indigenous Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/brazil-opens-two-indigenous-museums/) - BRAZIL - World News Bites Reopening of Museu do Índio and Launch of Museu das Culturas Indígenas Two cultural institutions in Brazil, the Museu do Índio in Rio de Janeiro and the Museu das Culturas Indígenas in São Paulo, are set to play important roles in preserving and promoting indigenous cultures in the country. The Museu das Culturas Indígenas
- [Netherlands to Indonesia - Objects Taken in Puputan Badung War Returned](https://culturalpropertynews.org/netherlands-to-indonesia-objects-taken-in-puputan-badung-war-returned/) - INDONESIA - World News Bite The Netherlands announced in late September 2024 that it is returning 288 looted artifacts to Indonesia soon after its first major return of about 500 objects in July 2023 to Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The most emotionally charged returns involve items from the Puputan Badung war collection taken during the Dutch
- [Tens of thousands of artifacts looted from Sudan National Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tens-of-thousands-of-artifacts-looted-from-sudan-national-museum/) - World News Bite - SUDAN Fighters from Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have allegedly looted the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum and smuggled truckloads of artifacts across the country's southern border. The RSF is made up of Janjaweed militias that once acted for the Sudanese government but are now supported by a U.S. ally,
- [Afghanistan: Taliban Ban Images of 'Living Things' & Promise to Preserve Ancient Buddhist Site By Digging Copper Mine Under It](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistan-taliban-ban-images-of-living-things-promise-to-preserve-ancient-buddhist-site-by-digging-copper-mine-under-it/) - Taliban Ban Images of 'Living Things' On October 14, 2024, the Taliban Ministry of Justice announced enforcement of a new Vice and Virtue Law that bans the media from publishing images of living beings. The Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice issued a notice stating that some provinces are
- [Off-Road Racing Destroys Chilean Geoglyphs While AI Enables Hundreds of New Finds in Peru](https://culturalpropertynews.org/off-road-racing-destroys-chilean-geoglyphs-while-ai-enables-hundreds-of-new-finds-in-peru/) - CHILE - Off-Road Racing is Destroying Chile’s Ancient Geoglyphs The Atacama Desert Foundation has documented significant damage to the Alto Barranco geoglyphs in Chile's Atacama Desert caused by motor vehicles, including motorcycles and 4x4s. Unlike the massive Nazca Lines in Peru, which are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, only a loosely enforced
- [U.S. Supreme Court Denies Hearing to Restitution Study Group on Benin Bronzes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/u-s-supreme-court-denies-hearing-to-restitution-study-group-on-benin-bronzes/) - Efforts by the Restitution Study Group led by Deadria Farmer-Paellman to challenge the Smithsonian Institution’s return of 29 Benin bronzes to Nigeria ended with the United States Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in a case challenging the Smithsonian Institution’s repatriation of 29 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The case brought by the Restitution Study Group, Inc.
- [UK's National Museum Directors' Council Issues Open Letter on Museum Protests](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uks-national-museum-directors-council-issues-open-letter-on-museum-protests/) - On 11 October, 2024 the UK’s National Museum Directors' Council (NMDC), National Museum Directors' Council (NMDC), which represents the leaders of the UK's national collections and major regional museums, issued an Open Letter on the actions by climate protesters that threaten to damage art. It reads: “Over the past few years UK museums and galleries,
- [Careful Collector No. 31 – It’s the Political Season So Why Not Collect Political Memorabilia?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-31-its-the-political-season-so-why-not-collect-political-memorabilia/) - [1] Nelson has been selling political memorabilia for decades having gotten the bug during the turbulent campaigns of the 1960s. Like the field itself, Nelson’s interest started as an adjunct to numismatics. Nelson first worked as a coin dealer at a concession owned by the Friedberg family in the Woodward and Lothrop Department Store at
- [CPAC Hearing Ignores Realities in Lebanon, Mongolia, and El Salvador](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cpac-hearing-ignores-realities-in-lebanon-mongolia-and-el-salvador/) - From the standpoint of an ancient coin collector, it’s hard to know what to make of the hearing of the Cultural Property Affairs Committee (CPAC) on September 24, 2024. Even the proponents of the MOUs being discussed made virtually no mention at all of coins. Nonetheless, the consistent pattern of all-encompassing MOUs recommended by
- [El Salvador Seeks MOU Renewal Despite 37 Year History of Import Restrictions, Corruption, and Government Neglect](https://culturalpropertynews.org/el-salvador-seeks-renewal-despite-37-year-history-of-import-restrictions-corruption-and-government-neglect/) - Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance - Written Testimony submitted to Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the Republic of El Salvador’s Request for Extension of a Memorandum of Understanding under the 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act - Submitted September 16, 2024 The Committee
- [Moundbuilders Golf Course Now Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks](https://culturalpropertynews.org/14333-2/) - A legal and public relations battle lasting more than 20 years over a unique complex of Native American earthworks has ended, with an Ohio Supreme Court decision in 2023 and a negotiated settlement agreement announced August 1, 2024. The Octagon Earthworks in Newark, Ohio have undergone remarkable transformations over the past century. The Octagon Earthworks
- [China 2024: The Smothered Screams of Muslim Genocide](https://culturalpropertynews.org/china-2024-the-smothered-screams-of-muslim-genocide/) - Muslim Countries Surrender Principles for Chinese Cash In July 2024, a fifth "International Seminar on Islamic Moderate Thought" was held in Kazan, Russia, to which ‘representatives of the international Muslim community’ were invited.[1] Guests came from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, the UAE, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Qatar, and Ethiopia. Many came from countries close
- [Lebanon in Chaos: Will US Sign Heritage Agreement?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/lebanon-will-us-sign-heritage-agreement-with-another-failed-state/) - Requests for cultural property agreements blocking entry of art and antiquities from Lebanon, Mongolia, and El Salvador will come before the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the U.S. State Department this September 24-26, 2024.[1] Written public comments on these requests must be submitted by September 16 to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/DOS-2024-0028-0001.[2] Applications to speak briefly at CPAC’s
- [Elizabeth Weiss & the New Archaeology Wars](https://culturalpropertynews.org/fall-reading-elizabeth-weiss-the-new-archaeology-wars/) - "How did we get to a situation in which opposing the reburial of human remains is automatically deemed racist and can derail an anthropologist’s career?" Elizabeth Weiss, 2024 An August 2024 article by anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss, The New Archaeology Wars: How Cancel Culture and Identity Politics Have Corrupted Science, in the online magazine The Skeptic
- [The Internet’s Favorite Sumerian](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-internets-favorite-sumerian/) - There are millions of objects in the collections of the British Museum, thousands of which are on display at any one time. All are of interest to someone, but only a few dozen, perhaps, have achieved worldwide fame. Among those objects are some of the greatest treasures of the world’s collective heritage – the Rosetta
- [Careful Collector #30: Sending Art and Antiquities to Failed States No Recipe for Preservation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-30-sending-art-and-antiquities-to-failed-states-no-recipe-for-preservation/) - In a very small corner of Heaven is a space reserved for the few politicians deemed worthy to enter the promised land. There, the spectral forms of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Bob Dole are engaged in a another one of their many policy discussions. These meetings typically take place at the “Spirit World” bar over
- [ATADA Award Goes to Robert Gallegos, Founder of Voluntary Returns Program](https://culturalpropertynews.org/atada-award-goes-to-robert-gallegos-founder-of-voluntary-returns-program/) - In August 2024, Robert “Bob” Gallegos received the ATADA Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest accolade for a member of ATADA, the Authentic Tribal Art Dealers Association. Gallegos helped to found ATADA in the 1990s, as the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA now also includes dealers in postwar and contemporary ethnographic art). ATADA is an
- [Neolithic News: Stonehenge Tunnel Plan Terminated](https://culturalpropertynews.org/neolithic-news-stonehenge-tunnel-plan-terminated/) - Stonehenge Tunnel No More When Henry James visited Stonehenge in the 1870s, he noted that the site was already popular with tourists and picnickers, but his overwhelming impression was of the monoliths’ solitude and mystique. “It stands as lonely in history as it does on the great plain, whose many-tinted green waves, as they roll
- [UK's Horniman Museum Benin Repatriation Re-examined](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uks-horniman-museum-benin-repatriation-re-examined/) - Introduction Nick Merriman, who held the position of chief executive and director of content of England’s Horniman Museum and Gardens through 2023, has published an account of the Horniman’s transfer of ownership, title, and copyright of its entire collection of seventy-two Benin objects to Nigeria, “Returning the Benin Bronzes: A Case Study of the Horniman’s
- [Careful Collector No. 29 – Importing Antiquities, Art and Collectibles into the EU Becoming Far More Challenging](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-29-importing-antiquities-art-and-collectibles-into-the-eu-becoming-far-more-challenging/) - [1] Giles Grendy is a New York City based dealer of fine English furniture dating from the 17th to 19th Centuries. His business grew out of his earlier work as a restorer. Giles learned that he could make a career discovering furniture in unexpected places, restoring it, and then selling it for a tidy profit,
- [Italy: Excess Art to Colossal Naples Museum - Carabinieri Revel in Seizure of 105,000 Artifacts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/italy-excess-art-to-colossal-naples-museum-carabinieri-revel-in-seizure-of-105000-artifacts/) - Two news items from Italy show how intensely focused Italy’s government is today on adding new cultural institutions and on enforcing claims to objects of Italian origin held by foreign museums and collectors. They also raise questions. Will a new megamuseum in Naples enable Italy’s Ministry of Culture to focus more on preserving what it
- [Careful Collector #27 – It Came from Outer Space](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-27-it-came-from-outer-space/) - Peter inherited a small collection of meteorites from his father, Bob. The meteorites sat on a shelf in Bob’s home for many years, before being boxed up after he passed away. While doing some downsizing prompted by a home renovation, Peter found the box and opened it. Peter vaguely remembered a story that Bob found
- [Berlin's Altes Museum Returns Collection of Apulian Vases](https://culturalpropertynews.org/altens_museum_returns_apulian_vases/) - Berlin’s Altes Museum has returned 25 antiquities, including 21 Apulian vases, believed to have been illegally excavated and smuggled out of Italy more than forty years ago. Dating back to the 4th century BC, the Apulian vases are adorned with scenes from Greek mythology and were likely used as tomb decorations and grave furnishings. The
- [Ukraine Requests 1.4 Million Years’ Import Restrictions on Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ukraine-requests-1-4-million-years-import-restriction-on-art/) - “The occupiers have identified culture, education and humanity as their enemies.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, May 20, 2022, after bombing of the Palace of Culture in Lozova in Kharkiv.[1] Part One: The Request for import restrictions and the law On June 4, 2024, the Committee for Cultural Policy (CCP)[2] submitted testimony on a request from
- [Careful Collector No. 28 – Liberated Art Returns Home](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-28-liberated-art-returns-home/) - [1] In March 1945, U.S. troops crossed the Rhine River at Remagen and began their final push to defeat Nazism and end the Second World War. During their march through Germany, members of that victorious army “liberated” countless “souvenirs” of all sorts, mailing them back home. Now, as the WWII generation fades away into history,
- [World's Oldest Shipwreck Discovered in Mediterranean](https://culturalpropertynews.org/worlds-oldest-shipwreck-discovered-in-mediterranean/) - The discovery of the world’s oldest shipwreck, potentially from the late Bronze Age, was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority in June. The merchant vessel, estimated to be 39 to 46 feet long, sank between 1400 B.C. and 1300 B.C. It was found about 56 miles off the northern coast of Israel in the Mediterranean
- [A Closer Look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-closer-look-at-the-portable-antiquities-scheme/) - A June 6, 2024 international webinar, ‘A Closer Look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme’ organized by the Antique Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) presented on the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and the operation of the Treasure Act; the PAS operates throughout England and Wales, through the Treasure Act, and covers Northern Ireland as well. Operated by
- [Turkey - Hagia Sophia Suffers Serious Damage: Walls Peeled and Marble Tiles Shattered](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hagia-sophia-suffers-serious-damage/) - Marble floor tiles smashed by heavy machinery, visitors peeling paint off its walls and taking chips from its ‘Emperor’s door’: the ongoing damage to Turkey's most important World Heritage site, Hagia Sophia, is even worse than was predicted when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Hagia Sophia would once again become a mosque in
- [Ecuador: Turmoil, Neglect, and a History of Legal Looting](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ecuador-turmoil-neglect-and-a-history-of-legal-looting/) - Ecuador isn’t often in the headlines because of its art and cultural heritage. Most recent news on Ecuador has been about gang activity and the endemic violence that has struck a serious blow to Ecuador’s reputation as a laissez-faire retirement haven for U.S. seniors. Ecuador has long been thought of as one of the safest
- [Commentary: Problems of Universal Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/commentary-problems-of-universal-art/) - Juan Javier Negri has forwarded this article which La Nación, a large Buenos Aires daily newspaper, recently published as an editorial. Two epis­odes linked to tran­scend­ent works of uni­ver­sal art have recently claimed world­wide atten­tion. One of them is the bust of Nefer­titi, from the four­teenth cen­tury BC, found in Amarna, Egypt, in 1912 and
- [The New NAGPRA: 'traditional knowledge' in, artifacts out.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-new-nagpra-traditional-knowledge-in-artifacts-out/) - Download PDF The New NAGPRA- ‘traditional knowledge’ in, artifacts out. “These regulations clarify and improve upon the systematic processes for the disposition or repatriation of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony. These regulations provide a step-by-step roadmap with specific timelines for museums and Federal agencies to facilitate disposition
- [Afghanistan Sites Demolished by Bulldozers](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistan-sites-demolished-by-bulldozers/) - The combined results of researchers at the University of Chicago utilizing satellite imaging along with French and Afghan archaeologists and others on the ground confirm that there has been systematic looting of dozens of archaeological sites in Afghanistan using heavy machinery that has destroyed entire ancient settlements. Looting patterns show whole sites scraped clean by
- [A Fungus Among Us at Persepolis & Pyramid Cladding at Menkaure Abandoned](https://culturalpropertynews.org/fungus-among-us-persepolis-iran-and-menkaure-pyramid-egypt/) - Lichens threaten most important Iranian heritage sites Conservation experts are sounding the alarm over imminent threats to ancient Iranian heritage, sparked by concerns over damage by lichens to the inscriptions and relief sculpture on the walls of Persepolis. Lichens are a complex life form that are a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus
- [Dirty Details: British Museum Presses Case Against Former Curator Peter Higgs](https://culturalpropertynews.org/dirty-details-british-museum-presses-case-against-former-curator-peter-higg/) - An incriminating case against Senior Curator Peter Higgs. The research collection of one of the world’s greatest global art museums - a repository for hundreds of years of donated antiquities, from Victorian curiosities to exquisite archaeological ornaments - was the victim of an insider theft taking place over many years. According to a Complaint filed
- [Greek Ceramics Pulled from Auction Show That Archives Should Be Made Public](https://culturalpropertynews.org/greek-vases-pulled-from-auction-show-archives-need-to-be-made-public/) - Four Ancient Greek Ceramics Withdrawn From Auction Four ancient Greek ceramics were voluntarily withdrawn from auction at Christie's New York in early April. The auction house faced allegations of knowingly selling works linked to convicted art trafficker Gianfranco Becchina, but Christie's denied these claims, asserting that they withdrew the lots upon learning of the alleged
- [WMF Turns Over Angkor Wat to APSARA Despite Human Rights Concerns Over Government Control](https://culturalpropertynews.org/wmf-turns-over-angkor-wat-to-apsara-despite-human-rights-concerns/) - Despite continuing controversy regarding the Cambodian government’s forced eviction and relocation of 40,000 people from traditional villages around Angkor Wat, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced the transfer of full responsibility for preservation of three key sites within the Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia to a Cambodian government agency, the Authority for the Protection and
- [In and Out Artworks – Sculptures from America’s Greatest Collections in Flux](https://culturalpropertynews.org/in-and-out-artworks-sculptures-from-americas-greatest-collections-in-flux/) - The J. Paul Getty Museum is returning a bronze head of a young man, believed to date back to around 100 BC - 100 CE, to Turkey. The unknown model for the sculpture has short, curly hair and his face shows traces of a scant, youthful beard. The artifact, displayed at the Getty Villa Museum
- [Met Museum Aims at Cultural Reconciliation in Returning Treasures to Thailand](https://culturalpropertynews.org/met-museum-aims-at-cultural-reconciliation-in-returning-treasures-to-thailand/) - On April 25th, 2024, a ceremony was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the signing of a new "memorandum of understanding" between the museum and the government of Thailand. During this event, the Met officially returned two 11th-century metal sculptures that were deaccessioned from its collection in December. The agreement, signed by Max
- [Betrayal of Tibet: DA's Controversial Returns to China](https://culturalpropertynews.org/betrayal-of-tibet-das-controversial-returns-to-china/) - The New York District Attorney’s Office Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU) has returned 38 ‘cultural relics,’ identified as Buddhist religious objects from Tibet to the communist government of the People’s Republic of China. The returned objects were said to include Tibetan Buddhist artifacts from the Mongol-led Yuan (1279-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. However, art experts
- [Careful Collector #26 - The Benefits of Dealing with Established Trade Associations](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-26-the-benefits-of-dealing-with-an-established-trade-associations/) - [1] Life used to be much simpler for both collectors and professional dealers. Collectors bought from dealers they knew. Dealers bought from collectors or other dealers they knew. Then, the Internet came along, and nothing was the same. The Internet both lowered barriers for entry into the marketplace and vastly expanded the reach of both
- [Congressman Joe Wilson Demands Investigation into State Department's Cultural Policy Missteps](https://culturalpropertynews.org/congressman-joe-wilson-demands-investigation-into-state-departments-cultural-policy-missteps/) - Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has sent a strongly worded letter to the State Department’s Acting Inspector General, requesting an investigation into the State Department’s decision to convert the “emergency” import restrictions on cultural goods for Yemen into a bilateral U.S.-Yemen agreement without a proper Cultural Property
- [Careful Collector No. 25 – Third Party Grading Services and Slabs:  Good for Collecting or Not?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-25-third-party-grading-services-and-slabs-good-for-collecting-or-not/) - [1] Mark Salzberg does not fit the profile for most American Numismatic Society honorees. He is not a numismatic scholar. Nor is he a well-known specialist collector or even dealer. Instead, Salzberg was honored at a gala dinner at the Harvard Club in New York City in January 2024 for something far more profound, transforming
- [NAGPRA in Hawaii: Museum and Native Hawaiian Conflicts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nagpra-in-hawaii-museum-and-native-hawaiian-conflicts/) - While NAGPRA is the most important U.S. legislation to address past abuses regarding the collecting of human remains and artifacts from indigenous peoples, its history with respect to Native Hawaiians is less widely known than for Native American tribes. Most discoveries of artifacts and human remains in Hawaii occur as a result of development projects
- [Commentary: Renewal of Algerian MOU](https://culturalpropertynews.org/13545-2/) - PRECIS Roman bust of Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony, as well as wife of Juba II of Mauretania in the Archaeological Museum of Cherchell, Algeria. Author Pericles of Athens, 31 May 2018, CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The U.S. State Department’s proposed renewal of a
- [Souvenir Costs French Tourist 8 Days in Luxor Jail](https://culturalpropertynews.org/13747-2/) - A 56 year old French tourist named Nathalie, a lawyer on a ten-day Nile cruise vacation with friends, purchased an attractive souvenir at an art gallery at the Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor in January 2024. She paid €250 for a simple statue of a seated figure wearing a loincloth, resting his hands on
- [NY’s Rubin Museum Transitions to ‘Museum Without Walls’](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nys-rubin-museum-transitions-to-museum-without-walls/) - Director Jorrit Britschgi has announced that the Rubin Museum will close its 17th Street galleries in New York in October 2024 to focus on its public outreach and collaborative partnerships with institutions worldwide. The late January announcement came as a shock to many in the art world. For the last twenty years, the Rubin has
- [2024 India Report: U.S. Art Blockade Inevitable Despite Destruction and Neglect](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2024-india-report-will-indias-failure-to-protect-heritage-halt-an-art-blockade/) - Download PDF Full 2024 India Report A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act[1] (CPIA) appears to be a done deal. A full year before India’s ‘request’ was heard before the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the State Department – which is supposed to be the first
- [Careful Collector No. 24 – William Penn Still Stands Tall in Philadelphia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-24-william-penn-still-stands-tall-in-philadelphia/) - [1] The William Penn statue that has looked down from Philadelphia City Hall for over a century may be a cultural icon, but that didn’t stop unnamed bureaucrats at the National Park Service (NPS) from planning to remove the statue’s “little brother” from a nearby park in the name of “inclusivity.” After a firestorm of
- [Europe: Alarming Future of the Art, Antiquity and Archaeology Market](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-alarming-future-of-the-art-antiquity-and-archaeology-market/) - ‘The alarming future of the Art, Antiquity and Archaeology Market at the hands of a ‘grotesque’ European directive,’ held February 29, Paris France. A dramatically named event at the Pagoda of Paris was hosted by France’s antique dealers association, the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA). Leading art dealers, cultural lawyers and media specialists spoke to
- [Ethiopian Shield from 1868 Battle of Maqdala Withdrawn from Auction](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ethiopian-shield-from-1868-battle-of-maqdala-withdrawn-from-auction/) - A protest by the Ethiopian Heritage Authority has led to the withdrawal of an ornamented shield from an auction in northern England. A February 2024 sale at a local auction house in Newcastle upon Tyne estimated that the embossed metal and hide shield, would sell for £800-£1,200. Its center boss had been engraved with the
- [Careful Collector No. 23 – Are Warranties Worth Anything?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-23-are-warranties-worth-anything/) - Jack Sullivan worked for thirty years as a Boston firefighter, earning a good pension from all his hard and dangerous work. During his long career, Jack lived frugally, saving money to put the kids through college. After he retired in 2014, however, Jack decided to spend some of his pension and additional money he earned
- [Law? What law? CPAC Ignores Statute in New 'Evidence Free' MOU with India](https://culturalpropertynews.org/law-what-law-cpac-ignores-statute-in-new-evidence-free-mou-with-india/) - Law? What law? "The MoU will be signed very soon between the Ministry of Culture and its American counterpart...And, we have worked out all the modalities." Union Culture Secretary Govid Mohan at the August 2023 G20 meeting in Varanasi, India[1] "... the US Embassy in New Delhi told The Indian Express, “We are eager to
- [Careful Collector No. 21 – Ancient Coins as Teaching Tools for Kids](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-21-ancient-coins-as-teaching-tools-for-kids/) - [1] Mike Markowitz is a defense analyst and wargame designer for the U.S. military by trade, but his avocation is collecting ancient Byzantine gold coins. Mike focuses on more than his own collection; he also devotes substantial amounts of his free time to learning more about all types of ancient and medieval coins so
- [China Doubles Down to Crush Islamic Culture and Identity](https://culturalpropertynews.org/china-expands-repression-of-islamic-culture-and-identity/) - “We’ve all deduced that this isn’t just about a dome,” he says. “They want to Han-ify all Muslims, to remove Islam from life . . . To stop prayer, stop religious study. To change our culture, our way of living.” “Ding,” a Muslim man describing the destruction of the dome of the Najiaying Mosque in
- [Careful Collector No. 22 – Your Tax Dollars at Work](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-22-your-tax-dollars-at-work/) - [1] Academia is tough these days, particularly for those devoted to fields outside “practical” science, technology, engineering, mathematics or other STEM disciplines. Humanities programs are being cut back or even eliminated. Archaeology, despite its scientific aspects, is viewed more as a humanities program and has suffered accordingly. Even before all the emphasis on STEM, there
- [Did NY Asst. DA Bogdanos Return a Legally Owned Object to Greece?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ny-asst-da-bogdanos-returns-legitimate-objects-in-illegal-seizure/) - In December 2023, a highly publicized return of 30 antiquities to the government of Greece included an antiquity with over seventy-years history of lawful ownership, exhibition, and publication in the United States - and decades of before that in Europe. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s splashy announcement of the return of ‘looted’ and ‘stolen’ objects
- [Why Is The Manhattan D.A.’S Office Publishing Data It Knows To Be Untrue?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/why-is-the-manhattan-d-a-s-office-publishing-data-it-knows-to-be-untrue/) - Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos has been head of Manhattan’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU) since 2018. He has understood since at least 2011 – and probably earlier – that claims of a multi-billion dollar market in looted and trafficked antiquities have no basis in fact. This is evident from the opinion piece he wrote for CNN[1],
- [Egypt Demands Review of TEFAF Artworks](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ignoring-history-of-lawful-trade-egypt-demands-review-of-tefaf-artworks/) - Looting is always ugly. No one should support looting, ever. False accusations of looting, however, also must not be tolerated. This is especially true when they come from the Egyptian government, which ought to know better. Selling antiquities found in the ground has been a legal, even licensed, business in Egypt for much of the
- [The British Museum is still the greatest museum in the world.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-british-museum-is-still-the-greatest-museum-in-the-world/) - Museum theft happens. Among the thousands of dedicated professionals that work at museums around the world, there are bound to be rotten apples from time to time. Such thefts don’t often make headlines, but this year, they did. After nearly a decade of picking up bargains from a supposed Yorkshireman selling on eBay, Danish antiquities
- [UNESCO Update: Stamping Out Cat Juggling Again?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-stamping-out-cat-juggling-again/) - UNESCO is trying a different approach, a 'virtual museum,' after the embarrassing failure of its The Real Price of Art campaign (which purported to depict looted antiquities that turned out to be in collections in global museums) in fictional settings with fictional stories of how they were stolen and hidden in the homes of rich
- [Legal Head of Italian Culture Ministry: 'Fiendishly extensive' proofs bar imports.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/legal-head-of-italian-culture-ministry-fiendishly-extensive-proofs-bar-imports/) - An important statement on the importation of numismatic goods was issued in June 2023 by the legal department of the Italian Ministry of Culture The statement endorses a more liberal interpretation of Article 72 of the Code of Cultural Heritage (Legislative Decree 42/2004). It affirms the protections that Italian law provides to individuals who purchase
- [Careful Collector No. 19 – The Life and Times of Trail-Blazing Antiquities Dealer Leo Patterson](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-19-the-life-and-times-of-trail-blazing-antiquities-dealer-leo-patterson/) - Antiquities Dealer Leonardo 'Leo' Patterson’s reputation has gone from cultural heritage hero to villain during his long career. These changing perceptions mirror changing views on who are the proper custodians of antiquities and what law applies to their care and control. Patterson came from very humble beginnings. He was born to Jamaican parents in a
- [Oct-Sept 2023 Short Reads: Met Museum Returns, China Goes Digital, Michael Ward Accepts Plea, and Spurious Scythians Seized in Spain](https://culturalpropertynews.org/october-september-2023-short-reads-met-museum-china-digital-michael-ward-accepts-plea-and-spurious-scythians-seized-inspain/) - MET Director Hollein Cites Proactive Policy to Return Art to Source Countries Capping a year in which there have been six seizures by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and in which numerous Italian and Egyptian artifacts have been returned by the museum, Director Max Hollein told foreign journalists
- [Korea's Supreme Court Resolves Decade-long Dispute Over Stolen Buddhist Statue](https://culturalpropertynews.org/koreas-supreme-court-resolves-decade-long-dispute-over-stolen-buddhist-statue/) - South Korea’s High Court ruled on October 26, 2023 that a Buddhist statue stolen from the Kannonji temple in Japan in 2012 should be returned to it. The 2012 theft took place on Japan’s Tsushima Island, which lies in the straits midway between the Japanese mainland and the Korean Peninsula. Thieves from Korea took two
- [Cleveland Museum of Art Fights Back Against NY DA’s Seizure of Famous Bronze Statue](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cleveland-museum-of-art-fights-back-against-ny-das-seizure-of-statue/) - An ancient bronze statue of man wearing a beautifully draped toga and sandals, headless, but still a figure of great power, is the focus of a rare challenge to the seizure powers of the New York County District Attorney. The statue, now known as the Philosopher, has rested at the Cleveland Museum of Art for
- [Cleveland Museum Deserves Full Credit for Researching and Returning Head of Drusus to Italy](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cleveland-museum-deserves-full-credit-for-researching-and-returning-head-of-drusus-to-italy/) - The Cleveland Museum of Art should be praised for its diligence in researching a valuable marble portrait bust of Drusus Minor, and for working in full cooperation with Italian scholars and authorities. When previously unknown photographs from 1926 were unearthed by Italian scholars between 2011-2013, it was discovered that the bust had been found in
- [Careful Collector No. 20 – Why Is Our Government Recognizing the Rights of Authoritarian Governments to Cultural Heritage of Displaced Religious and Ethnic Minorities?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-20-why-is-our-government-recognizing-the-rights-of-authoritarian-governments-to-cultural-heritage-of-displaced-religious-and-ethnic-minorities/) - Sarah Levin is the executive director of Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa or JIMENA for short. Sarah herself comes from a Turkish-Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish background. She has worked both in Israel and in the United States for non-profits focusing on human rights issues. She has been associated with JIMENA since
- [NAGPRA: Major Changes Proposed for 2023 to Native American Repatriation Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nagpra-major-changes-proposed-for-2023-to-native-american-repatriation-law/) - The U.S. Interior Department has announced proposed changes to the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA.[1] The announcement came after a several-years-long consultation with 71 organizations out of the 574 Native American tribes, 129 Native Hawaiian Organizations and 13 Alaska Native Corporations covered by NAGPRA. Many of the proposed changes
- [Misuse of U.S. Heritage Law: State Department Seeks Blockade on Nepalese Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/state-department-seeks-import-restrictions-on-nepalese-art/) - The following expansion of our September 5, 2023 article on Nepal is drawn from testimony to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State on the 2023 Request for a Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.[1] Please note
- [Armenians Racing to Save Heritage in Karabakh](https://culturalpropertynews.org/armenians-racing-to-save-heritage-in-karabakh/) - The world faces the worst humanitarian crisis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Armenians in Karabakh, fearing executions and persecutions, as documented in the past, have fled en masse from Azerbaijan’s military offensive, refusing forced integration into a hostile country. Not only are the lives of every Armenian in the region at risk, but the
- [Return of Benin Bronzes: Why are the victims of slavery hushed up?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/return-of-benin-bronzes-why-are-the-victims-of-slavery-hushed-up/) - How the bronzes became the private property of the Oba of Benin In March 2023, Nigeria’s outgoing president Muhammed Buhari issued a Federal Government Order in which he decreed that all “Repatriated Looted Benin Artefacts” including those to be returned in the future will be the private property of the Oba of Benin “to the
- [U.S. Signs MOU with Yemen. This Time, No Testimony Allowed.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/u-s-signs-mou-with-yemen-this-time-no-testimony-allowed/) - On August 30, 2023, Lee Satterfield, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, Yemen’s Ambassador to the United States signed a bilateral agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) blocking the importation of Yemen’s cultural property into the United States under the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). It appears that
- [Egypt's Jewish Restoration Projects: Seized Geniza Still Missing](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cairos-synagogue-and-cemetery-restoration-projects-seized-geniza-never-recovered/) - Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo is Restored for Tourism A restoration project undertaken in 2022 by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities culminated in a grand opening with Egyptian dignitaries at the end of August 2023. There were no Jews in attendance for the opening. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is located in Fustat, in
- [Careful Collector No. 18 – Resetting the Collecting Narrative](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-18-resetting-the-collecting-narrative/) - [1] Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has been a major disappointment at the box office. According to some analysts, its gross might not even exceed that of the individual movies of the original 1980’s trilogy without an adjustment for inflation. It has been suggested that today’s audiences can no longer identify with Indie’s
- [Honduras Wants Import Restrictions After 20 Years Noncompliance With U.S. Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/honduras-wants-import-restrictions-after-20-years-noncompliance-with-u-s-law/) - The Cultural Property Advisory Committee will meet in virtual "open session" for one hour on September 19, 2023 to hear testimony on both a new request for import restrictions from Nepal and on Honduras's request for renewal of a 20 year old agreement[1] under the 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act to restrict import of
- [Cairo’s Historic Cemeteries: Erasing the Dead Past](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cairos-historic-cemeteries-erasing-the-dead-past/) - President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt often appears intent on echoing pre-Islamic Pharaonic greatness - not least by embarking on grandiose building projects to immortalize his rule. Sisi has burdened his country with billions in foreign debt for projects such as the over $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum. His most expensive project by far is
- [Alice Kandell Gives Major Collection of Tibetan Art to Minneapolis](https://culturalpropertynews.org/alice-kandell-gives-major-collection-of-tibetan-art-to-minneapolis/) - Shrine for the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Alice S. Kandell Collection, image by John Bigelow Taylor. Tibetan Buddhist art collector Alice S. Kandell has donated more than 200 objects dating from the 14th to the 20th C, forming a complete Tibetan shrine room, to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the MIA. The shrine room, which
- [Careful Collector No. 17 - ATADA Voluntary Returns Program for Native American Artifacts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-17-atada-voluntary-returns-program-for-native-american-artifacts/) - [1] Robert “Bob” Gallegos has interacted with Native Americans from the Southwest for decades as a dealer in tribal arts, an auctioneer, and as former President of ATADA, the Authentic Tribal Arts Dealer Association. Some years back, Bob had an epiphany after the federal government started using its police powers to return artifacts to the
- [The Myth of the "recovery" of Argentina's Act of the Declaration of Independence](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-myth-of-the-recovery-of-argentinas-act-of-the-declaration-of-independence/) - Thanks to a raid carried out in Buenos Aires, the Peruvian government managed to recover an ancient and valuable book published in 1772, stolen from a public library in that country. The episode once again highlighted the effective and constant task of surveillance and custody of its cultural heritage carried out by the authorities of
- [Benin Bronzes Lawsuit Against Smithsonian: Deadria Farmer-Paellmann & Bruce Afran Interview](https://culturalpropertynews.org/benin-bronzes-lawsuit-against-smithsonian-deadria-farmer-paellmann-bruce-afran-interview/) - For 300 years, human beings were traded in exchange for copper manillas that were melted down to make the world-famous Benin bronzes. The Restitution Study Group, a non-profit dedicated to securing justice for the transatlantic enslavement of African people, is filing an appeal in its lawsuit against the Smithsonian Institution in the D.C. courts, arguing
- [Israel Asks Citizens to Turn In Antiquities - Archaeologists Ask to Stop Excavations](https://culturalpropertynews.org/israel-asks-citizens-to-turn-in-antiquities/) - “If we were to be locked in here and given food under the door, we could work five years nonstop without emerging – just on the material that’s here. If they were to bring everything that has already been published and hasn’t gotten to us yet, it would take 10 years.” Dr. Michael Saban, Director
- [Careful Collector No. 16 -  Let it Snow in a Globe - Paige’s Accumulation Becomes a Collection](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-16-let-it-snow-in-a-globe-paiges-accumulation-becomes-a-collection/) - Paige Crawford started buying snow globes as souvenirs of her family’s vacations around the United States. Kitschy or not, they trigger fond memories of time spent with her loved ones in places like the Florida Panhandle, the Jersey Shore, New York City, and San Francisco. One of her favorites is from SeaWorld. Paige loves the
- [China Seeks Cultural Protection But Nixes US UNESCO Membership](https://culturalpropertynews.org/policy-note-us-to-rejoin-unesco/) - Updated July 2, 2023. The People's Republic of China voted on June 30, 2023 to deny U.S. re-entry to UNESCO membership, Just weeks before, China had pressured the U.S. State Department to renew a bilateral cultural property agreement under a U.S. law implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention, despite China's blatant destruction of minority heritage and
- [Hong Kong: Laws Imperil Culture From Art to Anthems](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hong-kong-laws-imperil-culture-from-art-to-anthems/) - Criminalization of political and personal free expression. The years immediately following the 1997 turnover of British Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China gave hope that many of Hong Kong’s freedoms could be retained in the interest of China’s economic development and relationships with the West. That hope has been abandoned. The last decade’s
- [In Defense of David](https://culturalpropertynews.org/in-defense-of-david/) - I never knew you; depart from me (Matthew 7:23) Last month, the principal of Tallahassee Classical School (TCS) in Florida reluctantly resigned from her role. Principal Hope Carrasquilla’s resignation was incited by complaints by a small number of parents who resented not having been informed in advance that a lesson plan for sixth-grade students contained
- [Careful Collector No. 15 - World Culture Cop](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-15-world-culture-cop/) - [1] Johnny Hassan is a successful LA entertainment lawyer and sometimes TV producer. He also is a proud Persian American. When he was just a small child, Johnny’s family fled Iran in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. His father had been a successful doctor who practiced in Tehran. His mother was a distant relative
- [Voices Pro & Con at CPAC on China and Bulgaria MOUs](https://culturalpropertynews.org/voices-pro-con-at-cpac-on-china-and-bulgaria-mous/) - “It is really heartening to hear about all of the fantastic progress in archaeological protection that China has engaged in for things that are associated with the Han ethnic group, for all the peoples who they are not trying to exterminate. At the same time, it is really disturbing to hear the silence of my
- [A Textile Collector Changes the World](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-textile-collector-changes-the-world/) - This is a great season for textile lovers in Washington D.C. Not one, but two major new textile exhibitions opened recently, one at the Smithsonian’s Freer-Sackler Gallery, the other at the Textile Museum at George Washington University. Both revolve around Central Asian ikat, a traditional weaving technique with variants across the world. The ikat technique
- [Is the EU sleepwalking into an art market nightmare?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/is-the-eu-sleepwalking-into-an-art-market-nightmare/) - Cultural Property News thanks Antiquities Forum for permission to publish the following update on the European Union’s new import licensing regulation 2019/880 for cultural property. Enforcement of import licensing for cultural goods is just two years away, but many serious questions remain over what will happen. It is now just over two years until enforcement is
- [Careful Collector No. 14:  A Collecting Bubble That Burst](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-14-a-collecting-bubble-that-burst/) - [1] JoAnne Lebowski’s spectral form has inhabited the part of the netherworld some call “Purgatory” ever since that fateful day back in 2003 when she died suddenly after admitting to her family that she had lost the children’s college fund speculating in Beanie Babies. Every day since for the past 20 years, her soul has
- [Young historian finds medieval gold treasure in the Netherlands](https://culturalpropertynews.org/young-historian-finds-medieval-gold-treasure-in-the-netherlands/) - A spectacular find of ancient gold and silver by a 27-year old historian is now on display at the Rijksmuseum van Oudhed (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden in the Netherlands. Lorenzo Ruijter, the discoverer, told the BBC that he had been searching with metal detectors since he was a boy of 10 and that
- [Careful Collector No. 13: New Collectors from Abroad](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-13-new-collectors-from-abroad/) - [1] Theo Chan is the first son of a Hong Kong Real estate developer and his English wife. Theo went to private school in Hong Kong and then on to University at Cambridge in the United Kingdom. While he studied abroad, Theo learned about Western history and became fascinated with Greek civilization, particularly the Greco-Bactrian
- [Can Taliban be Trusted to Preserve Afghan Heritage?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/can-taliban-be-trusted-to-preserve-afghan-heritage/) - PRECIS Afghanistan’s Taliban take the position today that preserving cultural heritage is a good thing, especially if someone else is willing to pay for it. Not that the Taliban have agreed to any long-term program to address cultural heritage at risk throughout Afghanistan. Instead, the Taliban have allowed a few conservation projects established under the
- [Repatriation of Brutus Aureus Highlights Dangers of Overzealous NY DA’s Office to Ancient Coin Collecting](https://culturalpropertynews.org/repatriation-of-brutus-aureus-highlights-dangers-of-overzealous-ny-das-office-to-ancient-coin-collecting/) - "More importantly, if it passes through New York, we have jurisdiction no matter where it is now. If the wire transfer was made in New York, we have jurisdiction, no matter where it is now. If it was offered for sale, if it was shown at an auction - so, sure. My jurisdiction is limited
- [The Careful Collector: Not as Rare as You Might Think!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-not-as-rare-as-you-might-think/) - Veronica was perusing a well-known travel magazine when she saw an advertisement for a “Genuine Rare Ancient Chinese Bronze Coin” for “just $99.99.” She could not believe something so old could be real and could be purchased for such a low price. She wondered if such a coin would make a good gift for her
- [CPAC Report: Coin Collectors Face More Collateral Damage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cpac-report-coin-collectors-face-more-collateral-damage/) - After watching the most recent meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that coins – and coin collectors – are collateral damage in the battle over importation of culture and historical artifacts in general. The Committee met in open session on January 30, 2023 to consider Memorandums of Understanding
- [Turkey Loses Guennol Stargazer Appeal. Statue Will Go to Christie's and Steinhardt.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkey-loses-guennol-stargazer-case-statue-will-return-to-christies-and-steinhardt/) - "But Turkey sat on its hands despite signals from its own Ministry of Culture that the Stargazer was in New York City..." Republic of Turkey v Christie's Inc., et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals No. 21-2485. Court of Appeals decision gives Stargazer idol back to Christie’s and Steinhardt On March 8, 2023, the 2nd
- [Careful Collector No.12: NFTs- Flash in the Pan or Here to Stay?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-12-nfts-flash-in-the-pan-or-here-to-stay/) - Dorothy Jones, known to her friends as Dot, is 24 years old. She makes a good living in the tech industry and is looking to invest some extra money in art she can enjoy now and perhaps sell for a profit later. Dot’s parents, Jean and George, are avid collectors of “Pop” art. Dot inherited
- [EU: Death Comes to the Vatican Canon, Rome Archeological Exhibit, Ali Aboutaam Fined after 6 Year Investigation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-death-comes-to-the-vatican-canon-rome-archeological-exhibit-ali-aboutaam-fined-after-6-year-investigation/) - Vatican Canon’s Art Collection Comes Under Investigation… Again Scandal continues to dog the art collection of Vatican cleric Michele Basso, even after the elderly Monsignor’s death in January 2023. Described by supporters as a humble, gentle man and known as a passionate amateur archaeologist who participated in digs at the Vatican, he also possessed an
- [US Museum News: Brauer Controversial Deaccession & Frankenthaler Grants for Clean Energy](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-museum-news-brauer-controversial-deaccession-frankenthaler-grants-for-clean-energy/) - Brauer Museum’s Controversial Deaccessioning It appears likely that the sale of artworks from the Brauer Museum at Indiana’s Valparaiso University will go forward this year. The proposed sale is of three paintings, Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills,” Frederic E. Church’s “Mountain Landscape” and Childe Hassam’s “The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate.” The paintings have
- [State Dept Renews Blockade on Libyan Art, Ignoring Law and Facts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/state-dept-renews-blockade-on-libyan-art-ignoring-law-and-facts/) - “The fate of antiquities in Libya is in fact unknown... Successive governments have neglected this sector while also failing to develop other vital sectors such as health or education.” Ahmed Hussein Younes, head of the Libyan Department of Antiquities in the East, July 10, 2022[1] PRECIS: Despite clear evidence that government apathy and negligence have
- [Careful Collector No. 11: Orders and Decorations: Can Symbols of Valor be Bought and Sold?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-11-orders-and-decorations-can-symbols-of-valor-be-bought-and-sold/) - Violette Szabó, the daughter of a British father and French mother, undertook extremely dangerous missions for her King and Country that ended with her execution as a spy. Szabó joined the secretive Special Operations Executive after her husband died in battle in 1942 fighting with Free French forces in Africa. She left her daughter from
- [US Plans Agreements to Block Art from Uzbekistan, Cambodia and North Macedonia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-plans-agreements-to-block-art-from-uzbekistan-cambodia-and-north-macedonia/) - The Cultural Property Advisory Committee intends to meet January 30 - February 2, 2023 to review (1) extending and amending the cultural property agreement with the Government of Cambodia, in place since 1999 and (2) to review a new request from the Government of North Macedonia, and (3) to review a new request from the Government of
- [168 Nazca Lines, 35K Syrian Antiquities, No More Golf at Moundbuilder Site and Pompeii's Sheep are Baaaaack](https://culturalpropertynews.org/168-nazca-lines-35k-syrian-antiquities-no-more-golf-at-moundbuilder-site-and-pompeiis-sheep-are-baaaaack/) - Japanese-Peruvian Team Discover 168 More Nazca Lines One hundred sixty-eight previously unrecognized Nazca Lines dating from 100 BCE to 300 CE have been identified by a Japanese-Peruvian research team in Southern Peru. The newly discovered geoglyphs – markings made by removing a top layer of dark rock to expose lighter sand below – include abstracted
- [Careful Collector No. 10: The Lifecycle of Collectibles: Different Generations Often Value Different Things](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-10-the-lifecycle-of-collectibles-different-generations-often-value-different-things/) - [1] Kelly’s New Year’s Resolution is to go through the boxes of her deceased parent’s collectibles and sell them not only to make some extra money, but also to free up some much-needed space in her family’s basement. Her “baby boomer” parents, both born in 1947, were avid collectors. Together, they accumulated lots of vinyl
- [Cambodia and "Stone Temple Nationalism"](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cambodia-and-stone-temple-nationalism/) - On January 30, 2023, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the Department of State will hear testimony on the sixth proposed 5-year renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Cambodia[1]. The Cultural Property Advisory Committee, an independent advisory body, must hold the State Department, the Cambodian Government, and the archaeological advocacy groups urging
- [Committee for Cultural Policy 2022 Annual Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2022-annual-report/) - THE COMMITTEE FOR CULTURAL POLICY, INC. Post Office Box 4881, Santa Fe, NM 87502 December 2022 Dear Friends, The Committee for Cultural Policy is a small but active think tank established in 2011 to strengthen the voice of art museums and collectors in the public debate on arts policy. What do we do? We educate,
- [Careful Collector No. 9: Will my African Art be repatriated as reparations for the Colonialist past?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/careful-collector-no-9-will-my-african-art-be-repatriated-as-reparations-for-the-colonialist-past/) - [1] Doug joined the Peace Corps in his twenties straight out of the University of Chicago. He was posted to Nigeria from 1992-1995 when the Peace Corps mission there ended. Doug came from a wealthy family and had a minor in Art History. As a result, he had both the interest and financial means to
- [STOP Act Passes: First law restricting export of American art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/stop-act-passes-first-law-restricting-art-export-in-u-s-history/) - On November 29, 2022, the Senate passed a controversial Native American art export bill, the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2021. The bill, known as the STOP Act, is headed to the White House for the President's signature to become law. The STOP Act’s stated goal is to prevent the export of objects
- [Comments on UNESCO’s Draft Model Provisions on the Prevention and Fight against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property](https://culturalpropertynews.org/comments-on-unescos-draft-model-provisions-on-the-prevention-and-fight-against-the-illicit-trafficking-of-cultural-property/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy, POB 4881, Santa Fe, NM 87502. The Global Heritage Alliance, 5335 Wisconsin Ave., NW Ste 440, Washington, DC 20015 Comments on UNESCO’s Draft Model Provisions on the Prevention and Fight against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property The Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc.[1] and Global Heritage Alliance[2] appreciate the opportunity
- [Restitution Study Group Unable to Stop Smithsonian’s Benin Returns](https://culturalpropertynews.org/restitution-study-group-files-suit-to-stop-smithsonians-benin-bronze-returns/) - "The Smithsonian has a duty to protect us. We need the Court to stop this transfer or else our children will never have a chance to experience these bronzes. They represent our history, our wealth and the fruit of our ancestors' labor." Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, Restitution Study Group, Inc. Update October 15, 2022 On October 11,
- [UNESCO Model Provisions Could End Most Global Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-model-provisions-could-end-most-global-trade/) - UNESCO has released proposed Draft Model Provisions “modifying” the 1970 UNESCO Convention.[1] The changes are major; they resemble the harsh provisions of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention – which have been rejected by most Western and collecting nations. UNESCO announced that it is closing comments to the Model Provisions on November 11. Comments may be sent to
- [Moai on Easter Island Damaged in Arson Fire](https://culturalpropertynews.org/moai-on-easter-island-damaged-in-arson-fire/) - Moai, the monolithic stone figures representing ancestors and powerful chieftains, are synonymous with Rapa Nui, as Easter Island is now known. The giant moai were carved between A.D. 1100 and 1500; their likely purpose was to commemorate the death of an important tribal leader. Rapa Nui has been completely closed to tourists during the Covid pandemic.
- [Putin Using Martial Law to Legitimate Ukraine Art Looting](https://culturalpropertynews.org/putin-using-martial-law-to-legitimate-ukraine-art-looting/) - Phony referendums in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine are giving Russia legal cover for removing museum collections there. On October 19, 2022, Russian President Putin declared martial law in the annexed territories. The martial law declaration and the official annexation of territories now claimed to be part of Russia
- [The Llullaillaco Mummies](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-llullaillaco-mummies/) - The Llullaillaco is the second highest active volcano in the world, towering 22,000 ft (6,700 meters) over the Andes of Northwest Argentina, in the province of Salta near the Chilean border. It is such a beautiful and imposing peak, its steep slopes always covered with snow, that it was a sacred mountain for the
- [The Careful Collector: What to Do with Your Ivory Keyed Piano?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-what-to-do-with-your-ivory-keyed-piano/) - Kim and John Holland have lived in the same Colonial-style brick house in a leafy area of Northwest, Washington, D.C, for over twenty years. The time has finally come for them to start downsizing in advance of retirement. This has been a slow and somewhat painful process of saying goodbye to long held objects associated
- [Caucasus Heritage Watch: Azerbaijan is Destroying Armenian Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/caucasus-heritage-watch-azerbaijan-destroys-armenian-heritage/) - “Cultural heritage faces more significant threats right now than ever before, from economic development to climate change. But the most serious threat to heritage comes from autocratic governments ready to reshape the past into a fiction that legitimates their domination.” Adam T. Smith, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Anthropology, Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW)
- [Where will Benin bronzes go? Nigerian government, Edo Museum or Oba?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/where-will-benin-bronzes-go-nigerian-government-edo-museum-or-oba/) - Benin and gone. Every few weeks, a fresh announcement appears - another museum is repatriating or committing itself in principle to returning a Benin bronze to Nigeria. There is a strong consensus among museum professionals that the bronze[1] and ivory objects looted by British troops in 1897 from the palace of the Oba of Benin
- [J'accuse! Georges Lotfi's Dramatic Open Letter to Bogdanos' Antiquities Trafficking Unit](https://culturalpropertynews.org/georges-lotfi-dramatic-open-after/) - “My mistake was that I have trusted people who did not deserve it.” Georges Lotfi, Lettre Ouverte, 2022 "I believe the Defendant thought he had laundered the antiquities so well and had created such good (albeit false) provenance that he did not think the ATU would be able to determine their true origin." Affidavit accompanying
- [Repatriations: Getty Sirens, Cambodian Sculptures, Jewish Coin, Nepal Stele](https://culturalpropertynews.org/repatriation-getty-sirens-cambodian-sculpture-jewish-coin-nepal-stele/) - Cambodia Claims Objects Donated and Sold by Latchford to Metropolitan Nine objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cambodian collection are currently embroiled in a controversy over their provenance. The Cambodian government claims that these nine artifacts were stolen from the country, prior to being sold or given to the museum by the art dealer
- [Benin Repatriation Request Raises Tough Questions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/benin-repatriation-request-raises-tough-questions/) - The nation of Benin has requested the repatriation from France of thousands of objects procured during colonial rule in Benin at the end of the 19th century. The length of time that has passed undermines any legal claims for return, but ethical arguments remain. Among the challenges are that items are in the hands of
- [Terrorism, Cultural Heritage and the Threat to Museums’ Public Missions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/terrorism-cultural-heritage-and-the-threat-to-museums-public-missions/) - Matthew Polk [1] Summary: The Cultural Property Policy Environment Museums, Their Collections Policies and Their Public Mission Museums’ Ability To Serve The Public At Risk? A Brief History of Cultural Property Regulation Trends in Cultural Property Regulation and Enforcement Notes: Cultural Property Legislation References and Comments Summary: The Cultural Property Policy Environment The first draft
- [The Careful Collector - Why does a French auction house want to know so much about me?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-why-does-a-french-auction-house-want-to-know-so-much-about-me/) - By Peter K. Tompa[1] Paul Giraud started collecting 19th century French bronze sculptures some years ago. His interest began when he discovered a detailed sculpture of a lion at a local flea market. After he bought the piece, he researched it and found out that it was French, probably cast sometime in the mid 19thcentury.
- [ICOM Condemns Russia's Destruction of Ukrainian Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/icom-condemns-russias-destruction-of-ukrainian-heritage/) - “Unfortunately, the rules developed and adopted by all ICOM members no longer work.” Letter from ICOM Ukraine to the Prague general meeting, August 2022. The International Council of Museums, the world’s largest museum organization, met in Prague August 20-28, 2022. The meeting’s theme was “The Power of Museums,” focusing on museums’ interaction and support for
- [The Careful Collector- Fakes and Alterations: Hana Hunts for Vintage Uke with Few Strings Attached](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-fakes-and-alterations-hana-hunts-for-vintage-uke-with-few-strings-attached/) - Hana Suzuki played the guitar as a kid, but after seeing Israel (“Iz”) Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole in concert in Hawaii as a teenager, she decided to take up the ukulele instead. She played for a few years before kids and a successful career at a tech firm got in the way of her musical ambitions. After
- [UK Charity Act Opens Door to Restitutions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-charity-act-opens-door-to-restitutions/) - In February, Royal Assent was given to a Charities Act 2022[1] in the UK that will bring new regulations governing museums operating as charitable entities into force over the next three years. Initially, the changes to the Charity Law drew little attention – most had to do with fundraising and the power to use funds
- [Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Masterpieces](https://culturalpropertynews.org/climate-activists-glue-themselves-to-masterpieces/) - This summer has been overshadowed by the impacts of human-caused climate change worldwide. The news has been relentless - unprecedented heat waves in England, drought in the American Southwest, fires in France, and massive flooding in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yet there have been indicators of hope on the political front. The US Congress finally succeeded
- [The Careful Collector: What’s it Worth? Friends Find Value in Family Heirlooms](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-whats-it-worth-friends-find-value-in-family-heirlooms/) - By Peter K. Tompa[1] Joan, Georgia, and Janice were longtime friends who enjoyed antiquing together. They read in the newspaper that their local PBS station was hosting an “Antiques Roadshow” event to benefit public broadcasting. The friends agreed that they would each bring a treasured family heirloom to the event to learn what “the experts”
- [U.S. Weighs Questionable Cultural Property Agreement with Pakistan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/u-s-weighs-questionable-cultural-property-agreement-with-pakistan/) - The State Department’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee met in Washington DC on April 26, 2022[1] to consider a request to ban import of art and artifacts from Pakistan – a ban covering virtually everything from the earliest prehistoric stone tools to mid-20th century ethnographic brass and wooden objects. Despite the lack of evidence that Memoranda
- [CPAC - Building A Wall Against Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cpac-building-a-wall-against-art/) - The art world is dominated today by stories about spectacular multi-million dollar sales of contemporary artworks at shows and auction houses. Yet the market for ancient and ethnographic artworks has no such lofty expectations. There are far fewer important ancient artworks offered at auction in the US than just a decade ago, and there are
- [National Stolen Property Act: Primary US Cultural Property Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/national-stolen-property-act-primary-us-cultural-property-law/) - This article is drawn in part from a lengthy analysis of U.S. cultural property policies, laws, and enforcement prepared by the Committee for Cultural Policy for a nine-country project initiated by CCP and administered by TrustLaw, a program of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In an earlier article, Cultural Property News discussed the 1983 Convention on
- [Shorts: Briton in Iraq Released - Yale Gives Up Indian Artifacts - Jewish Manuscript Rescued - Gentileschi Seized](https://culturalpropertynews.org/shorts-briton-in-iraq-released-yale-gives-up-indian-artifacts-jewish-manuscript-rescued-gentileschi-seized/) - Briton Sentenced to 15 Years in Iraqi Jail for Smuggling Antiquities is Released In June, a fifteen-year sentence for smuggling antiquities was handed down in a court in Baghdad. James Fitton, a British national, was arrested at the airport when small pottery shards were found in his bag. His companion, Volker Waldmann, was likewise arrested
- [Russia’s War Against Ukrainian Culture](https://culturalpropertynews.org/russias-war-against-ukrainian-culture/) - “I would like to underscore that Ukraine is not just a neighboring country to us, it is an inherent part of our own history, culture, spiritual space… Ukraine has never had stable traditions of their own statehood.” Speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin 21 February, 2022, after a UN Security Council meeting and just before
- [Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche](https://culturalpropertynews.org/traitor-survivor-icon-the-legacy-of-la-malinche/) - An exhibition at the Albuquerque Museum, Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche is on show until September 4th, 2022. The exhibition, organized by the Denver Museum, presents a wide range of modern and contemporary artwork by international artists, including some from New Mexico, depicting La Malinche, a historical figure from the time of
- [Will US Renew Libyan Art Embargo During Civil War?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/will-us-renew-libyan-art-embargo-during-civil-war/) - In July 2022, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the Department of State heard testimony from the Committee for Cultural Policy, Global Heritage Alliance, the Association of Art Museum Directors, numismatic organizations and groups representing the interests of Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa opposing a request by the Libyan government
- [Libyan Jewish Community Fights for Rights to Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/libyan-jewish-community-fights-for-rights-to-heritage/) - “The story of Jewish refugees and the advocacy work that we do is not only a Jewish story. It is a story of most of the religious minorities in the region. It is continuing today with the ethnic cleansing of the Yazidi and the oppression of Christians in the region… This is not just our
- [5 Native Nations Will Manage Bears Ears with Feds](https://culturalpropertynews.org/5-native-nations-will-manage-bears-ears-with-feds/) - Seven years after representatives of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe , Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian Tribe founded the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC) in July 2015, the coalition has achieved a major goal: federal acknowledgement of their tribes’ essential role as co-managers of the Bears Ears National Monument. The continuing existence of the Bears
- [The Careful Collector: Great Catsby is Life of the Party](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-great-catsby-is-life-of-the-party/) - Reed thought his uncle Wilson’s “pet” mummified cat, a.k.a. “The Great Catsby,” never looked so good. Reed’s first memory of his uncle’s cat was an early one. Reed must have been all of twelve years old circa 1977, when he first visited his uncle’s hip antiquarian bookstore in New York City’s East Village. The store
- [The Careful Collector: Don't Import Buyer's Remorse](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-dont-import-buyers-remorse/) - By Peter K. Tompa[1] Going antiquing in the Casbah in Marrakesh or buying an ancient coin from a dealer in Germany offers the fun of the hunt, a way to own a piece of history, learn something about a different culture and interact with foreign sellers. Increasingly, however, that great find at a local market
- [The Careful Collector: The Riddle of the Native American Eagle Headdress](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-careful-collector-the-riddle-of-the-native-american-eagle-headdress/) - George inherited a magnificent Native American Headdress made of Bald Eagle feathers from his father. According to family lore, his great grandfather, who was a rancher in Montana, received it as a gift from a member of the Cheyenne Tribe in the 1930s. Since at least the 1960s, it has graced a bronze bust
- [Losing the Parthenon Marbles: History, Passion, and Possession](https://culturalpropertynews.org/losing-the-parthenon-marbles-history-passion-and-possession/) - The debate over the marble sculptures removed from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce, Seventh Earl of Elgin and acquired by the British Museum 200 years ago is the longest running cultural property controversy in the world. Because it is the most famous of all cultural-property debates, it has also the highest symbolic value for those
- [Sacre bleu! Former Louvre president charged in antiquities trafficking case.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/sacre-bleu-former-louvre-president-charged-in-antiquities-smuggling-case/) - This article was updated June 1, 2022 to add information on actions by the Louvre in response to the investigation and details on the seizure of five objects from the Metropolitan Museum in New York. A judicial investigation by Judge Jean-Michel Gentil in Paris begun in February 2020 has resulted in the May 25, 2022
- [Only in New Mexico: The Hermit of Hermit’s Peak and a Jewish Tribal Chief](https://culturalpropertynews.org/only-in-new-mexico-the-hermit-of-hermits-peak-and-a-jewish-tribal-chief/) - The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire that has now devastated over 315,000 acres of northern New Mexico began as a ‘prescribed burn’ on federal lands on April 6. The fire started near the base of the Pecos Wilderness near Las Vegas, New Mexico – a quiet former frontier town with a ‘main street’ fronted with banks,
- [Commentary: Cultural Heritage Predation in Iraq - The sectarian appropriation of Iraq’s past](https://culturalpropertynews.org/discussion-cultural-heritage-predation-in-iraq-the-sectarian-appropriation-of-iraqs-past/) - A paper issued in March 2022, Cultural Heritage Predation in Iraq - The sectarian appropriation of Iraq’s past, challenges key assumptions held by international governments, NGOs and donor and research communities. The study is by Mehiyar Kathem, Eleanor Robson and Lina G. Tahan and produced at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The
- [Belgian Blunder: Government Sells Stolen Ife Head for €240](https://culturalpropertynews.org/belgian-blunder-government-sells-stolen-ife-head-for-e240/) - A magnificent life-size Ife bronze head, one of nine artworks, was stolen from the National Museum of Nigeria in Jos in 1987. The theft was documented – the thieves broke in and viciously attacked a guard – but the Nigerian authorities failed to identify the culprits. They did, however, notify both Interpol and UNESCO, which
- [Mes Aynak: Dark Days for Afghanistan's Buddhist Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/dark-days-for-afghanistans-buddhist-heritage/) - “Mes Aynak is the most important discovery of the century. Destroying Mes Aynak would be like destroying Atlantis.” U.S. Archaeologist Mark Kenoyer. An April 3 announcement on Afghanistan’s Tolo News site appears to dash all hopes of preserving the ancient Buddhist site of Mes Aynak, whose shrines, stupas and sculpted figures of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
- [EU Parliament Resolution Condemns Azerbaijan’s Erasure of Armenian History](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-parliament-resolution-condemns-azerbaijans-erasure-of-armenian-history/) - Over the last year, since the seizure by Azerbaijani military of the majority-Armenian disputed territory of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, President Aliyev of Azerbaijan has led a campaign of disinformation and destruction, purposefully destroying the evidence of more than a thousand years of Armenian history in the region. Azerbaijan’s attempts to erase Armenian monuments, churches, monasteries and settlements
- [“Who ordered the borscht?” When a State Steals Culture, Others Pay the Bill.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/who-ordered-the-borscht-when-a-state-steals-culture-others-pay-the-bill/) - “For the Kremlin, history is not something to be studied and remembered. It is something that must be controlled to justify Russia’s current actions.” Raimonda Miglinaite, European Union’s Strategic Communications Task Force, quoted in Alternative history: how Russia seeks to annex Kyivan Rus, 2021/07/16. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee still plans to meet in Kazan
- [Egypt's Antiquities Authority Seizes Geniza from Jewish Cemetery](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egypts-antiquities-authority-seizes-geniza-from-jewish-cemetery/) - “In mediaeval Hebrew, Geniza, or Beth Geniza, designates a repository of discarded writings. For just as the human body, having fulfilled its task as container of the [heavenly] soul should be buried, i.e. preserved to await resurrection, thus writings bearing the name of God, having served their purpose, should not be destroyed by fire or
- [Mali Government Wants U.S. Blockade on Art as Russian Mercenaries Secure Regime](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mali-government-wants-u-s-blockade-on-art-as-russian-mercenaries-secure-regime/) - The U.S. is poised to lock in a 5-year extension of an already 30 year long blockade on imports of ancient and ethnographic art from Mali. Since 1993, the U.S. has restricted imports from the sub-Saharan African nation. In past centuries, Mali held a number of African kingdoms, including the Ghana, Mali and Songhai empires
- [CINOA-Art Market Demands Fundamental Review of Law Making](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cinoa-art-market-demands-fundamental-review-of-law-making/) - International art trade federation CINOA has called for a halt to false and misleading claims that the art trade is linked to widespread illegality. In a press release issued March 14, 2022, the organization says that the reckless use of bad data as a foundation for legislation is harming legitimate art trade participants. CINOA, along
- [Bamiyan: What Lasted for 1500 Years Will be Gone in Ten](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bamiyan-what-lasted-for-1500-years-will-be-gone-in-ten/) - “What remains in Bamiyan, the niches and the cliff, will collapse in the next ten years if the current mismanagement, unplanned excavations and disorder continues. It is a very realistic view and we should not fool ourselves otherwise.” Ghulam Reza Mohammedi, formerly UNESCO coordinator for Bamiyan. “...Depriving a society of culture will damage an already
- [U.S. Treasury Report: Key Findings on Money Laundering and Terror Finance in Art Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/u-s-treasury-report-key-findings-on-money-laundering-and-terror-finance-in-art-trade/) - Introduction A major report on the art trade by the U.S. Treasury Department has concluded that the trade is largely self-policing and should not be a priority for immediate regulation. The Treasury’s Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art found little evidence of money-laundering and
- [Citizen Activists Want Nepalese Art Back](https://culturalpropertynews.org/citizen-activists-want-nepalese-art-back/) - Please note: This article was updated on February 3, 2022 to distinguish the repatriation work of Roshan Mishra, who created the Global Nepali Museum Database from his work on the ‘team’ at the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign (NHRC), and also from his professional work as director of the Taragaon Museum, which collects and displays documentation
- [Vance Caps Career: Steinhardt Gives Up $70 Million in Antiquities](https://culturalpropertynews.org/vance-caps-career-steinhardt-gives-up-70-million-in-antiquities/) - The legacy of retiring NY District Attorney Cyrus Vance and the future of his anti-antiquities unit, headed by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, is a hot topic in New York. In December 2021, the antiquities trafficking unit settled its case against 80 year old billionaire, hedge-fund pioneer and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt. Steinhardt agreed to the
- [RAND Corporation Report Debunks Facebook & Dark Web Ties to Illegal Antiquities](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rand-corporation-report-debunks-facebook-dark-web-ties-to-illegal-antiquities/) - The author and Cultural Property News wish to express their appreciation to IADAA for its contributions to this and other reporting on the RAND Corporation publication, Tracking and Disrupting the Illicit Antiquities Trade with Open Source Data. “We find no evidence that illegal sales are occurring in large or even steady quantities on deep web
- [RAND Corp Report Demolishes Assumptions on Antiquities and Terror](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rand-corp-report-demolishes-assumptions-on-antiquities-and-terror/) - Cultural Property News covers the RAND Corporation’s revelations about Facebook and the supposed dark web trade in a companion CPN article, RAND Corporation Report Debunks Facebook & Dark Web Ties to Illegal Antiquities. Our stories cover a major study by authors Matthew Sargent, James V. Marrone, Alexandra Evans, Bilyana Lilly, Erik Nemeth, Stephen Dalzell for
- [Costa Rica Seeks U.S. Import Restrictions on Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/costa-rica-seeks-u-s-import-restrictions-on-art/) - Comments By Global Heritage Alliance and the Committee for Cultural Policy on MOU Request from the Government of Costa Rica The Global Heritage Alliance (“GHA”) and the Committee for Cultural Policy (“CCP”)[1] are pleased to comment on a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Costa Rica. If that MOU is recommended, any such a MOU
- [Ancient and Ethnographic Art from Colombia Faces Another 5-Year Ban](https://culturalpropertynews.org/gha-ccp-comments-on-mou-renewal-request-from-government-of-colombia/) - The Global Heritage Alliance (“GHA”) and the Committee for Cultural Policy (“CCP”)[1] are pleased to comment on a proposed renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Colombia. GHA and CCP believe that recent events, which have seen academics associated with the Archaeological Institute of America (“AIA”), the Antiquities Coalition, and ATHAR project, seek to
- [2021 Cultural Agreements Deny Access to Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2021-cultural-agreements-deny-access-to-art/) - New cultural property agreements for Turkey, Morocco, Costa Rica, 5-year renewals completed for Colombia, Italy, Egypt, Bolivia and Greece. New MOUs proposed for Nigeria, Albania, Tunisia, and Afghanistan, and a 5-year renewal for Peru, with Cyprus, Guatemala and Mali just added and upcoming in January. This article does not provide legal advice. Readers should consult
- [Whistleblower Fired: UN Human Rights Council Gave Dissidents’ Names to China](https://culturalpropertynews.org/whistleblower-fired-un-human-rights-council-gave-dissidents-names-to-china/) - “I was a human rights officer. My job is literally to stop human rights abuses. I consider genocide to be one of the worst human rights abuses. I was trying to stop the UN from being complicit in that.” Emma Reilly, November 13, 2021 UN human rights lawyer Emma Reilly first spoke up eight years
- [The Lost World of Eastern Turkestan: A Photographic Journey to the Past](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-lost-world-of-eastern-turkestan-a-photographic-journey-to-the-past/) - Missionaries from the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden (MCCS) were active in the oasis towns of Kashgar, Yengi-Hisar and Yarkand in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) between 1892 and 1938. They operated schools, children’s homes and missionary hospitals. Photographs credit John Törnquist, Svenska Missionsförbundet, Ostturkestan, circa 1900-1910.
- [Uyghur Human and Cultural Rights: Forced Labor Prevention Act and Shocking Holocaust Museum Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uyghur-human-and-cultural-rights-forced-labor-prevention-act-and-shocking-holocaust-museum-report/) - Uyghur Human and Cultural Rights: 2021 year-end summary “The ultimate goal [of religious work] is to achieve its complete internal and external sinicisation.” Zhang Xunmou Director, Religious Research Centre, CCP United Front Work Department, 27 August 2019[1] “They don’t have human rights. It’s not about violating, they just don’t have human rights.” Communist party official
- [Gold Ewer with Hollywood History Delivered to Turkey](https://culturalpropertynews.org/gold-ewer-with-hollywood-history-delivered-to-turkey/) - Restitutions of artworks are often described as the returns of war loot, the takings of abusive colonial enterprises or identified thefts from source countries. However, one recent return of an ancient object appears to have been prompted by factors attuned to curatorial concerns and trust responsibilities. In late 2021, the UK’s Gilbert Trust divested its
- [Roman Busts Found & 45,000 Skeletons Reburied in UK Rail Project](https://culturalpropertynews.org/roman-busts-found-45000-skeletons-reburied-in-uk-rail-project/) - Euston Station Expansion Requires 45,000 St. James Gardens Reburials The largest archaeological project ever undertaken in the UK is taking place as part of construction of a high speed rail project that will connect London to the West Midlands by 2033. The HS2 project’s estimated £55 to £106 billion cost is controversial, as is the
- [‘Picture Cave’ Site of Ancient Native Pictographs Auctioned](https://culturalpropertynews.org/picture-cave-site-of-ancient-native-pictographs-auctioned/) - Archaeologists and Native American preservationists reacted with outrage this Fall when St. Louis based luxury lifestyle magazine Sophisticated Living featured an unusual piece of real estate scheduled for auction under the title "The Ultimate (Man) Cave comes to Auction." On sale were 43 acres in Warren County, Missouri, “teeming with natural springs, rolling hills, and
- [CENSORED: Cartoons and Ancient Conquerors in China](https://culturalpropertynews.org/censored-cartoons-and-ancient-conquerors-in-china/) - In the hands of dictators, tools that enable digital communication are used for surveillance and to suppress criticism. Despite the ubiquity of cellphones and digital communications, when an “approved” political message is omnipresent, getting the true story out can be harder than ever. Certainly, reporting from and on countries ruled by dictators becomes more hazardous
- [Trade Delivers Reality Check to Money Laundering Regulators](https://culturalpropertynews.org/trade-delivers-reality-check-to-money-laundering-regulators/) - On January 1, 2021, amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act were added to define “antiquities dealers” as financial institutions for the purpose of anti-money laundering reporting to U.S. financial authorities. The addition of “antiquities dealers” to the ranks of banks, casinos, and bullion dealers was part of the 1480 page National Defense Authorization Act. The
- [Germany Funds €600,000 NEXUD AI App for Antiquities](https://culturalpropertynews.org/germany-funds-e600000-nexud-ai-app-for-antiquities/) - Germany’s federal authorities have announced a €600,000 grant to NEXUD, a follow-up project to the ILLICID study. The NEXUD project is intended to find uses for and expand the capabilities of an image recognition app designed for use by police and customs and a webcrawler program. NEXUD follows on the ILLICID project, funded by the
- [Mexico Establishes Agency to Seek Antiquities on Carabinieri Model](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mexico_establishes_agency/) - Until now, the Mexican national government has largely been responsive rather than proactive in claiming ancient art and antique paintings abroad, leaving the work to museum officials or police in other nations, notably the U.S. to identify objects or demand returns. However, in September and October, 2021, Mexico announced the creation of a special crime
- [Lebanon, Abomey, Bishop Aukland, and Afghanistan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/lebanon-abomey-bishop-aukland-and-afghanistan/) - In the Blink of an eye opens at Bishop Aukland (10/10/21) In Ictu Oculi - In the Blink of an Eye, Transience and Eternity in the Spanish Golden Age is a remarkable addition to the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Aukland in County Durham in northeast England. The exhibition by Factum Foundation and Skene Catling de la
- [Nation-Building with Archaeology: Iraq, Syria and Libya](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nation-building-with-archaeology-iraq-syria-and-libya/) - Too often, the world seems ready to accept the deliberate revisions of history authored by authoritarian rulers from Asia and the Middle East. Certainly, these autocrats aren’t the only people busy rewriting the past - but they do have advantages that politicians in democracies don’t often possess, an unassailable national platform for a mouthpiece and
- [Dutch Court: Scythian Gold from Crimea Should Go to Ukraine](https://culturalpropertynews.org/dutch-court-scythian-gold-from-crimea-should-return-to-ukraine/) - In February 2014, the Allard Pierson Museum, the University of Amsterdam's highly-regarded archaeological museum, opened a special exhibition of ancient artifacts from the Black Sea region. The objects were on loan from four different museums in Crimea and one museum in Kiev. The exhibition, The Crimea: Gold and Secrets from the Black Sea, included a
- [Peru Asks to Extend 25 Year Long Art Blockade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/peru-asks-to-extend-25-year-long-art-blockade/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy[i] and Global Heritage Alliance[ii] jointly submitted testimony on September 26, 2021 to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC), at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the extension of the Proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the continuing imposition of import restrictions between the United
- [Art Market Organizations Stand Together Against Illicit Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-market-organizations-stand-together-against-illicit-trade/) - Twelve important art market organizations have issued a joint statement to ensure that illicit cultural property coming out of Afghanistan today does not reach the market. The statement makes clear the art market's opposition to looting and illicit trade and its responsibility under its ethical guidelines to work together with law enforcement to interdict ancient
- [Afghanistan's Heritage:  A Former Government, the Taliban, and a Questionable Blockade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistans-heritage-a-former-government-the-taliban-and-a-questionable-blockade/) - On September 21, 2021, The Cultural Heritage Canter at the U.S. Department of State announced that the Cultural Property Advisory Committee would hear a request for a Memorandum of Understanding from "the Former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” for a blockade on U.S. entry to goods from Afghanistan. The request came from a government that no
- [Afghanistan Ethnographic Art: Turkoman Embroidery](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistan-ethnographic-art-turkoman-embroidery/) - As part of our special Afghanistan issue, we are covering aspects of traditional ethnographic, historical, and ancient art that are little known outside of the region. This year, U.S. activists successfully advocated for radically over-broad bans on imports of Turkish goods entering the U.S. The banned Turkish goods cover objects from over a million years
- [Afghanistan's 4000 Years of Cross-Border Empires and Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistans-4000-years-of-cross-border-empires-and-trade/) - This month, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the State Department is considering imposing import restrictions on art and ethnographic materials from Afghanistan – a blockade that could require their return to the Taliban. Other articles in this Afghanistan Special Issue show how a blockade will not meet the requirements of U.S. law or to
- [Pashtunwali: Pashtun Traditional Tribal Law in Afghanistan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/pashtunwali-pashtun-traditional-tribal-law-in-afghanistan/) - An introduction to Pashtun traditional law may be useful in understanding the dynamics of Taliban governance and social authority in Afghanistan. Senior Taliban commander Waheedullah Hashimi told Reuters on August 18, 2021 that, "There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country. We will not discuss
- [The Evolution and Deconstruction of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage Laws](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-evolution-and-deconstruction-of-afghanistans-cultural-heritage-laws/) - Part 3, on the evolution of Afghanistan’s moderate cultural heritage laws, the export of antiquities from 1958 until 1980, and how a law imposed by its Communist puppet government led to a death sentence for a British Museum curator. First Archaeological Agreements in Afghanistan Afghanistan was never colonized by any Western power, defeating
- [The Real Looting of Afghanistan: Pit Mining vs Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-real-looting-of-afghanistan-pit-mining-vs-heritage/) - Part 2, on a key source of the Taliban's income, mining, and how that threatens Afghanistan's cultural heritage. Preserving our heritage is so important… The relics we find don’t just belong to the Afghans — they belong to the world.” Abdul Khalid Khorshid, Afghan archaeologist, 2011.[1] The greatest dangers to cultural heritage in Afghanistan are
- [2018 RECAP: Dumping Bears Ears Trumps Tribal Consensus](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2018-recap-dumping-bears-ears-trumps-tribal-consensus/) - After President Trump removed the vast majority of the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah from federal protections on December 4, 2017, threatening an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites and sacred locations, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch cheered the reduction, calling the designation of the massive monument by President Obama on December 28, 2016 a “federal
- [Tohono O’odham Nation: U.S. Blasts a Monument to Build a Wall](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tohono-oodham-nation-u-s-blasts-a-monument-to-build-a-wall/) - Burial, cultural, and sacred sites of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation have been destroyed in a race to complete hundreds of miles of border wall to block illegal immigration from Mexico into the U.S. The current administration has bypassed multiple federal environmental and cultural protection laws under section 102 of the 2005 Real ID Act, which
- [Coins of Afghanistan - Documenting History and Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/coins-of-afghanistan-documenting-history-and-trade/) - Cultural Property News thanks author Peter K. Tompa for making possible the following abridgment of commentary submitted to Congress in 2004 as commentary on proposed legislation introduced but not passed into law, H.R. 4641[1], the Cultural Conservation of the Crossroads of Civilization Act. This abridged commentary provides a useful introduction to the types of coins
- [Controversial Bill on Export of Native American Art Before Congress](https://culturalpropertynews.org/controversial-bill-on-export-of-native-american-art-before-congress/) - Legislation that could lock Native American art within U.S. borders is pending again before the U.S. Congress. Previous versions of the STOP Act in 2016, 2018 and 2020 failed to generate sufficient enthusiasm for passage. This was in part because of their perceived threat to the tourist-dependent economy in the Southwest, in part because the
- [International Criminal Court: Cultural Heritage & Genocide](https://culturalpropertynews.org/international-criminal-court-cultural-heritage-genocide/) - New ICC Policy on Cultural Heritage A new Policy on Cultural Heritage[1] was issued in June 2021 by Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. In a recent announcement,[2] Mrs. Bensouda clarified that willful attacks on cultural heritage are a criminal violation of the Rome Statute,[3] the treaty that created the International
- [Future UK Ban on Hippo, Narwhal, Whale, and Walrus Ivories?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/future-uk-ban-on-hippo-narwhal-whale-and-walrus-ivories/) - The UK government is again considering adding ivories (tusks and teeth) from other species to its existing Ivory Act, which prohibits the sale of almost all objects made of elephant ivory.[1] A public consultation on extending the Ivory Act to hippopotamus, narwhal, killer whale, sperm whale and walrus is open until September 11, 2021 on
- [UNESCO Threatens Stonehenge with At-Risk Status](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-threatens-stonehenge-with-at-risk-status/) - On Salisbury Plain, two very different monuments to human achievement lie side by side: Stonehenge and the A303 highway. Stonehenge, as everyone knows, is an ancient and still mysterious monolith circle, long studied by archaeologists, admired by tourists, and revered by Neo-Pagans and Druidic revivalists. The A303, on the other hand, is an over-burdened stretch
- [Around the Mediterranean: discoveries, ancient economies and national politics](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mediterranean-archaeology-economies-nationalist-politics/) - Euergetist Does Good in Segesta, Sicily At the end of May 2021, archaeologists and researchers from the University of Pisa, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, and the Segesta Archaeological Park announced new discoveries in Segesta, known as a center of Bronze Age Elymian culture and for its unfinished Doric temple and grand stadium theatre.
- [The Strange History of the Torlonia Marbles](https://culturalpropertynews.org/torlonia-marbles-on-view-in-rome-but-for-how-long/) - “At the head of it all is God, lord of heaven. Then comes Prince Torlonia, lord of earth. Then comes the armed guard of Prince Torlonia. Then comes the hounds of the armed guard of Prince Torlonia. Then nobody else. And still nobody else. And still again nobody else. Then come the farmers . .
- [A Tale of Two Seizures: The Carabinieri TPC](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-tale-of-two-seizures-antwerp-basel-and-the-carabinieri/) - The Italian government has announced a press campaign to retrieve the famous Victorious Youth statue from California’s Getty Museum. In addition, a resolution by Italy’s senate advocates retooling legal education to give cultural heritage law prominence, as well as establishing a new pool of magistrates to focus on cultural heritage cases. Meanwhile, with far less
- [Archaeological Discovery Points to Long-lost Settlement of Sarabay in Florida](https://culturalpropertynews.org/archaeological-discovery-points-to-long-lost-settlement-of-sarabay-in-florida/) - An archeological team from the University of North Florida (UNF) led by Dr. Keith Ashley, UNF Archaeology Lab director, announced the excavation of an important Native American site in June 2021. The Mocama Archaeological Project at UNF is focused on the Mocama-speaking Timucua Indians of northern Florida’s Atlantic coast. The researchers say that they are
- [UK Gov't Query: Is Ban on Warthog, Hippo, Walrus, Whale and Narwhal Necessary?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-govt-query-is-ban-on-warthog-hippo-walrus-whale-and-narwhal-necessary/) - Comment Period Ends August 22, 2019 The UK government is considering adding objects made of walrus, narwhal, whale, warthog, hippopotamus, and even extinct mammoth ivory to its Ivory Law, which in its current form covers only elephant ivory. The law is expected to come into effect in late 2019, although a legal challenge to it
- [Turkish MoU Will Devastate Minorities, Bolster Erdoğan Regime](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkish-mou-will-devastate-minorities/) - “The Trump Administration – in its final hours – gifted Turkey the legal rights to claim the vast religious and cultural heritage of the region’s indigenous peoples and minority populations – among them Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, Jews, and Kurds.” Aram Hamparian, Executive Director, ANCA, quoted in an ANCA Press Release, Last
- [April May 2021 Repatriation Digest](https://culturalpropertynews.org/april-may-2021-repatriation-digest/) - This article was updated on June 1, 2021. Mayan Urn from Albion College Goes to Chiapas Museum A not-quite-unique, large, brightly colored Mayan urn was discovered at Albion College, a small Michigan liberal arts institution during research into the papers, slides, and copies of artifacts donated to the college by alumnus Marvin J. Vann. A
- [Sisi’s Parade of Absolute Rulers – Celebration of Autocracy Opens Egyptian Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/sisis-parade-of-absolute-rulers-celebration-of-autocracy-opens-new-egyptian-museum/) - April and May bring sometimes strange cultural heritage news from Egypt. Sisi’s Parade of Absolute Rulers Opens the New National Museum of Egyptian Civilization In a dramatic, made-for-international television spectacle headlined as ‘Pharaohs’ Golden Parade’ on April 3, 2021, a parade of ancient mummies travelled from the old Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo to the
- [Critical Comments Rain Down on Draft EU Regulations](https://culturalpropertynews.org/critical-comments-rain-down-on-draft-eu-regulations/) - The EU Regulation 2019/880, which severely limits the import of ancient art, manuscripts and antiques into the European Union became law in 2019. When EU Regulation 2019/880 is fully implemented through a unified digital import application system in all countries, sometime between 2023 and 2024, it will likely act as a de facto ban on
- [MOU Backstory: How Cultural Property Agreements with Authoritarian Middle Eastern Governments are Made](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mou-backstory-how-cultural-property-agreements-with-authoritarian-middle-eastern-governments-are-made/) - Cultural Property News expresses its thanks to author Peter K. Tompa and Coins Weekly for enabling this article's publication. When the United States signed onto the 1970 UNESCO Convention, it only did so with reservations to preserve its “independent judgment” to determine whether and to what extent to enforce foreign export controls in the United
- [Golf vs Ancient Earthworks: Moundbuilders Country Club Case Comes to the 'Fore'](https://culturalpropertynews.org/golf-vs-ancient-earthworks-moundbuilders-country-club-case-comes-to-the-fore/) - How do you reconcile the use, even the respectful use, of ancient earthworks as a private golf course? Will a long-term contractual agreement be determinative? What constitutes good faith in arguments of eminent domain? Which forms of arguments will be considered pertinent – public access, the benefits of future protection, archaeological research potential, or another
- [Thefts, Fakes, and Facsimiles: Preserving the Bakor Monoliths of Eastern Nigeria](https://culturalpropertynews.org/thefts-fakes-and-facsimiles-preserving-the-bakor-monoliths-of-eastern-nigeria/) - Cultural Property News is pleased to publish "Thefts, Fakes and Facsimiles: Preserving the Bakor Monoliths of Nigeria," together with an interview with author and researcher Ferdinand Saumarez Smith and additional photographs of this remarkable digital documentation project. The text originally appeared in the digital book, The Aura in the Age of Digital Materiality: Rethinking Preservation
- [Interview: Factum Foundation's Ferdinand Saumarez Smith on Preserving the Bakor Monoliths](https://culturalpropertynews.org/interview-factum-foundations-ferdinand-saumarez-smith/) - Ferdinand Saumarez Smith has worked with Factum Foundation since 2014 as a technical specialist, project developer, and curator, including on a number of rock art related projects in Scotland, Chad, Easter Island, and Brazil. Over the past six years he has been working in south-eastern Nigeria to preserve and promote the Bakor monoliths, which will
- [CircArt and the British Museum – A great opportunity wasted.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/circart-and-the-british-museum-a-great-opportunity-wasted/) - Let’s have a public access database of Egyptian and Nubian antiquities in circulation so that we have a clear record of what is held by collectors and the trade. Managed by the British Museum, it will allow us to check provenance and raise red flags over questionable items – better due diligence all round. It
- [Setback for Planned Mega-Resort and Amusement Park at Angkor Wat](https://culturalpropertynews.org/setback-for-planned-mega-resort-and-amusement-park-at-angkor-wat/) - In what many observers saw as a surprise move, Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts rejected a proposal in March 2021 by gaming, hotel and entertainment company NagaCorp to build a mega-resort and amusement park a mere 1,650 feet from the protected zone surrounding Angkor. The Cambodian government had granted a 50-year lease on
- [The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 3](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-antiquities-trade-a-reflection-on-the-past-25-years-part-3/) - Joanna van der Lande has worked in the art and auction business for over 30 years. Having read Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University in the 1980s she set up the Antiquities Department at Bonhams Auction house, London in 1990. She served on the UK Ministerial Advisory Panel on Illicit Trade (ITAP) from
- [The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 2](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-antiquities-trade-a-reflection-on-the-past-25-years-part-2/) - Joanna van der Lande has worked in the art and auction business for over 30 years. Having read Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University in the 1980s she set up the Antiquities Department at Bonhams Auction house, London in 1990. She served on the UK Ministerial Advisory Panel on Illicit Trade (ITAP) from 2000
- [Brucemore: Directing Crisis Recovery of an Historic Home and Landscape](https://culturalpropertynews.org/brucemore-directing-crisis-recovery-of-historic-home-and-landscape/) - In 1981, Margaret Hall bequeathed Brucemore, her childhood home, to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and established local management by a non-profit, Brucemore, Inc. Since then, the organization has built a national reputation as a model for cultivating community interaction. The Queen Anne home at the center of the estate was built in 1886
- [Is ICE Writing Its Own Laws? The Curious Case of the Chandler Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/is-ice-writing-its-own-laws-the-curious-case-of-the-chandler-museum/) - A recent return of pre-Columbian objects to Mexico from a small town historical museum has raised questions about whether US agencies are encouraging citizens to give up privately owned objects for which there is no evidence of unlawful ownership or crime, and then returning the objects to foreign countries that haven’t made a claim for
- [Art and Abolition: Art Objects and the Rejection of Slavery](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-and-abolition-art-objects-and-the-rejection-of-slavery/) - Conversations about cultural property usually revolve around questions of ownership, conservation, national patrimony and public access. From a legal perspective, the origins and provenance of individual artworks or artifacts are of primary importance. Yet from the perspective of an historian, an artwork is not only an object to be possessed and protected, but an active
- [NETCHER Project: 194 Recommendations Locked in Unreality](https://culturalpropertynews.org/netcher-project-194-recommendations-locked-in-unreality/) - The International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art has prepared a report on the results of the NETCHER Social Platform for Cultural Heritage final forum online on March 1 and 2. NETCHER is a €1.5m transnational policy research project aimed “at reinforcing the fight against cultural heritage looting and trafficking.” The project concluded by presenting
- [Egypt's Brutal Regime Wants to Renew US Blockade on Art; Claims to Protect Heritage & Culture](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egypts-brutal-regime-wants-to-renew-us-blockade-on-art-claims-to-protect-heritage-culture/) - Five years ago, on November 30, 2016, the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Egypt to limit importation of ancient and ethnographic Egyptian art into the US. The ostensible purpose of the 2016 agreement was to reduce the incentive for looting in Egypt. The legal basis for the agreement was a U.S. law,
- [Old Salem Museums & Gardens: How a Living Museum in the South Addresses the History of Slavery](https://culturalpropertynews.org/old-salem-museums-gardens-how-a-living-museum-in-the-south-addresses-the-history-of-slavery/) - Salem was founded in 1766 in the colony of North Carolina on a nearly 100,000 acre tract of land purchased by the Moravian Church, a Protestant sect established in the fifteenth century in what is now the Czech Republic. The Moravians were among the earliest to dispatch Protestant Christian missionaries, founding missions across the world,
- [Argam Ayvazyan: Spy–Researcher For Nakhichevan Armenian Culture](https://culturalpropertynews.org/argam-ayvazyan-spy-researcher-for-nakhichevan-armenian-culture/) - An Interview by Andran Abramian The loss of irreplaceable monuments and, indeed, of the whole history of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabagh/Artsakh, now partially under Azerbaijani control, is greatly feared by millions of people of Armenian heritage. That fear is based on the reality of past acts of destruction by the Azerbaijani government of thousands of medieval
- [CINOA Report Blasts False Information on Art Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cinoa-report-blasts-false-information-on-art-trade/) - A succinct report, Fighting Bogus Information About The Art Market – 2021 has been published by the 5,000 member art business umbrella organization CINOA. The March 2021 report identifies false claims made by governmental agencies, international organizations and in numerous academic papers, propagating and repeating what CINOA calls “bogus data” that justifies the introduction of
- [Albania Wants US Art Embargo But Where is the Art?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/albania-wants-us-art-embargo-but-where-is-the-art/) - On March 17, 2021, a request from the Republic of Albania seeking import restrictions on virtually all Albanian art, ethnographic objects and archaeological artifacts into the United States will be heard by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center, in its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Committee
- [Armenian Monuments Threatened After Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh War](https://culturalpropertynews.org/armenian-monuments-threatened-after-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh-war/) - Updated February 2, 2021 The modern Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh has been ongoing since 1918, when the newly independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia both claimed the area following the collapse of the Russian Empire. The enclave has a majority Armenian population whose ancestors settled there as early as the 7th
- [Turkish MOU: Last Minute State Department Deal Sparks Outrage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkish-mou-last-minute-state-department-deal-sparks-outrage/) - In the very last hours of the Trump administration, the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) restricting the importation of art, artifacts and antiques from the Republic of Turkey into the United States. The last minute signing was widely seen as denying the incoming Biden administration an opportunity to review this controversial agreement.
- [US Renews Italy’s Quarter-Century Art Embargo - New Morocco MOU Blocks Ancient and Ethnographic Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-renews-italys-quarter-century-art-embargo-new-morocco-mou-blocks-ancient-and-ethnographic-art/) - The renewal in January 2021 of a Memorandum of Understanding with Italy that will extend a blockade covering a full quarter century shows that enough is never enough for the opponents of lawful trade and the global circulation of art. The new MOU just signed with Morocco is one of the final steps towards establishing
- [UK Not Adopting EU Art and Antiquities Import Rules](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-not-adopting-eu-art-and-antiquities-import-rules/) - The possible consequences of the UK leaving the European Union on January 1, 2021 have long loomed over the UK art market –Brexit was seen by most in the art world as another expected business barrier after a year of government chaos, near collapse of the British medical system and crushing business, school and museum
- [The Museum of the Bible: Repatriations, investigations, thefts, and fakes dog DC institution.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-museum-of-the-bible-repatriations-investigations-thefts-and-fakes/) - Τον κόρον υπό του πλούτου γεννάσθαι, την δε ύβριν υπό του κόρου. Satiety comes of riches and hubris comes of satiety. Solon (630-560 BCE) At times it seems that older gods have it in for Washington, DC’s Museum of the Bible, built and supported by craft-store billionaire Steve Green. The museum has been dogged by
- [Nigeria Welcomes Future Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA)](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nigeria-welcomes-future-edo-museum-of-west-african-art-emowaa/) - The independent Kingdom of Benin (now Edo province in Nigeria) was one of the most highly developed West African cultural centers. It was destroyed in a ‘retaliatory raid’ by British forces in the culmination of a trade war over ivory, palm oil and rubber. In the early 1890s, the Oba, its ruler, resisted following a
- [UNESCO Appoints Syria Trust for Development to Heritage Post](https://culturalpropertynews.org/disgusting-unesco-appoints-syria-trust-for-development-to-cultural-heritage-post/) - “No joke: UNESCO elects the “Syria Trust for Development,“ which was created by Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad to enrich her husband's murderous regime, to a world body that protects cultural heritage. Because 2020 wasn't already bad enough.” Dec 30, 2020 tweet by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. The Syria Trust for Development
- [Bungling Smugglers: Egypt Seeks Extradition after Trial in Absentia of Former Consul](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bungling-smugglers-egypt-seeks-extradition-after-trial-in-absentia-of-former-consul/) - Ladislav Otakar Skakal, a former Italian former honorary consul in Luxor, was sentenced in absentia to a fifteen-year jail sentence in Egypt on January 2020 for smuggling antiquities. He is said to be now living in Rome. On December 17, 2020, Egypt demanded the ex-consul’s extradition from Italy together with that of former Trade Commissioner
- [Anti-Money Laundering Law Goes After Antiquities Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/anti-money-laundering-law-goes-after-antiquities-trade/) - “Criminals seeking to launder ill-gotten funds could hardly pick a worse commodity than antiquities.” Randall Hixenbaugh, President of the American Council for the Preservation of Cultural Property, January 1, 2021 On January 1, 2021, the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the massive, $741 billion US National Defense Authorization Act (S.4049 /H.R. 6395)
- [Our World Heritage's Full Year of Events: Rethinking the World Heritage Convention](https://culturalpropertynews.org/our-world-heritage-organizations-full-year-of-events-rethinking-the-world-heritage-convention/) - Our World Heritage (OWH), an organization launched in late 2020, aims to develop a global network of heritage professionals to “re-think and re-envision” UNESCO’s 1972 World Heritage Convention. Noting the inability of UNESCO to actually supervise and protect an ever-growing network of World Heritage sites, the organization defines itself as a civil-society network that hopes
- [Bad DIY Idea: Egyptians Digging for Antiquities in Own Homes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bad-diy-idea-egyptians-digging-for-antiquities-in-own-homes/) - Despite the inherent danger involved in amateur tunneling into foundations and the strict penalties for illegally excavating and selling antiquities, do-it-yourself clandestine home excavations have increased dramatically in Upper Egypt during the pandemic, according to an article by Marwa Yahya, “Egypt faces increased home illegal digging for antiquities amid COVID-19 pandemic.” Authorities note that the
- [Major Lilly Endowment Grants to U.S. Museums Center on Religion and Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/major-lilly-endowment-grants-to-u-s-museums-center-on-religion-and-art/) - In this time of social division, museums are being called upon to examine their roles in society and to broaden relationships with underserved communities. At the same time, the ability of art to communicate across national boundaries and diverse cultures has never been a more useful and necessary tool for the understanding and appreciation of
- [EU Regulation Curtailing Import of Art & Antiquities Now Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-regulation-curtailing-import-of-art-antiquities-now-law/) - On June 7, 2019, the EU Regulation 2019/880, which severely limits the import of ancient art, books and manuscripts and antiques into the European Union, became law on its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Regulation has been in the works since 2017. When fully implemented, it will likely act as
- [Senate Committee Approves Bill that will Block Native Art Exports](https://culturalpropertynews.org/atada-testimony-on-stop-act/) - UPDATED December 31, 2020: On July 29, 2020, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs took just three minutes to vote on the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2019 (STOP Act), S. 2165, a substitute for the bill commented on by author Kim Martindale below. The vote passed the full Senate on December 17,
- [CCP/CPN 2020 Year End Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-cpn-2020-year-end-report/) - What We Do We’d like to thank our generous supporters who in 2020 again made the Committee for Cultural Policy a premier resource for information, public education and analysis on cultural heritage issues. WE SUPPORT: Exhibitions and exchange that make art a conduit for international understanding. Cultural policies that preserve artifacts and fund archaeological research
- [Gary Vikan: The Holy Shroud, A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death](https://culturalpropertynews.org/gary-vikan-the-holy-shroud-a-brilliant-hoax-in-the-time-of-the-black-death/) - Author, art historian and former director of the Walters Museum, Dr. Gary Vikan, has a new book The Holy Shroud, A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death. In it, Dr. Vikan sets forth the tangled story of the Shroud of Turin, the ostensible burial cloth of Jesus, a much-revered icon that the
- [UNESCO Marks Convention’s 50th Anniversary with Doctored Photos and Disinformation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-marks-conventions-50th-anniversary-with-doctored-photos-and-disinformation/) - This story was updated Dec 1, 2020 to include new information on a second deceptive ad campaign produced by UNESCO. “There is a popular idea that we should have evidence-based policy. The rejoinder is that you often get policy-based evidence. People have decided that something would be a good idea, but then they go running
- [‘Cute Repatriation’ Prank Brings Fake Beuys Sculpture to Tanzania](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cute-repatriation-prank-brings-fake-beuys-sculpture-to-tanzania/) - Three young artists from the Frankfurter Hauptschule, a German art cooperative, created a made-for-YouTube robbery and art heist prank in late October 2020, ostensibly to raise awareness of Germany’s short but brutal colonial history in Africa. Although originally reported as an actual theft and gifting to Tanzania of one of Joseph Beuys’s “Capri-Batterie”, the video
- [Humboldt Forum Collaboration with Tanzania](https://culturalpropertynews.org/humboldt-forum-collaboration-with-tanzania/) - Tanzania’s colonial history is often overshadowed on the international cultural stage by German atrocities in Europe during World War II and Germany's ongoing efforts of postwar restitution and reunification. Increased global awareness of the harsh realities regarding ethnographic and anthropological materials acquired during Germany’s colonization in Africa has prompted German museum officials to look more
- [Forget history. There is no Genghis Khan.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/forget-history-there-is-no-genghis-khan/) - In mid-October, Bertrand Guillet, Director of the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne’s Musée d’Histoire de Nantes announced that the museum was making an ethical decision to postpone a long-planned exhibit on Genghis Khan. Fils du Ciel et des Steppes: Gengis Khan et la naissance de l'Empire mongol (Son of Heaven and Steppes: Genghis Khan and
- [Berlin’s Museuminsel in the Wake of Vandalism](https://culturalpropertynews.org/berlins-museuminsel-in-the-wake-of-vandalism/) - UPDATED: November 23, 2020 Weeks after the event, there are few leads and no certain motives for a baffling case of vandalism at Berlin’s Museuminsel (Museum Island). On October 3rd, museums re-opened from the pandemic-imposed months-long closure, only to have vandals spray an “oily liquid” on seventy stone sculptures, paintings, and ethnographic items, including Egyptian
- [Hypothetical Hopes for Healing Through Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hypothetical-hopes-for-healing-through-art/) - The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery) remains closed to the public, as it has been since the early spring. Museums and galleries across the country have struggled over the past six months to find new ways of making their art accessible and enjoyable online,
- [Turkey Seizes Ancient Seed Collection in Nationalist Move](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkey-seizes-ancient-seed-collection-in-nationalist-move/) - A confidential letter from Stephen Miller, Chairman of the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), has revealed that Turkish officials have seized its rare seed collections – including thousands of years old ancient seeds collected from archaeological excavations - and taken them to storage depots at two government-run museums. The raid on the British Institute took
- [Nigeria: Support Cultural Expansion, Not Art Blockade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nigeria-support-cultural-expansion-not-art-blockade/) - Testimony submitted to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Department of State, jointly by the Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance on a Proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the Cultural Property Implementation Act Introduction Both the Committee for Cultural Policy
- [August & September: Six Short Stories on Museums, Art and Culture](https://culturalpropertynews.org/august-september-summaries-six-critical-short-stories/) - ICOM President Resigns As Delegates Reject New ‘Definition” of Museums (08-01-2020) Nine members of ICOM’s committee and executive board resigned after what several termed a “rather catastrophic failure of good governance” in the presentation of a new definition of what a museum is. Problems have arisen at ICOM over both the terms for a new
- [Elias Gerasoulis: A geo-political perspective on the Turkish MoU](https://culturalpropertynews.org/elias-gerasoulis-a-geo-political-perspective-on-the-turkish-mou/) - Cultural Property News presents a variety of perspectives this month – from art historical to political – on Turkey’s recent conversions of important Christian cultural monuments to mosques. Elias Gerasoulis is the legislative director of the American Hellenic Institute, a Greek American organization created in 1974. He spoke on September 24, 2020 at an American
- [Interview with Robert G. Ousterhout: The Preservation and  Reconversion of Kariye Camii](https://culturalpropertynews.org/interview-robert-g-ousterhout-the-preservation-and-reconversion-of-kariye-camii/) - Robert G. Ousterhout is Professor Emeritus in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author or co-author of 21 books on the art and architecture of the Byzantine world and contributed to over 70 more. Dr. Ousterhout’s fieldwork has concentrated on Byzantine architecture, monumental art, and urbanism in Constantinople, Thrace,
- [Cranach to Corot: AAMD Moratorium Lets Brooklyn Sell Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cranach-to-corot-aamd-moratorium-lets-brooklyn-sell-art/) - Twelve artworks from the Brooklyn Museum are going to auction at Christie’s in October 2020 in the first highly publicized de-accessioning taking place under an Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD) Covid-19 moratorium. The best-known work is Lucas Cranach the Elder’s “Lucretia”, the only work by that artist in the museum's collection and the most
- [State Department to Hear Requests for Import Restrictions on Nigerian, Greek, and Bolivian Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/state-department-to-hear-requests-for-import-restrictions-on-nigerian-greek-and-bolivian-art/) - Nigeria has filed a request seeking U.S. import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material representing its cultural patrimony under the Cultural Property Implementation Act. Details of the basis for Nigeria’s request are not yet available. (Look for an analysis of the Nigerian request here in early October.) At the same time, Greece and Bolivia are
- [WCO Reports: Heritage Trafficking Tiny Percentage of Illegal Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/world-customs-organization-cultural-heritage-smuggling-is-minor/) - Formerly Editor of Antiques Trade Gazette, Ivan Macquisten is a writer, commentator, analyst, collector and campaigner in the international art market. His work includes advising the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) and International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA), as well as trade organizations in other sectors and the UK government. The World Customs Organization
- [Istanbul’s Last Church-Mosque-Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/istanbuls-last-church-mosque-museum/) - When Ottoman Turks breached the walls of Constantinople on 29 May 1453, the first Christian shrine to fall was not Hagia Sophia but the Chora Monastery, which lay close to the Adrianople Gate. Entering the church, soldiers found the venerated icon of the Virgin Mary, which was once paraded along the walls to provide spiritual
- [Cowan's Auctions Returns Zuni War God to Tribe](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cowans-auctions-arranges-return-of-zuni-war-god-to-tribe/) - Cowan’s Auctions, a Cincinnati auction house trading extensively in American and European art, antiques, and Native American artworks, worked with the Authentic Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA) to return a war god figure to the Zuni Pueblo in August 2020. Cowan’s has a history of working with tribes to return sensitive materials when receiving them
- [China Tariffs Come Back for Real in 2020](https://culturalpropertynews.org/china-tariffs-come-back-for-real-in-2020/) - On again-off again proposed import tariffs on Chinese art are now a reality. Imposing tariffs on Chinese art is yet another blow to a U.S. art market already crippled by Covid-19. Trade and cultural policy groups have been active in opposing the tariffs, which will disproportionately harm small businesses. These groups argued successfully before the
- [Rio Tinto: How Australian Law Tolerates Heritage Destruction](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rio-tinto-how-australian-law-tolerates-heritage-destruction/) - “It’s so important to understand how Rio Tinto came like a thief in the night and blew away a site ... that surpassed the last ice age.” Protest organizer at a demonstration Robert Eggington, a Noongar man. In Australia, States and Territories – not the federal government - have the primary responsibility for protecting cultural
- [Reclaiming Tibetan Culture in the Digital Age](https://culturalpropertynews.org/reclaiming-tibetan-culture-in-the-digital-age/) - Impelled by digitization and driven by the goal of bringing global access to culture, the concepts of “museums” and “archives” are changing. In an age when many elements of authentic culture and its history can be found online, there are opportunities to preserve history and promote cultural understanding by applying modern technology to age-old issues
- [Smashing Buddhas in Pakistan: Rural Ignorance and Museum Indifference](https://culturalpropertynews.org/smashing-buddhas-in-pakistan-rural-ignorance-and-museum-indifference/) - A widely disseminated video posted on Twitter showing construction workers smashing a large Buddhist statue with sledgehammers has raised serious concerns about the treatment of antiquities, especially pre-Islamic antiquities in Pakistan. The builders encountered the massive stone statue while excavating earth for the foundations of a house being built in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The
- [Coalition Opposes Cultural Property Requests by Repressive Governments](https://culturalpropertynews.org/coalition-opposes-cultural-property-requests-by-repressive-governments/) - Ten organizations have signed a joint letter to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational Affairs and the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the Department of State, urging them to address longstanding problems of fairness and serious process issues at CPAC. The letter was authored by Arthur Houghton, President of Global Heritage Alliance (and
- [The Dolorous Case of Pakistan’s Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-dolorous-case-of-pakistans-museums/) - When the British left Pakistan, authorities made special arrangements for the maintenance of British civil and military cemeteries, concerned that without a specific agreement in place, they would become derelict. Most cemeteries were well cared for for decades, although some have recently fallen victim to anti-Western riots. Regrettably, the British made no such arrangements for
- [Apsáalooke Women and Warriors in Chicago](https://culturalpropertynews.org/apsaalooke-women-and-warriors-in-chicago/) - "I hope this exhibition helps people to honor their own cultural experiences in new ways and to identify with Indigenous people—to realign ourselves as Americans and understand that this is a very diverse country." Nina Sanders (Apsáalooke), guest curator of Apsáalooke Women and Warriors, at the Field Museum until April 4, 2021. When Chicago’s
- [Hagia Sophia No Longer a Museum: US Should Deny Turkey's Request for Blockade on Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hagia-sophia-no-longer-a-museum-us-should-deny-turkeys-request-for-blockade-on-art/) - On July 11, 2020, Turkey’s Council of State issued an order that administration of Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia), a major World Monument and one of Turkey's most popular museums since 1934, should be transferred from the administration of Turkey's Ministry of Culture to the Presidency of Religious Affairs. This decision was said to be based
- [Turkish Court Decides Hagia Sophia's Conversion to Mosque](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkish-court-to-decide-hagia-sofias-conversion-to-mosque/) - Updated: 7/12/2020 Turkey’s Council of State has ordered that administration of Hagia Sophia should be transferred from administration by Turkey's Ministry of Culture to the Presidency of Religious Affairs. This decision was said to be based on Hagia Sophia's being a trust property managed by a waqf or religious foundation after Sultan Mehmed II's conquest
- [Italy Wants 20 Year Art Blockade Expanded to 2025](https://culturalpropertynews.org/italy-wants-20-year-art-blockade-expanded-to-2025/) - On July 8, 2020, the Committee for Cultural Policy[1] submitted written testimony on a proposed five-year extension of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that has been in place for twenty years. Since 2001, the US has restricted the importation of ancient art and artifacts from Italy. This ban applies to US collectors and art and
- [New Publication: Ivory 2020 Art and Heritage Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-ccp-publication-ivory-2020-art-and-heritage-law-report/) - The latest in a series of publications on art and the law, the Art and Heritage Law Report: Ivory 2020 is written by Olivia Franklin, edited by Kate Fitz Gibbon, and published by the Committee for Cultural Policy. This in-depth report is designed to facilitate the work of lawyers and law students, environmentalists and preservationists,
- [Due Diligence: Access Denied to Data on Stolen Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/due-diligence-access-to-databases-of-stolen-antiquities-denied/) - A parade of repatriated antiquities have made their way back to Italy from the United States in the last few months, highlighting a damaging lack of information on stolen and looted art that should be publicly available. Without it, it is unnecessarily difficult for museums and the market to determine whether items in their collections
- [Citizenship Project – How NY Historical Society Museum Helps Immigrants](https://culturalpropertynews.org/citizenship-project-how-ny-historical-society-museum-helps-immigrants/) - Obtaining U.S. citizenship is a difficult and daunting task for many immigrants, even for those who have lived and worked legally in the U.S. for many years. A key part of the application process is to pass an oral civics test administered in person by an officer of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
- [Commentary: Public Monuments – Beyond Charlottesville](https://culturalpropertynews.org/commentary-public-monuments-beyond-charlottesville/) - Since the startling events of August 12th in Charlottesville, VA, the future of public monuments to the Confederacy has become a matter of national debate in the United States. Cities across America have recently removed or covered over statues commemorating Confederate leaders and soldiers, as well as controversial figures such as Justice Roger Taney, who
- [Rediscovering Old Provenances for Ancient Coins](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rediscovering-old-provenances-for-ancient-coins/) - Guest author Peter K. Tompa is the author of the Cultural Property Observer blog and a foremost legal specialist on cultural property in the U.S. He discusses how a Swiss company has taken new steps in coin research using facial recognition techniques to quickly link coins in current collections and the market to coins published
- [Uzbekistan Leads the Way in International Collaboration on Cultural Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uzbekistan-leads-the-way-in-international-collaboration-on-cultural-heritage/) - The World Society for the Study, Preservation, and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan was formed in 2017 in order to present the heritage of Uzbekistan in print and other media to the people of Uzbekistan and to a global audience. The Society’s ambitious goal is to publish the greatest examples of the art
- [CCP/CPN 2019 End of Year Report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-cpn-2019-end-of-year-report/) - Thank you! Our supporters have made the Committee for Cultural Policy (CCP) a premier resource for factual information on cultural property policy, providing public education and analysis on a range of heritage issues as its charitable mission. Donate now so this important work can continue! The Committee for Cultural Policy believes art should be a
- [St John Simpson Interview: Afghanistan repatriation, Daesh, remote-archaeology and the ILLICID report](https://culturalpropertynews.org/st-john-simpson-interview-afghanistan-repatriation-daesh-database-archaeology-and-the-illicid-report/) - Dr St John Simpson is an archaeologist and the Senior Curator in the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum, where his area of oversight also includes Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. He has excavated extensively in the Middle East and Central Asia and from 1992-2000 co-directed an international collaborative project at the
- [Brent Huffman: Mes Aynak Update](https://culturalpropertynews.org/brent-huffman-mes-aynak-update/) - Field archaeology is dangerous. In Afghanistan, it can be incredibly dangerous. A Taliban attack on April 21, 2020 at the checkpoint at the Mes Aynak archaeological site and copper mine killed eight Afghan security personnel. Around the country Taliban attacks on Afghan forces and civilians have stepped up in an attempt to push back against
- [Afghanistan 1975 – Before War – Photographs by Françoise Foliot](https://culturalpropertynews.org/afghanistan-1975-before-war-photographs-by-françoise-foliot/)
- [Was ILLICID Report ‘Buried’ For Failing to Show Illegal Trade?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/was-illicid-report-buried-for-failing-to-show-illegal-trade/) - The April 10, 2015 press release announcing the launch of the ILLICID project stated: “Profits from illegal trade in cultural goods are an important pillar of organized crime. There are links to the drug and arms trade, to money laundering and terrorist financing. At present, there is neither reliable data on the annual scope of
- [Arts Council England: Guidelines for Museum Repatriation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/arts-council-england-guidelines-for-museum-repatriation-policy/) - The Arts Council England has chosen Wales’ Institute of Art and Law to develop new guidelines for the restitution and reparation of cultural objects for museums in the UK. The assignment has limited funding and a timeline of only four months for completion. According to the tender, the Institute of Art and Law will work
- [Virtual Coin Experience: Numismatic Museums and Discovery Databases](https://culturalpropertynews.org/virtual-coin-experience-numismatic-museums-and-discovery-databases/) - Part art, part dynastic politics, all media of exchange, coins enabled the development of a global economy. Wonderfully informative online exhibits tell world history through coins. Here are a few examples: Like most museums, the American Numismatic Association’s Money Museum is currently closed to the public, but fortunately they have an extensive online exhibit, including
- [Chaco Cultural Region: Public Comment on Management Plan](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chaco-cultural-region-public-comment-on-management-plan/) - The federal government is now seeking public comment on the future of one of the most significant cultural sites in the United States, the Chaco Culture Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. In late February 2020, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), announced proposed revisions to the park’s management
- [The Interview: Adam Lowe of Factum Arte](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-interview-adam-lowe-of-factum-arte/) - A groundbreaking new book has been published by Factum Foundation, The Aura in the Age of Digital Materiality: Rethinking Preservation in the Shadow of an Uncertain Future (Silvana Editoriale, 2020). The publication was to accompany the opening of the exhibition, La Riscoperta di un Capolavoro (The Revealed Masterpiece) originally scheduled March 12-June 28, 2020 at
- [Visit Sacred Spaces through Virtual Travel](https://culturalpropertynews.org/visit-sacred-spaces-through-virtual-travel/) - “I believe the world will be saved by beauty.” Prince Lev Nikolyaevich Myshkin, The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. “This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites
- [Hartwig Fischer: Collections entail responsibilities. Notes on a global institution.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hartwig-fischer-collections-entail-responsibilities-notes-on-a-global-institution/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy and Cultural Property News present for public access an important essay by Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum. The essay sets forth new goals for the British Museum and outlines frameworks for dialogue and collaboration between the Museum and the peoples of many different cultural backgrounds that have contributed
- [Elizabeth S. Bolman: Images from the Red Monastery Church](https://culturalpropertynews.org/red-monastery-images/)
- [Elizabeth Bolman Interview: The Red Monastery Church](https://culturalpropertynews.org/elizabeth-s-bolman-interview-the-red-monastery-church/) - Cultural Property News spoke with art historian Elizabeth S. Bolman[1], founder and director of the Red Monastery restoration project near Sohag, Egypt. \r\n\t\t \r\n\t\t Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline Headline\r\n\t\t \r\n \r\n Author\r\n"Quote" \r\nPoreium quidi voluptatium dolore quo is ipsam ut del maiore comnihi liquam, sequibus et ma sit acepelestist eume
- [How Jordanian Import Restrictions Really Happened](https://culturalpropertynews.org/how-import-restrictions-on-jordanian-art-really-happened/) - Under a U.S. law, the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), requests for U.S. import restrictions should be created by art source countries suffering from significant looting that the good faith efforts of local authorities are unable to control. In the past, questions have been raised about requests for import restrictions that appear to have been
- [Hong Kong Artists' Political Protests Continue](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hong-kong-artists-political-protests-continue/) - All Hong Kong museums, music and performance venues were ordered closed until March in order to discourage crowded gatherings as a result of coronavirus concerns. However, before fears of spreading coronavirus forced the recent closure of many of Hong Kong’s art venues, over 100 arts organizations had been active in continuing citizen rights protests. In
- [Scholar Identifies Missing Indian Statue in Ashmolean Collection](https://culturalpropertynews.org/scholar-identifies-missing-indian-statue-in-ashmolean-collection/) - More than 60 years after a 15th century sculpture disappeared from a temple in Southern India, an independent scholar (who has chosen to remain anonymous) has located it in the holdings of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The scholar discovered that the Ashmolean’s sculpture was identical to one in a 1957 photograph in the archives
- [CCP & GHA Testify on Blockade on All Art from Tunisia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-gha-testify-no-evidence-to-justify-blockade-on-all-art-from-tunisia/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy[1] and Global Heritage Alliance[2] jointly submitted this testimony on the Proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the imposition of import restrictions between the United States and the Republic of Tunisia. Both the Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance support the Congressionally mandated application of the 1983 Cultural Property
- [Turkey Claims all Art and Artifacts: Centuries of Multicultural History and Trade Denied](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkey-claims-all-art-and-artifacts-centuries-of-multicultural-history-and-trade-denied/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy[1] and Global Heritage Alliance[2] jointly submitted this testimony on the Proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)[3] for the imposition of import restrictions between the United States and the Republic of Turkey. In response to requests from source countries for import restrictions under the Cultural Property Implementation Act, we have addressed whether
- [US Customs Delivers 7 "National Treasure" Coins Worth $200 to Cyprus](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-customs-delivers-7-national-treasure-coins-worth-200to-cyprus/) - On February 14, 2020, US Customs and Border Protection returned seven ancient coins from the Roman Empire, dating from 81 BC up to 217 CE, to representatives of the government of Cyprus. The Cypriot coins were seized together with a small group of Chinese coins. The seizure was part of a test case initiated by
- [Collaborative Exhibit at LACMA - Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific](https://culturalpropertynews.org/collaborative-exhibit-at-lacma-fiji-art-life-in-the-pacific/) - Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific will be at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through July 19, 2020. A much-heralded exhibition of the art of Fiji, originally organized by the Sainsbury Centre in England, opened in southern California at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with a meke, traditional storytelling through
- [Five Reasons NOT to Sign Cultural Property Deals with Turkey and Tunisia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/5-best-reasons-not-to-sign-cultural-property-mous-with-turkey-and-tunisia/) - Turkey and Tunisia have requested all-encompassing U.S. import restrictions on virtually all art originating in their territory, spanning all periods in history from the Prehistoric up to the modern era. The requests were made under a U.S. law, the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). The requests must show how the country’s current situation with respect
- [Iran or China - Cultural Rights are Human Rights](https://culturalpropertynews.org/iran-or-china-cultural-rights-are-human-rights/) - Threat to Target Cultural Heritage President Trump’s threat to strike 52 sites in Iran that are “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture” on January 4, 2020 prompted responses from dozens of institutions and organizations, from the United States Congress to the Association of Art Museum Directors. Many such
- [CINOA: Trump's Threat to Attack Cultural Sites Raises Broader Questions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cinoa-trumps-threat-to-attack-cultural-sites-raises-broader-questions/) - Many arts and cultural organizations have responded to President Trump’s tweeted threat to strike locations in Iran that are “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.” Clinton R. Howell, President of the 85-year-old International Federation of Dealer Associations, CINOA, which represents some 5000 members of art trade organizations worldwide,
- [What Remains – Ancient Artworks Travel, Inspire, and Survive](https://culturalpropertynews.org/what-remains-ancient-artworks-travel-inspire-and-survive/) - And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Ozymandias, 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)* It is one of the clichés
- [Controversy: How US Recognizes Middle East Government Ownership of Jewish & Minority Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/controversy-us-recognizes-middle-east-government-ownership-of-jewish-minority-religious-heritage/) - Sarah Levin is Executive Director of JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. At JIMENA, Levin researches and develops projects that preserve the heritage, identities and experiences of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews. Currently, the U.S. has cultural property agreements with the following MENA nations: Syria, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria. Additional
- [What's Next for 2020? Art Blockades, Money Laundering Rules, OFAC Sanctions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/whats-next-for-2020-art-blockades-money-laundering-rules-ofac-sanctions/) - Disclaimer: This article is intended to convey general information only and is not intended to provide legal advice or opinions for any purpose or particular circumstance. Other laws or regulations could affect situations referred to in this article. Legal advice should be obtained from legal counsel qualified in the relevant jurisdiction when dealing with specific
- [End of Year: Federal Management Plans Threaten Bears Ears/Chaco](https://culturalpropertynews.org/end-of-year-federal-management-plans-threaten-bears-ears-chaco/) - “Understanding the important role of the green highlands in providing habitat for subsistence plants and animals, as well as capturing and filtering water from passing storms, the Navajo refer to such places as "Nahodishgish," or places to be left alone.” President Barack Obama, December 28, 2016 Bears Ears National Monument Given Endangered Status Bears Ears
- [Safani Gallery of NY Files Lawsuit to Recover “Head of Alexander”](https://culturalpropertynews.org/safani-gallery-of-ny-files-lawsuit-to-recover-head-of-alexander/) - The Safani Gallery, one of the oldest antiquities galleries in New York, has filed a lawsuit against the Italian Republic in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Safani Gallery purchased a statue dating to about 300 BCE, known as the Head of Alexander from a Foundation through a London-based
- [Morocco Seeks US Import Restrictions on Ancient & Ethnic Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/morocco-seeks-us-import-restrictions-on-ancient-ethnic-art/) - Introduction Several days after the deadline for submission of public testimony on a request from Morocco for import restrictions under the Cultural Property Implementation Act, the State Department finally published a 'summary' of the request. The following extracts from the Committee for Cultural Policy's and Global Heritage Alliance's testimony, which by necessity was submitted before
- [Bill Requiring Antiquities Dealers to Report Transactions Passes House – Expansion to All Art Trade Urged](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bill-requiring-antiquities-dealers-to-report-transactions-passes-house-expansion-to-all-art-trade-urged/) - A major change to the regulation of art businesses buried in a general bill modifying the Bank Secrecy Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 22 and is now pending in the Senate. A provision in the bill, HR 2514, Section 213, would add ‘persons trading or acting as an intermediary in
- [Chaco Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Bears Ears Roundup](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chaco-canyon-grand-staircase-escalante-and-bears-ears-roundup/) - The Four corners region of the United States, where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet, is rich in history. Complex civilizations that rose and fell over thousands of years were connected through trade routes to parts of California, Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Vestiges of ancient cultures that are found in archaeological sites and
- [CCP & GHA Testimony on Yemen's Request for Cultural Property Restrictions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-gha-testimony-on-yemens-request-for-cultural-property-restrictions/) - Introduction The 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) is the U.S. implementing legislation for the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The CPIA was intended to balance U.S. interests in free trade and access to art with source county claims
- [John Gilmore Ford: Portrait of a Collector](https://culturalpropertynews.org/john-gilmore-ford-portrait-of-a-collector/) - “John Gilmore Ford, more than anyone, has assumed the mantle of the collector whose scope and ambition has a civic dimension.” Gary Vikan, former director of the Walters Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. Few individuals become passionate collectors in their twenties, fewer still manage to build world-class collections in their early years, and fewer will have the
- [Turkey: Ilisu Dam Inundates 12,000 Year Old Town in Kurdish Region](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hasankeyf-turkey-ilisu-dam-will-inundate-12000-year-old-town/) - By the Fall of 2019, the Turkish government will cover 115 square miles of an ancient Tigris River valley with water now filling the massive Ilisu Dam and Hydra hydroelectric project in Turkey’s Kurdistan region. The new Ilisu dam will be one of the largest in Turkey; the government says it is needed to generate
- [Jewish community issues urgent call on proposal to Block Yemeni and Moroccan heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/jewish-community-issues-urgent-call-on-proposal-to-block-yemeni-and-moroccan-heritage/) - Watch this website for additional coverage on the requests for cultural property blockades on all ancient and ethnographic objects from Yemen and Morocco. Additional analysis will be posted by October 14, 2019. Jewish community leaders have issued an urgent call for comment to be submitted to the Department of State on a proposed embargo on
- [Notorious: Indian Prosecutions and Foreign Repatriation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/notorious-indian-prosecutions-and-foreign-repatriation/) - The nearly decade-long investigation of Subash Kapoor in India and the U.S. continues to make headlines in both nations. Inevitably, Kapoor is presented in the press as a rare catch from a network of international antiquities smugglers. Yet he remains the lone example of this supposedly elite breed. Once an eager self-promoter, Kapoor has now
- [Never Seen Again? Indian Artifacts in Icon Centers Left to Rot](https://culturalpropertynews.org/never-seen-again-indian-artifacts-in-icon-centers-left-to-rot/) - On June 7, 2016, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch presented more than 200 Indian art “treasures,” said to be worth many millions of dollars, to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Washington DC ceremony.[1] The “treasures” were seized and deaccessioned objects resulting from a nearly decade-long investigation, “Operation Hidden Idol,” into the activities of
- [The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 2](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-international-art-market-as-cultural-bogeyman-part-2/) - Formerly Editor of Antiques Trade Gazette, Ivan Macquisten is a writer, commentator, analyst, collector and campaigner in the international art market. His work includes advising the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) and International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA), as well as trade organizations in other sectors and the UK government. As the issues over
- [The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 1](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-international-art-market-as-cultural-bogeyman-part-1/) - Formerly Editor of Antiques Trade Gazette, Ivan Macquisten is a writer, commentator, analyst, collector and campaigner in the international art market. His work includes advising the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) and International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA), as well as trade organizations in other sectors and the UK government. As the issues over
- [US State Department Imposes Embargo on Algerian Cultural Artifacts, Including Rope!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-state-department-imposes-embargo-on-algerian-cultural-artifacts-including-rope/) - The restrictions, which are intended to cover 'significant' objects under the Cultural Property Implementation Act include: "G(3). Rope—Rope and string were used for a great variety of purposes, including binding, lifting water for irrigation, fishing nets, measuring, and stringing beads for jewelry and garments." Author Peter K. Tompa, writing in Cultural Property Observer, assesses the
- [Michael Jackson Lived Again](https://culturalpropertynews.org/michael-jackson-lived-again/) - A particularly silly but nonetheless entrancing correlation between an ancient Egyptian bust of a woman and the visage of pop hero Michael Jackson is making news again at Chicago’s Field Museum. Hordes of visitors came to see the bust when the resemblance was first noted, soon after Michael Jackson’s death. Museum staff said at the
- [Leonard Cohen, Anyone? Reporting on Illicit ‘Cultural Objects’ is Deceptive](https://culturalpropertynews.org/leonard-cohen-anyone-reporting-on-illicit-cultural-objects-is-deceptive/) - “Over 18,000 items seized and 59 arrests made in operation targeting cultural goods,” a July 29, 2019 Europol press release “… in September 2017, a car coming from the Netherlands via Bulgaria… was considered “high risk” and thereby deserving of a physical search that led to the seizure of 2,400 of long-play records. According to
- [2019 STOP Act: Fixing a Flawed Indian Art Bill](https://culturalpropertynews.org/2019-stop-act-fixing-a-flawed-indian-art-bill/) - A third version of the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act, (H.R. 3846 in the House) was introduced on July 18, 2019. Sponsor Senator Martin Heinrich, who introduced a parallel Senate bill (S.2165), says the STOP Act will “prohibit the exporting of sacred Native American items and increase penalties for stealing and illegally trafficking
- [Click Here to Enter Nirvana](https://culturalpropertynews.org/click-here-to-enter-nirvana/) - The exhibition Thai Buddhist Tales: Stories along the Path to Enlightenment at the Chester Beatty Library offers visitors a rare opportunity to study some extraordinary examples of Thai Buddhist manuscripts. This exhibition is also suggestive of the exciting future ahead for digital curation. The physical materials on display represent just a tithe of this Dublin
- [The Wondrous Cosmos in Medieval Manuscripts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-wondrous-cosmos-in-medieval-manuscripts/) - Although at present, science and religion are considered as distinct, even antagonistic modes of thought, in medieval Europe the spiritual and the empirical were closely entwined. For centuries, astronomy, the study of the stars and planets, merged seamlessly with astrology, which assigns those celestial bodies specific influence over human life. Part science, part belief system,
- [Turkey’s President Wants to Turn Hagia Sophia into a Mosque](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkeys-president-wants-to-turn-hagia-sophia-into-a-mosque/) - Just days before Istanbul’s elections were scheduled on March 31, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the 1500-year-old Hagia Sophia, now a museum, should be converted to a mosque. Hagia Sophia is a Byzantine architectural wonder. Constructed in 537 CE on the orders of the Emperor Justinian I, it served as Constantinople’s Eastern Orthodox
- [Stunning Bronze Age Golden Torc and Roman Villa Highlight 2015 PAS Reports](https://culturalpropertynews.org/stunning-bronze-age-golden-torc-and-roman-villa-highlight-2015-pas-reports/) - The annual reports of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Treasure for 2015 were released at the British Museum in London in late November. The Treasure annual report noted 1,008 Treasure cases and some immensely important new Treasure finds including a large Middle Bronze Age gold torc from Cambridgeshire, a Roman grave assemblage from Hertfordshire,
- [Chaco Canyon Exhibit on Indefinite Hold](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chaco-canyon-museum-on-indefinite-hold/) - The ruins in Chaco Culture National Historical Park are some of the most culturally significant in the United States but are also notoriously difficult to access. The nearest airport is three and a half hours away. Over twenty miles of washboard dirt road separates visitors from the visitor center and the paved loop where one
- [After Pressure, Germany Announces Reform of Limbach Commission](https://culturalpropertynews.org/after-pressure-germany-announces-reform-of-limbach-commission/) - Germany’s Limbach Commission has been strongly criticized for its incredible slowness, lack of transparency, and its alleged failure to follow the 1998 Washington Principles in its decisions on conflicts between Jewish heirs and German museums holdings disputed artworks. After publication of criticism by the families of a number of Jewish heirs, and a March meeting
- [German Cultural Assets Protection Law Moves Inexorably Forward](https://culturalpropertynews.org/german-cultural-assets-protection-law-moves-inexorably-forward/) - A new German law governing the ownership, sale, and exportation of cultural assets is likely to be signed into law in the next few months. It was debated in the lower house of the German parliament on February 18, and will probably be passed by both houses this summer. If passed, it would grant extraordinary
- [Chaco Canyon Update: One Year Later](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chaco-canyon-update-one-year-later/) - The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the sale of culturally and historically sensitive land near Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico for oil and gas development in January 2019 . The green light came despite not completing a promised analysis of cultural sites or a revised management
- [Turkey's AK Party Nails Giant Election Poster to Valens Aqueduct](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkeys-ak-party-nails-giant-election-poster-to-valens-aqueduct/) - The Istanbul branch of Turkey’s Association of Archaeologists responded with outrage when the ruling Justice and Development Party nailed a giant election poster with the face of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu into the Aqueduct of Valens. Bartlett, W. H. (William Henry), 1809-1854, Joseph Clayton Bently, 1809-1851 Engraver, via Wikimedia Commons. The archeological group stated that,
- [Tomb of Turkish Founding Grandfather Relocated](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tomb-of-turkish-founding-grandfather-relocated/) - The tomb of Suleyman Shah, located inside Syria just 37 km. from the Turkish border, has been moved by a large contingent of Turkish soldiers that crossed into Syria ostensibly to rescue Turkish soldiers on guard at the tomb from an attack by ISIS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the tomb moved “in order
- [Not Again! 25% Tariff on Chinese Antiques Pending](https://culturalpropertynews.org/not-again-25-tariff-on-chinese-antiques-threatens/) - The U.S. government is seeking once again to apply tariffs on Chinese art, despite an already existing ban on antique imports from China. Since 2009, Americans have been banned from importing any ancient art from China - ranging from the Paleolithic through the Tang period, and including monumental sculpture and wall art over 250 years
- [African Voices:  Muhigirwa Kinyunyi Claude of LUCHA Movement for Change](https://culturalpropertynews.org/african-voices-muhigirwa-kinyunyi-claude-of-lucha-movement-for-change/) - Muhigirwa Kinyunyi Claude is an organizer and leader in the LUCHA Movement for Change. LUCHA, as it is known, is a grassroots, pro-democracy youth-led movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that organizes nonviolently to build a better society. It has taken on aspects of civil change as small as cleaning trash from the
- [Montana Bill on Indian Cultural Patrimony Fails](https://culturalpropertynews.org/montana-law-fail-making-indian-artifacts-cultural-patrimony/) - The Montana Legislature’s State Administration Committee held hearings in March 2019 on a bill that would have made it a crime in Montana to buy, sell, exchange, distribute, market, or otherwise transfer a Native American ‘object of cultural patrimony’ or a ‘sacred object.’ The bill gave a burial board previously tasked with dealing with unmarked
- [Expanding the Protecting U.S. Heritage Abroad Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/protecting-u-s-heritage-abroad-act-would-expand-preservation-and-access/) - On April 11, 2019, Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York introduced a bipartisan bill, HR 2194, The Protecting US Heritage Abroad Act, to expand the mandate of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad to include the Middle East and North Africa. Christian and Jewish and other religious groups' cemeteries, monuments from
- [Exhibitions and Demonstrations: How Art Museums Connect to the Community](https://culturalpropertynews.org/exhibitions-and-demonstrations-how-art-museums-connect-to-the-community/) - In a recent longform article for The Art Newspaper, Barbara Pollack highlighted the extraordinary rise in public protests taking place at America’s leading art museums. These are not reactions to polemical new artists, or even a revival of the playful ‘Renoir Sucks’ protests of yesteryear. In most cases, the art and artifacts on display in
- [The Security State and Destruction of Uyghur Culture in Xinjiang](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-security-state-and-destruction-of-uyghur-culture-in-xinjiang/) - “The principal purpose of Uyghur life is to generate data.” Darren T. Byler, University of Washington “E-carceration of a surplus population is now transformed into a resource or source of profit created by dissolving the social world in this acid bath of securitizing surveillance and rendering human life the raw material for control technology… Data
- [Chile’s Application for Import Restrictions to CPAC - Testimony](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chiles-application-for-import-restrictions-to-cpac-testimony/) - Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance Written Testimony submitted to Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the Proposed Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Republic of Chile To Chairman Sabloff and the Members of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee
- [Testimony  to CPAC on Jordan's Application for Import Restrictions](https://culturalpropertynews.org/testimony-to-cpac-on-jordans-application-for-import-restrictions/) - Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance, Written Testimony submitted to Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the Proposed Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan To Chairman Sabloff and the Members of the Cultural Property
- [Asian Studies Association Condemns China's Incarceration of Turkic Muslims](https://culturalpropertynews.org/asian_studies_association_condemns_chinas_incarceration/) - “We are witnessing in Xinjiang today a remarkable human reengineering project that seeks to remold Xinjiang’s Muslim population by eradicating non-Han Chinese languages, religious practices, cultural habits, and dissident thoughts in the name of literally manufacturing what Xi Jinping calls “enduring peace on the ethnic frontier.”” James Leibold of La Trobe University, Association for Asian
- [Yemen Claims Jewish Religious Artifacts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/yemen-red-list-includes-jewish-religious-artifacts/) - On January 31, 2018, a new Emergency Red List for Yemen was announced at a ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Red List was funded, produced, and published in partnership between the US Department of State’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Yemen Red
- [An Epic Battle: U.S. v. 3 Knife-Shaped Coins](https://culturalpropertynews.org/an-epic-battle-u-s-v-3-knife-shaped-coins/) - The cases Ancient Coin Collectors Guild v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. v. 3 Knife-Shaped Coins etc., involving fifteen coins from China and Cyprus, none very beautiful or valuable, began as a test case in 2009, and has been hard-fought at every step by the nonprofit Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG). An important
- [Corrupt Cambodian Regime Fails MOU Criteria](https://culturalpropertynews.org/5-year-renewal-sought-for-mou-that-benefits-cambodias-corrupt-anti-democratic-government/) - Cambodia is seeking a renewal of a US Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to embargo import of all artifacts. A Cambodian MOU has been in place, and ever-expanding in scope, since 1999. The request will be considered by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, meeting at the Department of State on October 23-24. All comments from the
- [India on Kapoor Repatriation: “We brought back what was genuine, and left the rest there.”](https://culturalpropertynews.org/india-kapoor-repatriation-we-brought-back-what-was-genuine-and-left-the-rest-there/) - The latest wrinkle in the theatrically promoted prosecution of Indian art dealer Subhash Kapoor was the return of “millions of dollars” worth of supposedly ancient art to representatives of the government of India in Washington, DC in June 2016. There were congratulations and handshakes all round at a ceremony attended by U.S. Attorney General Loretta
- [Heads Roll at Indian Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/heads-roll-at-indian-museums/) - In a move that shocked India’s cultural community, the esteemed head of Delhi’s largest museum has been removed from his post and transferred to the Sports Ministry. Venu Vasudevan, Director General of the National Museum in Delhi, who is credited with reinvigorating the moribund institution, was supposed to head the museum until December 2016. In
- [Naman Ahuja on the People’s Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/naman-ahuja-on-the-peoples-museum/) - A penetrating article by art historian, curator, and archeologist Naman Ahuja in the Indian Express examines how economic development and development-based government policies not only neglect cultural heritage but actively discourage the study and understanding of Indian cultural identity. Ahuja identifies three primary areas of concern: creating a public role for museums, integrating urban development
- [From THE HINDU: A Stunning Opinion by Dr. Vishakha N. Desai](https://culturalpropertynews.org/from-the-hindu-a-stunning-opinion-by-dr-vishakha-n-desai/) - Scholar and museum professional Dr. Vishakha N. Desai sharply criticized the Government of India’s cultural policy – or lack of it- in an Opinion piece in the Indian national newspaper The Hindu, entitled India’s Deafening Silence on Stolen Art. Dr. Desai criticized the Indian government for failing to police or preserve its artistic heritage –
- [UNESCO Exposed!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-exposed/) - “There are no Armenian graves in the territory of Nakhchivan. This is just an Armenian fabrication.” Azeri Parliamentarian Rafael Huseynov, Azerbaijan State News Agency, 1/24/2008. It was December 2005. The greatest collection in the world of the Armenian Christian carved stone stele called khachkars stood within the ancient cemetery at Djulfa in Nakhichevan, in Azerbaijan.
- [Egypt Rejects Accessible Database of Art in Circulation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egypt-rejects-accessible-database-of-art-in-circulation/) - The Government of Egypt has effectively distorted the purpose of a proposed database of Egyptian art by ignoring the existence of Egyptian laws which allowed lawful export until 1983. The Egyptian government does not acknowledge these legal exports and claims virtually all Egyptian art in circulation as ‘stolen.’ Yet antiquities have been lawfully exported from
- [A Central Asian Cinderella - The Tale of Bibi Seshambe](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-central-asian-cinderella-the-tale-of-bibi-seshambe/) - This Note, written a decade ago, accompanies the review of the Bodleian Library exhibition in this month's Cultural Property News, which references the proliferation of Cinderella tales around the world. In 1995, when gathering research materials in Uzbekistan for a book on Central Asian textiles, I located a small, hand-bound, typed volume that appeared to
- [Germany Offers $2.17 Million for Ethnographic Provenance Research](https://culturalpropertynews.org/germany-offers-2-17-million-for-ethnographic-provenance-research/) - Germany will invest as much as $2.17 million in a project to investigate how ethnographic and ancient objects from around the world that are now in German museums were acquired. The funds will be available to museums for provenance research, especially for investigating objects collected during the nineteenth and early twentieth century colonial period. A
- [EU 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive Program Notes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/notes-from-an-aba-program-on-eu-5th-anti-money-laundering-directive/) - UK solicitor Gregor Kleinknecht and Senior Associate Petra Warrington from Hunters Solicitors in London presented an introduction to the new European Union 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive in an online program for the American Bar Association on March 14, 2019. The program was entitled AML for the Art Trade: How Not to Go to Jail under
- [Discovery at Abydos Shines Light on 19th-20th C Egyptology](https://culturalpropertynews.org/discovery-at-abydos-shines-light-on-19th-20th-c-egyptology/) - Not all ancient Egyptian mysteries are quite so ancient. Two stories, crediting different discoverers, are told about how the trove of papers found in the Grand Temple of Seti I were discovered. The first version is that in 2012, a graduate student named Mohamed Abul-Yazid found thousands of archival documents from the Egyptian Antiquities Service
- [EU Parliament Holocaust Restitution Proposal Threatens Circulation of Ancient Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-parliament-proposal-for-holocaust-restitution-would-also-end-most-antiquities-trade/) - A European Parliament Resolution entitled “Cross-border restitution claims of works of art and cultural goods looted in armed conflicts and wars" (2017/2023(INI) recommended major changes to EU laws on January 17, 2019. Press coverage has focused on provisions that exempt Holocaust art returns from statutes of limitation, develop cataloging systems, fund provenance research, define ‘looted’
- [A Primer: NAGPRA, ARPA, and the Antiquities Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-primer-nagpra-arpa-and-the-antiquities-act/) - Recently, the Association on American Indian Affairs has claimed that a wide range of Native American items in museum collections and auction sales are possibly being exhibited and sold in violation of federal, state, and tribal laws. Collectors, they say, should invest only in new Indian made arts and crafts, and auction houses must consult
- [Turkey Bombs 3,000 Year Old Syro-Hittite Site to Rubble](https://culturalpropertynews.org/turkey-bombs-3000-year-old-syro-hittite-site-to-rubble/) - Between January 20th and 22nd, Turkish warplanes destroyed the most outstanding Syro-Hittite monument ever excavated, the Iron Age temple of 'Ain Dara, near to the northern Syrian town of Afrin. The bombing is said to be part of an aggressive campaign against Kurdish separatists that Turkey calls “Operation Olive Branch.” The nearby town of Afrin
- [Australia Liberalizes Export Laws for Indigenous Art & Antiques](https://culturalpropertynews.org/australia-liberalizes-export-laws-for-indigenous-art-antiques-2/) - The end of 2018 brought good news for collectors of Australian art. New regulations implemented under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (PMCH 1986) will ease export restrictions on the Australian art trade, particularly for the works of indigenous artisans. The previous regulations have been in place with some amendments since 1987 and
- [Saudis Bomb Heritage Sites-Art Trade Blamed](https://culturalpropertynews.org/trade-blamed-when-saudis-bomb-yemen-heritage-sites/) - "All armed groups have targeted historic sites one way or another since March 2015. However, the most blatant and systematic of them is without any doubt, the Saudi coalition, and they are the ones who have made the most irreparable damage in Yemen." American archeologist Lamya Khalidi, The New Arab, March 26, 2018 A US-Yemen
- [Polyresin Indian Gods Made-in-China](https://culturalpropertynews.org/polyresin-indian-gods-made-in-china/) - Many articles lamenting the loss of India’s cultural heritage have described the suffering of village communities whose ancient statues have been plucked from local temples and smuggled overseas. The villagers’ distress is undoubtedly real – and ongoing. When stolen statues are recovered, they are rarely given back to the villagers to be re-consecrated and replaced
- [Bodleian Libraries Oxford Exhibition on Translation Highlights Cross-Cultural Communication](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bodleian-libraries-oxford-exhibition-on-translation-highlights-cross-cultural-communication/) - Babel: Adventures in Translation is the latest exhibit at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries. The exhibition runs from February 15- June 2, 2019. Presented in ten cases, displaying over 100 items, the exhibit explores a range of topics central to translation; from the tools used in translation, such as dictionaries and modern day Google
- [Art Imports to EU Threatened by Draconian Regulation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-imports-to-eu-threatened-by-draconian-regulation/) - UPDATED LINK TO: The final Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the introduction and the import of cultural goods On December 11, 2018, the EU approved severe limitations on imports of art from non-EU nations. The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of
- [Superb Rubin Museum Exhibition "Faith and Empire-Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism"](https://culturalpropertynews.org/superb-rubin-museum-exhibition-faith-and-empire-art-and-politics-in-tibetan-buddhism/) - The Rubin Museum in New York City has opened a truly exceptional exhibition, Faith and Empire-Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, which highlights the dynamic political aspects of the Tibetan artistic tradition, particularly through Sino-Tibetan artistic exchange, from the 7th to the 19th century. The exhibition runs from February 1- July 15, 2019. Major works
- [Is NAGPRA Irretrievably Broken?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/is-nagpra-irretrievably-broken/) - Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again. In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) became U.S. law.[1] For its advocates, NAGPRA represented a watershed in “decades of struggle by Native American tribal
- [Brazil:: A New President Persecutes the Arts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/brazil-a-new-president-persecutes-the-arts/) - In early September 2018, the world watched in horror as the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro burned to the ground. A two hundred-year-old building, the records of generations of research, and most of the twenty million artifacts in the collection were gone forever. Decades of budget cuts, leading to neglect of fire
- [Crow Museum of Asian Art Collection Donated to University of Texas](https://culturalpropertynews.org/crow-museum-of-asian-art-donated-to-university-of-texas/) - At the end of January 2019, the Trammell and Margaret Crow family announced the donation of the entire collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art along with $23 million to the University of Texas at Dallas for the creation of an Asian arts museum on that campus. A Big Hearted Self
- [UK to Change Treasure Act - New Restrictions Proposed](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-changes-treasure-act/) - The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced plans to modify Britain’s 1996 Treasure Act to “allow more artefacts to be acquired by local and national museums and put on public display.” The changes include classing objects worth over £10,000 as Treasure, regardless of the material of which they are made. Britain’s ancient
- [Britain's Treasure Act Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary](https://culturalpropertynews.org/britains-treasure-act-celebrates-20-year-anniversary/) - The annual report of Britain’s Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Act for 2016 was released at the British Museum in London in early December 2017. This year’s highlights include a record 1,120 Treasure finds, a plethora of Bronze Age objects including rare arm rings, a late period coin hoard, and a rare copper-alloy anvil. The
- [Chinese Art and Antiques Dropped from US Tariff List](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chinese-art-and-antiques-dropped-from-us-tariff-list/) - The United States has imposed tariffs reaching 25% in 2019 on $200 billion dollars of Chinese goods, in a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s trade war with China. However, there was good news for the art community, as works of art, collector’s pieces, and Chinese antiques were among the very few items withdrawn from
- [Mwatana for Human Rights: Destruction of Yemen's History](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mwatana-for-human-rights-issues-report-on-yemen/) - A major report detailing the destruction of culture in Yemen was released in mid-November by the organization Mwatana for Human Rights. The Degradation of History: Violations Committed by the Warring Parties against Yemen’s Cultural Property, describes the use of museums, historic sites, churches and mosques for military purposed by warring Houthi and Yemeni government factions
- [Italian Court Orders Getty to Return Bronze 'Victorious Youth' After Over 40 years](https://culturalpropertynews.org/italian-court-orders-getty-to-return-bronze-victorious-youth-after-over-40-years/) - On December 10, 2018, the Italian Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court, issued a ruling in a decades-long case. The court held that the world famous statue known as the Victorious Youth – a masterpiece in the collection of J. Paul Getty Villa located in Pacific Palisades, California - belongs to Italy. The Court of
- [French Proposal for Restitution of African Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/french-proposal-for-restitution-of-african-art/) - At the end of November 2018, authors Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy announced completion of a legthy report, “The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics,”[i] to President Emmanuel Macron of France. The report was delivered one year after Macron’s controversial announcement in a speech at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina
- [18 Jewish Organizations Protest MENA Nationalization of Heritage to State Department](https://culturalpropertynews.org/18-jewish-organizations-protest-mena-nationalization-of-heritage-to-state-department/) - Eighteen Jewish organizations have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to protest the inclusion of objects of Jewish heritage in cultural property agreements with Middle Eastern and North African nations. Jewish and Christian ritual objects, including antique Torah scrolls, tombstones, books, Bibles and religious writings are covered under these agreements. Family
- [Uncertain Future for Golden Statue Holding Buddhist Mummy](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uncertain-future-for-golden-statue-holding-buddhist-mummy/) - A Dutch court decision on December 12, 2018 ended one chapter in the story of an unusual papier-mâché Buddhist statue containing a human mummy - but did not resolve a controversial situation or illuminate the path forward for the parties. On one side is a Dutch collector who claims to have purchased the statue in
- [ACCG Seeks Supreme Court Review in Coin Case](https://culturalpropertynews.org/accg-seeks-supreme-court-review-in-coin-case/) - This note follows on An Epic Battle: U.S. v. 3 Knife-Shaped Coins, Cultural Property News, October 15, 2018, which reported on the 9-year-long challenge in the courts to the U.S. State Department’s decision to place import restrictions on coins. The State Department did so despite the Cultural Property Advisor Committee's opposition, and went far beyond
- [AAIA Challenges Private Ownership of Native American Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/aaia-challenges-private-ownership-of-native-american-art/) - The Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA) is one of the oldest Native American organizations. Since 1922 it has been a voice for sovereignty and self-determination, challenging forced assimilation and oppressive institutions such as the boarding schools that attempted to eliminate Indian identity. The AAIA has now embraced a different focus for its advocacy: halting
- [Satellite Dishes on Ancient Tombs](https://culturalpropertynews.org/satellite-dishes-on-ancient-tombs/) - April 20, 2016. News reports from Delhi describing official neglect of cultural heritage have a way of resurfacing unchanged, years later. The cultural heritage narrative in India is not just about failure of government to properly attend to cultural and religious monuments; it’s about government’s total lack of response to severe cultural loss and the
- [Archaeologists Argue Over Source of Stonehenge’s Ancient 'Bluestones'](https://culturalpropertynews.org/archaeologists-argue-over-source-of-stonehenges-ancient-bluestones/) - Stonehenge, one of the most famous ancient monuments in the world, was constructed by ancient builders using the most primitive of tools during the Neolithic period, between 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Stonehenge’s largest standing stones are known to have been quarried from local sandstone, but its smaller ancient “bluestones” were thought to have come
- [Benin Dialog Group: Building and Filling a New Museum in Benin](https://culturalpropertynews.org/benin-dialog-group-building-and-filling-a-new-museum-in-benin/) - In late November 2018, a dramatic report urging French museums to send their entire collections of “looted” African art back to Africa was delivered by academics Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy to French President Emmanuel Macron. The report captured world headlines by calling for the return of many thousands of objects to Africa - France
- [Are We in for a Flood of “Sleeper” Claims?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/are-we-in-for-a-flood-of-sleeper-claims/) - On October 27, 2017, shortly before the gala opening of the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, a pair of prosecutors accompanied by three uniformed officers marched in and seized a small limestone relief fragment from the booth of well-known London dealer Rupert Wace. It was to
- [Paradigm Shift as Dealers Partner With Tribes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/paradigm-shift-art-dealers-partner-with-tribes-on-returning-sacred-objects/) - Art dealers, tribal members, collectors, legislators, appraisers and auctioneers filled a Santa Fe hotel ballroom to capacity and beyond to attend the May 22, 2017 symposium: “Understanding Cultural Property: A Path to Healing Through Communication.” The full day symposium, sponsored by ATADA, a professional trade group, and Santa Fe’s School for Advanced Research, centered around
- [Pandora's Big Disappointment](https://culturalpropertynews.org/pandoras-big-disappointment/) - January 23, 2016, updated January 30, 2017. A major investigation and interdiction program lasting over two months in 18 countries has had very small results . Press releases issued by Europol and the Spanish police state that the multi-country Operation Pandora resulted in seizures of 3500 items, about half of them archaeological. The photographs accompanying
- [Industry Behemoths Set Voluntary Rules for Art Business](https://culturalpropertynews.org/industry-behemoths-set-voluntary-rules-for-art-business/) - The Swiss Art Law Foundation, together with contributors from auction houses, major art galleries, insurers, law enforcement, and University of Geneva academics, have launched the Responsible Art Market Initiative, or RAM, setting guidelines for business practices throughout the art industry. The guidelines are voluntary. The RAM best practices for the entire range of art businesses
- [Anti-Money Laundering Campaign Trips… over the Truth](https://culturalpropertynews.org/anti-money-laundering-campaign-trips-over-the-truth/) - An October 12 event, The Art Market and Money Laundering: A Symposium, put on by Case Western University Law School and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), raised serious questions and concerns about proposals in Congress to require art dealers, auction houses, and collectibles sellers with over $50,000 in annual sales to follow the same
- [Rapa Nui Claims British Museum's Moai Sculpture](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rapa-nui-claims-british-museum-moai-sculpture/) - The Rapa Nui, people indigenous to Easter Island, have asked the British government to return one of the British Museum’s most viewed and treasured objects – the iconic stone moai statue called Hoa Hakananai'a. Moai, the giant stone monolithic figures representing ancestors and powerful chieftains, are synonymous with Rapa Nui, as Easter Island is now known.
- [Nabu Museum Opens in Lebanon](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nabu-museum-opens-in-lebanon/) - North of Beirut, overlooking a beautiful jetty on the Mediterranean Sea is Lebanon’s newly minted Nabu Museum. The museum was founded by three Middle Eastern businessmen in order to “provide a tranquil space for the preservation and creative pursuit of art and culture in a region of seemingly constant turmoil and strife.” From the thoughtful
- [Devotion and Decadence: at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World](https://culturalpropertynews.org/devotion-and-decadence-at-the-institute-for-the-study-of-the-ancient-world/) - Mercury was much venerated in Gaul. As Julius Caesar stated in his chronicle of the Gallic War: “Among the gods, they most worship Mercury. … they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making and traffic.” Announcement from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World exhibition, Devotion and Decadence: the Berthouville
- [Rockefeller Gifts Bring Indian Art Home to Southwest](https://culturalpropertynews.org/rockefeller-gifts-brings-indian-art-home-to-southwest/) - The Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado announced on October 18, 2018, that they have received major gifts of Native American Art from the Collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller, which has been held by the David Rockefeller Estate. Many of the works were
- [Bill Introduced to Regulate Export of U.S. Tribal Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bill-introduced-to-regulate-export-of-u-s-tribal-art/) - New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce has introduced a bill, H.R. 7075, the “Native American and Native Hawaiian Cultural Heritage Protection Act of 2018,” that will provide tribes with assurance that cultural items obtained in violation of U.S. laws will not be exported beyond the reach of legitimate tribal claimants. In a release on the day
- [Chinese Art Heists: Purloined Treasures](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chinese-art-heists-purloined-treasures/) - “They never really care about culture. This is the nature of the communists. To destroy the old world to rebuild the new one. They are not clear about what is most important in the so-called traditional art classics. The zodiac is the perfect example to show their ignorance on this matter.” Ai Weiwei in a
- [UK Law Would Deputize “Ivory Hunters” to Search and Seize](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-law-would-deputize-ivory-hunters-to-search-and-seize/) - “I do not want to over-dramatise, but this is Orwellian. We should not have anything to do with this in either House of Parliament.” Statement in the House of Lords by Patrick Thomas Cormack, Baron Cormack. Outrage erupted in the British Parliament this week over the threat to civil liberties in the UK’s pending Ivory
- [Mica Ertegun Gift to Restore Edicule in Church of Holy Sepulchre](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mica-ertegun-gift-to-restore-edicule-in-church-of-holy-sepulchre/) - Romanian-born interior designer Mica Ertegun has made the lead gift of $1.3 million to a World Monuments Fund campaign to restore the Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is said to contain both the site of Christ’s crucifixion (Calvary) and his empty tomb. The Edicule
- [Making Life Miserable for Museums, Again?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/making-life-miserable-for-museums-again/) - Zahi Hawass, the Honorary Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition Advisory Council, former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, former Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Vice Minister of Culture, has been named as an international ambassador for cultural heritage by the United Nations International Federation for Peace and Sustainable Development. Hawass moved quickly to
- [Bad Policy: Antiquities Coalition Draft “#CultureUnderThreat Task Force Report"](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bad-policy-antiquities-coalition-draft-cultureunderthreat-task-force-report/) - March 31, 2016. The Antiquities Coalition has created a “#CultureUnderThreat Task Force Report,” to be launched mid-April. A draft of the Proposed Solutions outlined in this report was circulated in February, asking for comments on approximately 40 recommendations contained in the draft report. Regrettably, while some suggestions are meritorious, and would direct US military and
- [U.S. Withdraws from UNESCO](https://culturalpropertynews.org/u-s-withdraws-from-unesco/) - Since the Department of State announcement of the United States’ withdrawal from UNESCO, CCP has received several inquiries regarding the effect of the withdrawal on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) and any requests from UNESCO member-nations. Others have wanted to know if the withdrawal would impact other US laws. The answer to both questions
- ["Plundered" Artifacts from Aged Missionary's Collection Go to Colombia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/plundered-artifacts-from-aged-missionarys-collection-go-to-colombia/) - On October 10, 2018, representatives of the FBI and U.S. State Department returned 38 ancient artifacts to Colombian officials in Washington, DC. Colombian Ambassador Francisco Santos characterized the objects as “plundered over decades by a modern-day Indiana Jones.” Jennifer Galt, a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural
- [Culture and Fashion: Betrayal is the New Black](https://culturalpropertynews.org/culture-and-fashion-betrayal-is-the-new-black/) - How are designs for fashion relevant to cultural heritage? Perhaps because their use shows how embracing alternative goals - like making money - can supplant and distort an artist’s vision. Guest author Mariam Hale shines a light on the difference between the intentions of artists of the past and the cynical realities of today, raising
- [Antiquities Coalition Proposes “Pollution Tax” on Art Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/antiquities-coalition-proposes-pollution-tax-on-art-trade/) - The Antiquities Coalition has published a policy brief proposing a 10% or higher “pollution tax” on legitimate sales of Native American art and antiquities. In 2016, this same organization urged passage of the TAAR Act in Congress. TAAR amended the National Stolen Property Act to turn any cultural item valued over $50, exported at any
- [Will Iraqi Jewish Heritage Stay in US?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/will-iraqi-jewish-heritage-stay-in-us/) - “These invaluable cultural treasures, like a prayer book and Torah scrolls, belong to the people and their descendants, who were forced to leave them behind as they were exiled from Iraq. The State Department should make clear to the Iraqi government that the artifacts should continue to stay in the United States.” Senator Charles Schumer
- [Mes Aynak: Corruption, Copper and a Nation’s Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mes-aynak-corruption-copper-and-a-nations-heritage/) - “Preserving our heritage is so important... The relics we find don’t just belong to the Afghans — they belong to the world.” Abdul Khalid Khorshid, Afghan archaeologist, quoted in Copper mining will crush ancient Afghan site, Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2011 “A cultural wonder in Asia will be lost to a future
- [A Culture Destroyed: China Expunges Uyghur Identity](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-culture-destroyed-china-expunges-uyghur-identity/) - “Before meals, inmates chant, “Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi,” and sing revolutionary songs such as “Without the Communist Party, there is no New China.” …They must apologize repeatedly for wearing long clothes in Muslim style, praying, teaching the Qur’an to their children. Those who refuse to do so are punished with
- [Update: Up to 25% Tariffs on Chinese Art Will Expand China’s Monopoly](https://culturalpropertynews.org/proposed-tariffs-on-chinese-art-will-expand-chinas-art-monopoly/) - The Trump administration has upped proposed retaliatory tariffs on Chinese artworks, antiques, and historical and archaeological materials to 25%. U.S. museums, collectors, and art dealers fear that this will severely disadvantage them in the world market and deplete available materials for future museum donation. For the last 90 years, there have been no customs duties
- [Nigeria: Kano's Walls Will Disappear](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nigeria-kanos-walls-will-disappear/) - Urban Site at Risk in Northern Nigeria Today, Kano is the second largest city in Nigeria, a nation in which the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty, despite the country being the sixth largest oil producer in the world. The ancient earthen wall surrounding the old city of Kano is one of the
- [Whose Truth? NYT Journalist Accused of Stealing Cultural Property](https://culturalpropertynews.org/whose-truth-nyt-journalist-condemned-for-cultural-appropriation/) - A series of investigative reports in the New York Times by foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi has prompted acclaim by most and criticism by a few for her use of abandoned documents recording the non-military activities of ISIS in their occupied territories. Interestingly, some of the loudest criticisms of the Times’ publication of this original source
- [Norwegian Library to Bring African Literature to a World Audience](https://culturalpropertynews.org/norwegian-library-to-bring-african-literature-to-a-world-audience/) - Image: National Library building in Oslo, Av Hans-Petter Fjeld – Eget verk, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1066628 A unprecedented digitization project, sponsored by the National Library of Norway in Oslo, demonstrates Norway’s commitment to ensuring that a diverse global population will have access to literature in their mother-tongues, no matter where in the world they live.
- [Reform of U.S. Cultural Property Policy: Accountability, Transparency, and Legal Certainty](https://culturalpropertynews.org/reform-of-u-s-cultural-property-policy-accountability-transparency-and-legal-certainty/) - Highlights of the Cardozo Law School Symposium – Reform of U.S. Cultural Property Policy: Accountability, Transparency, and Legal Certainty An overflow audience of over 250 people filled the Benjamin Cardozo Law School auditorium at the April 10, 2014 symposium sponsored by the Arts and Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) and the Committee for Cultural Policy, a
- [‘Traffic’ Says UK Ivory Antiques Trade Won’t Harm Elephants](https://culturalpropertynews.org/traffic-says-uk-ivory-antiques-trade-wont-harm-elephants/) - Richard Thomas, speaking for the non-governmental organization Traffic, the leading analysts and experts on the trade in ivory, said the UK’s proposed ban on antique ivory sales would not in fact, harm elephant populations. Traffic’s research has found that a ban on the trade of antique ivory goods in the UK would not impact the
- [News from Turkey: Finding an Ancient Statue, Flooding an Antique Town, and Cancelling a Modern Art Biennal](https://culturalpropertynews.org/news-from-turkey-finding-an-ancient-statue-flooding-an-antique-town-and-cancelling-a-modern-art-biennal/) - A complete, exceptionally rare, and beautiful stone figure of a woman has been found at Çatalhöyük in Konya province, Turkey. The statue is estimated to be 8,000 years old Çatalhöyük is a Neolithic and Chalcolithic site dating from about 7500 to 5700 BCE. Its eighteen level of settlement have left behind a large mound, the
- [We Don’t Need No Algerian Blockade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/we-dont-need-no-algerian-blockade/) - Warning: The conversation you are about to read (in BOLD) is totally imaginary. The individuals described do not represent any actual persons. Besides, the real discussions are so secret, we have to guess how the discussion went. The rest, we stand by. Ring, ring…hello? This is the Department of State. Can we interest you in
- [Bulgaria and Honduras Import Restrictions Coming Before CPAC](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bulgaria-and-honduras-import-blockades-coming-before-cpac/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance will submit testimony to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the Department of State on two proposed renewals of agreements to bar entry to the U.S. of “cultural property” from Bulgaria and Honduras, and also on the new Request from the People's Democratic Republic of
- [Maori Mokomokai to Return to New Zealand](https://culturalpropertynews.org/maori-mokomokai-to-return-to-new-zealand/) - The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of World Cultures in Cologne, Germany announced that it would return a mokomokai - a Maori tattooed preserved head - to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa - as part of Germany’s 15-year plan to return indigenous cultural property back to its original owners. The head had been in the
- [New Import Requirements for Ancient & Ethnographic Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-import-requirements-for-ancient-ethnographic-art/) - Note: The Committee for Cultural Policy provides this website solely for informational purposes. Nothing herein is intended to constitute legal advice. There are changes under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2018) Revision 6, Annotated for Statistical Reporting Purposes that have implications for importers of ethnographic and archaeological objects as well as coin collectors.
- [Mexico: Art in the Time of Restrictive Export Laws](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mexico-art-in-the-time-of-restrictive-export-laws/) - A nation’s cultural policy is usually framed and presented to the public as regulatory law intended to protect that nation’s particular history, identity, and traditions. Because of this conceptual justification for cultural property legislation, most people assume that such laws are limited to the regulation of archaeological excavations and the trade in ancient art. However,
- [Collecting ancient art, an old tradition under attack.](https://culturalpropertynews.org/collecting-ancient-art-an-old-tradition-under-attack/) - Vincent Geerling, Chairman of the Board of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA), granted CCP permission to print his text (below) and link to the video of his presentation, “Collecting ancient art, an old tradition under attack.“ Mr. Geerling lectured at the ArtConnoisseurs 2016 series, held in conjunction with Cultures – The World
- [No More “Good Provenance”](https://culturalpropertynews.org/no-more-good-provenance/) - A March 2013 Sotheby’s Paris auction sale of Pre-Columbian art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum should have been an “Ah-ha!” moment for U.S. museums and collectors. The controversy surrounding the auction starkly illuminated the legal uncertainties faced by U.S. museums and private collectors when they buy art overseas. In the weeks prior to the Paris sale,
- [Heritage Responders and Caribbean Museums in Crisis](https://culturalpropertynews.org/crisis-intervention-curbs-hurricane-devastation-at-caribbean-museums/) - Between August 18th and September 18th, 2017, one hurricane after another ravaged the Caribbean. First Hurricane Harvey, then Irma, Jose, and finally Maria slammed into many of the 28 Caribbean island nations. Puerto Rico, Cuba, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Martin and Saint Barthélemy, Anguilla, the Leeward Islands, Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic and
- [Westminster Abbey Repatriation Claim From Ethiopia](https://culturalpropertynews.org/westminster-abbey-repatriation-claim-from-ethiopia/) - The Ethiopian government announced that it is seeking the return of a sacred object in Westminster Abbey, called a tabot, that was looted from an Abyssinian church after the battle of Maqdala (also known as Magdala) in 1868. Tabot are tablets made of either wood or stone, and often inscribed. Tabot are not considered suitable
- [Update: Art Trade Reacts to Threatened Bank Secrecy Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/congressman-wants-bank-secrecy-act-to-regulate-art-trade/) - UPDATE June 25, 2018. CINOA, the largest global art and antiques trade association, has issued a letter opposing proposed U.S. legislation, HR 5886, that would apply the Bank Secrecy Act to dealers in art and antiquities. Regulation could require U.S. art and antique dealers with as little as $50,000 in annual purchases/sales to report transactions
- [A Forgotten Connection: Rembrandt and the Art of Mughal India](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-forgotten-connection-rembrandt-and-the-art-of-mughal-india/) - Rembrandt and India Few artistic traditions seem as distinct, at first glance, as those of the 17th century Netherlandish artists, and their counterparts in far-away Mughal India. Yet an exhibit at the Getty Museum reveals an unexpected history of interaction between the artists’ studios of Northern Europe and the ateliers of the Mughal princes. Trade
- [Ethiopia: We Want Our Art Back, Not Long Term Loans](https://culturalpropertynews.org/controversy-over-ethiopian-and-benin-treasures/) - There have been new developments in the ongoing negotiations between a group of British museums and the African nations which claim ownership of artworks in their collections. Recent efforts by British museums to improve relations with their African counterparts have hit a speed bump. Last month, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum opened a new exhibition,
- [CPAC Testimony: Will US Extend China's Cultural Monopoly?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cpac-testimony-us-grants-china-cultural-monopoly/) - On May 2, 2018, the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs held a one hour “virtual” meeting to take public input on the proposed renewal until 2024 of an already ten-year-long ban on the importation of Chinese art into the U.S. The ban covers virtually
- [EU Adds Art Dealers to Money Laundering Rules](https://culturalpropertynews.org/eu-adds-art-dealers-to-money-laundering-rules/) - On April 19, the European Parliament gave its approval (by 574 votes to 13) to a 5th update of anti-money laundering regulations, this time adding art and antiques dealers to its Annex III categories of business at high risk for involvement in money-laundering. In a press release on May 23, 2018, the European Commission stated
- [AAMD Sanctions Museums for Selling Artworks](https://culturalpropertynews.org/aamd-sanctions-museums-for-selling-artworks/) - The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) announced that it was placing formal sanctions on the Berkshire Museum and the La Salle University Art Museum. The decision was prompted by the two museums' choice to use proceeds from the sale of artwork for operating budgets or expansions. AAMD policy requires that proceeds from sales only
- [US Monuments and the Southwestern Cultural Landscape](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-monuments-and-the-southwestern-cultural-landscape/) - “The Hopi footprints and clouds are part of a living, sacred landscape that nourishes and sustains Hopi identity. This landscape is steeped in cultural values and maintained through oral traditions, songs, ceremonial dances, pilgrimages, and stewardship.” Letter from The Hopi Tribe to President Barak Obama and Utah Senators and Congressmen, dated September 30, 2014. Most
- [Proposed EU Rules on Asian, Islamic and Antiquities Trade](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-eu-rules-will-halt-asian-islamic-and-antiquities-trade/) - There’s a surreal quality to the European Commission’s procedures for enacting regulations to restrict the trade in 'cultural goods.' That’s not a good thing; especially since a dose of reality is what’s been missing from the EU's cultural property debate. Only in the most recent European Commission's discussions has it become clear that the primary
- [Chilkat Blanket Return: Myths, Legends and Facts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/chilkat-blanket-return-myths-legends-and-facts/) - There are many falsehoods surrounding the collecting of American Indian Art. These myths are often perpetuated by the media and cemented in the minds of an ill-informed public. A more nuanced understanding of the roles certain objects play in Native American culture is therefore necessary. This brief essay highlights a particular event in which myth,
- [Greater Chaco Leases OK'd: Natives, Environmentalists Stunned](https://culturalpropertynews.org/judge-in-chaco-canyon-drilling-case-dismisses-suit/) - Plaintiffs Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, San Juan Citizens Alliance, WildEarth Guardians and the Natural Resources Defense Council have lost their bid to protect ancient Puebloan land surrounding World Heritage site Chaco Canyon from drilling and fracking. Judge James O. Browning indicated in a preliminary order that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was
- [Will US Embargo on Art of China & Tibet Be Renewed?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/testimony-on-renewal-of-us-embargo-on-art-of-china-tibet/) - Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance[1] Testimony submitted to Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the Request for Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China Submitted April 9, 2018 for the May 2-4
- [To Repatriate or Not to Repatriate: That is the Question](https://culturalpropertynews.org/to-repatriate-or-not-to-repatriate-that-is-the-question/) - A cultural property-oriented restatement of Shakespeare’s Danish prince Hamlet’s lament - to repatriate or not to repatriate - was the question recently posed by Turkey to a Danish museum. ‘We choose not to repatriate, thank you very much,’ was the response by the David Collection to a request for Islamic period items Turkey claims were
- [Snow and Ice Archaeology in a Changing World Climate](https://culturalpropertynews.org/snow-and-ice-archaeology-in-a-changing-world-climate/) - Melting glaciers and thawing permafrost from climate change offer opportunities for researchers, but can also result in the tragic loss of archaeological sites. Since the earliest discoveries of frozen nomad tombs and prehistoric specimens, archaeologists have relied on permafrost to preserve sites for future excavation and study. They can no longer count on this today.
- [Returning African Heritage From Global Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/highlighting-african-heritage-in-both-worlds/) - In November of 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron made a dramatic speech about the future of African art in France’s public collections. Before an audience at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Macron said that “in the next five years, I want the conditions to be met for the temporary or permanent restitution of
- [UK Imposes Strict Ivory Sales Ban](https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-imposes-strict-ivory-sales-ban/) - The government of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) has announced the terms of its ban on sales of ivory. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said on April 2, 2018 that "Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol." The UK ban was driven by concern
- [Cultural Property: Rights of Jewish and Christian Minorities](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cultural-property-agreements-and-the-rights-of-ethnic-minorities-in-the-middle-east/) - ­ CCP-CULTURAL PROPERTY AGREEMENTS AND THE RIGHTS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES: CULTURAL PROPERTY AGREEMENTS AND THE RIGHTS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST[1] A DISTURBING PATTERN OF MOUS: IRAQ, SYRIA, EGYPT, LIBYA, and NEXT... YEMEN? In February 2018, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), with the support of the United States Department of State, published
- [BLM Failed to Comply with National Historic Preservation Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/blm-failed-to-comply-with-national-historic-preservation-act/) - In early March 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) made an internal decision to defer an oil and gas lease sale near Chaco Culture National Historic Park. The BLM cited the need to complete an extensive cultural report under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Then, in a wholly separate
- [Visual Politics - Protests and the Art Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/visual-politics-protests-and-the-art-museum/) - This year, the Louvre became the target - and the stage - for a demonstration by the activist group Libérons le Louvre. Today’s protesters are incensed by the Louvre’s willingness to accept financial support from the global energy company Total. They see the partnership as contrary to the humanist principles which ought to govern the
- [Celebrating 15 Years of Import Restrictions?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/celebrating-15-years-of-import-restrictions/) - It is shocking to see the website of the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs announce a “celebration” of the 15th anniversary of the the bilateral agreement banning the importation of ancient art from Italy. Since when are continuing restrictions on the free flow of art into the US regarded as cause
- [Mark B. Feldman: Reform of U.S. Cultural Property Policy](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mark-b-feldman-reform-of-u-s-cultural-property-policy/) - Commentary by Mark B. Feldman Esq.[1] Symposium: Reform of U.S. Cultural Property Policy: Accountability, Transparency, and Legal Certainty Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York, N.Y. April 10, 2014 Thank you for inviting me to provide background for this Panel on the 1970 UNESCO Cultural Property Convention[2] and the 1983 implementing legislation (the “CCPIA”).[3]
- [Now That Jews Are Gone, Egypt Says It Will Restore Sites](https://culturalpropertynews.org/now-that-jews-are-gone-egypt-says-it-will-restore-sites/) - The last Jews in Egypt will have no say in the treatment of their history. No more than 18 elderly individuals now remain in Egypt, out of a population of 80,000-100,000 Jews in the middle of the last century. Virtually all Egyptian Jews left Egypt in forced emigrations in the mid 20th century. About a
- [Art in the Time of Facebook: Prehistoric Sculpture Censored By Social Media](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-in-the-time-of-facebook-pre-historic-sculpture-censored-by-social-media/) - The Venus of Willendorf is a limestone figurine, probably carved between 25,000 and 28,000 BCE. It depicts a corpulent nude woman with exaggerated breasts and pudenda, tiny arms, and no facial features. Her bowed head is crowned with what might be closely braided hair and might be a woven cap. Though not the oldest known
- [Thailand Wants Major Statues Collected in 1960s Back from US Museums](https://culturalpropertynews.org/thailand-wants-major-statues-collected-in-1960s-from-us-museums/) - In the latest international patrimony claim against US collections, Thailand’s culture minister Veera Rojpojchanarat has called for the return of 23 antiquities from U.S. museums. The Kingdom of Thailand is seeking eighteen Buddhist statues presently in the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- [American Jewish Groups Outraged by US Agreement with Libya](https://culturalpropertynews.org/american-jewish-groups-outraged-by-state-department-agreement-with-libya/) - On February 23, 2018 the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Libya to restrict importation of objects of ‘Libyan cultural heritage’ made prior to 1911. Jewish groups are outraged and say the MOU legitimizes the confiscation of Jewish property seized by Libya’s government when they were forced from the country. Others in
- [Indian and Pacific Island Heritage Disappears Beneath the Waves](https://culturalpropertynews.org/indian-and-pacific-ocean-island-nations-disappear-beneath-the-waves/) - The cultural heritage world is well aware that infrastructure development, from dams to metro building, can lead to both archeological discoveries and the loss or destruction of cultural resources. The demolition of a building in Mexico City may reveal a new temple to the Aztec wind god Ehécatl; an Incan pyramid is destroyed to make
- [Art Dealer Program Brings Over 100 Artifacts Back to Tribes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-dealer-program-brings-over-100-artifacts-back-to-tribes/) - ATADA, the largest US professional organization of art dealers specializing in Native American and international tribal art, has returned over 100 ceremonial artifacts to Southwestern Indian tribes. Today’s announcement celebrates the phenomenal success of ATADA’s Voluntary Returns Program, and the work of its founder, ATADA Board member Robert Gallegos, who has spearheaded the program since
- [Chaco Canyon Update: BLM Delays Leases Affecting Industry, Indians, Archaeologists](https://culturalpropertynews.org/industry-indians-and-archaeologists-battle-over-chaco-canyon/) - Chaco Culture Update Citing the “administration’s priorities of being a good neighbor and building trust with tribal governments," the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that it would delay a New Mexico oil and gas lease sale near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park that it had scheduled for March
- [Frida Kahlo Barbie Sparks Protests](https://culturalpropertynews.org/frida-kahlo-barbie-sparks-protests/) - Mattel Inc. is an American toy company best known for its children’s fashion dolls, Barbie and Ken. Mattel has been criticized for many years for Barbie’s unnatural physical proportions, as well as for marketing Barbie in a way that directs girls towards shopping, dating, and frivolous fun, and away from education, careers, and self-empowerment. After
- [Re-Discovering the Classics](https://culturalpropertynews.org/re-discovering-the-classics/) - Two unusual exhibitions featuring the art of ancient Greece have opened recently, one in New York, the other in London. Both call attention to the ongoing importance of Greek and Roman antiquities in the modern world, by exploring how classical antiquities have been a source of inspiration for writers and artists for millennia – and
- [China & US: Human Rights Versus Cultural Property Claims](https://culturalpropertynews.org/china-human-rights-versus-cultural-property-claims/) - Here’s the situation: one bureau in the US Department of State condemns a foreign government for committing human rights atrocities against cultural and religious minorities. Another State Department bureau officially recognizes that same foreign government’s control over the cultural heritage of the same persecuted religious minorities. How does this make sense? The question is raised
- [Nations Meet in Alternative Universe in Which They Support Cultural Tolerance](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nations-meet-in-alternative-universe-in-which-they-support-cultural-tolerance/) - Ten nations met in Athens this week at an “Ancient Civilizations Forum.” The aim of the meeting, which produced no plan of action, was to combat ISIS’s ongoing destruction of ancient sites in Syria and northern Iraq through the creation of a “new coalition to protect ancient heritage from extremism and senseless destruction.” Representatives came
- [Two Sides to Louvre Abu Dhabi Opening](https://culturalpropertynews.org/two-sides-to-louvre-abu-dhabi-opening/) - The Louvre Abu Dhabi (LAD) opened on November 11, 2017 with three days of celebration. Tickets sold out for the opening day, LAD honored educators with workshops and LAD resources for their classrooms, Malian singer, dancer, musician and actress Fatoumata Diawara and French-Lebanese world musician Ibrahim Maalouf performed at the opening of the first “universal
- [Ritual Experience in New London Mithraeum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ritual-experience-in-new-london-mithraeum/) - A multisensory exhibit incorporating light, sound, haze, and shadow over reconstructed ruins is bringing an ancient temple for the worship of the Roman god Mithras alive for modern visitors. The London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE opened its doors on November 14th in Bloomberg’s new London headquarters. In addition to the Mithras temple, the Bloomberg SPACE highlights
- [Egyptian Coptic Museum Overlooked](https://culturalpropertynews.org/egyptian-coptic-museum-overlooked/) - A little known Coptic museum in Egypt would like more visitors, more money and a better security system. Egypt’s disorganized museum and antiquities cultural management system has left a small museum dedicated to Egypt’s Coptic heritage barely hanging on. Cairo’s Coptic Museum holds one of the largest collections of Coptic artifacts in the world, but
- [Broken Promises, Dirty Dealings by Tongan Government](https://culturalpropertynews.org/broken-promises-dirty-dealings-by-tongan-government/) - Less than two years after promising to protect the complex of Sia Heu Lupe and related mounds in Popua, the Tongan government has deliberately destroyed it. Sia Heu Lupe is a 600-year-old heritage site on shallow tide-water and reef lands in Tongatapu. Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva has refused to state where the money for the
- [Tuareg Art and Crafts May Be Next on US Embargo List](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tuareg-art-and-crafts-may-be-next-on-us-embargo-list/) - A popular type of ethnographic art may soon be subject to a US embargo, if Libya has its way. A Libyan-Request to halt imports of tribal Tuareg art is a further expansion of the already very broad restrictions on importation of global art into the US. Tribal and ethnographic art professional and collector group ATADA has
- [Colombia Seeks Bids for Salvage of $1 Billion Shipwreck](https://culturalpropertynews.org/colombia-seeks-bids-for-salvage-of-1-billion-shipwreck/) - A fabled Spanish shipwreck may soon see the light, if investors are willing to engage with Colombian officials and agree on a plan to lift its treasure from the sea for Nearly a week after announcing a proposal from a private investor to bring the Spanish shipwreck, the San Jose, and its multi billion-dollar treasure
- [French Scientists Reveal “True Colors” of Sainte-Chapelle Apostles](https://culturalpropertynews.org/french-scientists-reveal-true-colors-of-sainte-chapelle-apostles/) - Six of the twelve original statues of Christ’s apostles from Paris’ Sainte-Chapelle are undergoing tests to discover their original colors and methods of construction. Deep in the bowels of the Louvre, at the museum’s restoration and research center known as C2RMF, scientists are using x-ray and ultraviolet scans and “taking tiny samples from ‘the sandwich
- [Restrictive German Cultural Property Law Now In English](https://culturalpropertynews.org/restrictive-german-cultural-property-law-now-in-english/) - The German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium der Justiz und fur Verbraucherschutz) has issued* an English translation of the Cultural Property Protection Act of 31 July 2016**. A 400-page practice-guidebook explaining how to interpret the law has not been translated. There is, however, no good news anywhere for traders or collectors of
- [UNESCO Declares Tomb of Patriarchs to be Palestinian World Heritage Site](https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-declares-tomb-of-patriarchs-to-be-palestinian-world-heritage-site/) - On July 7, UNESCO declared the core of the Old City of Hebron to be a Palestinian World Heritage site. UNESCO also added it to the World Heritage in Danger List, specifically naming the burial place of the biblical patriarch Abraham and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob as at risk. This site is holy
- [Ancient Roots of Wine-making at Cite du Vin](https://culturalpropertynews.org/exhibition-ancient-roots-of-wine-making-in-georgia/) - France’s premier wine museum, La Cité du Vin, which presents the history and glories of wine-making, opened its first ‘Guest Wine Region’ temporary exhibition at the end of July with a tribute to Georgia, an ancient land nestled at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Entitled Georgia, Cradle of Viticulture, the exhibit discusses the 8,000 year-old
- [“Little Pompeii” Found Outside Vienne, France](https://culturalpropertynews.org/little-pompeii-found-outside-vienne-france/) - Astonishingly well-preserved remains of homes, shops and a school, comprising virtually an entire Roman neighborhood from the 1st century CE, have been discovered beneath land being prepared for a housing complex at the edge of the town of Vienne, France. A 20-person team led by archaeologist Benjamin Clement is working at the site. Clement told
- [Archaeology Proxy for Politics in Turkey](https://culturalpropertynews.org/archaeology-proxy-for-politics-in-turkey/) - According to The Armenian Weekly, and other news sources, Turkish government-appointed trustee, Atıf Çiçekli, of Edremit Municipality in Van Province desecrated an historic Armenian cemetery and other historic sites when he ordered the building of toilets for a recently developed public beach. Bones were purportedly scattered from the 24 graves of the old cemetery. The
- [Theft of Viking Treasure Devastates Norwegian Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/theft-of-viking-treasure-devastates-norwegian-museum/) - Sometime over the August 11-13th weekend, thieves climbed up scaffolding to the seventh floor of the University Museum of Bergen, Norway, broke a window, and stole 400 Viking artifacts from the Cultural History Collections. The objects were in temporary storage; museum staff had planned to move them to a more secure location the following week.
- [Land Grab at 3rd Millennium Site in Gaza – Hamas versus Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/land-grab-at-3rd-millennium-site-in-gaza-hamas-versus-heritage/) - The oldest documented Egyptian walled city, Tell Es-Sakan, was found by accident in Gaza in 1988, during deep trenching for the foundations for several high-rise buildings. Construction was halted for archaeological teams to begin excavation. French and Palestinian archeologists Pierre de Miroschedji and Mouin Sadeq discovered the remnants of a Canaanite/Egyptian city that existed over
- [US Leaves UNESCO](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-leaves-unesco/) - Since the Department of State announcement of the United States’ withdrawal from UNESCO, CCP has received several inquiries regarding the effect of the withdrawal on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) and any requests from UNESCO member-nations. Others have wanted to know if the withdrawal would impact other US laws. The answer to both questions
- [Classical Film-making: Muscles, Gore and Mythical Monsters](https://culturalpropertynews.org/classical-film-making-muscles-gore-and-mythical-monsters/) - For centuries, the societies of ancient Greece and Rome have been esteemed in the West as paragons of cultural excellence. Greek and Roman art, literature, politics, and philosophy have reigned supreme in the Western world’s collective historical consciousness. Latin remained the lingua franca of intellectual and religious discourse long after it was displaced as the
- [New York District Attorney Goes After Art Collections](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-york-district-attorney-goes-after-art-collections/) - New Antiquities Trafficking Bureau at NY Prosecutor’s Office Over the last few months, headline seizures of artworks from well-known private and public art collections dating back twenty, fifty, and even seventy years have raised questions about the methods of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. In January, warrants for artworks with an exhibition and ownership history
- [NY Cops Seize Panel with 70 Years Provenance](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ny-cops-seize-panel-with-70-years-provenance/) - A prosecutor from the New York County District Attorney’s office walked into the booth of English art dealer Rupert Wace at the gala opening of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) at New York’s Park Avenue Armory on October 27. He was holding a search warrant and accompanied by uniformed police officers, who seized a
- [EMTs for US Heritage: National Heritage Responders](https://culturalpropertynews.org/emts-for-us-heritage-national-heritage-responders/) - The Committee for Cultural Policy spoke with Jessica Unger, Emergency Programs Coordinator for the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation about her work and the work of the National Heritage Responders (NHR) (formerly “AIC-CERT.”) What are the key elements of your program? I’ll start from the beginning and how the National Heritage Responders function
- [Salmonella May Have Caused Millions of Aztec Deaths](https://culturalpropertynews.org/salmonella-may-have-caused-millions-of-aztec-deaths/) - Between 1520 CE and 1581 CE, three deadly epidemics wiped out an estimated 80% of the indigenous population of the Valley of Mexico. The first epidemic from 1520-1521 was clearly identified as smallpox at the time of the conquest. It took the lives of up to 8 million Aztec people, who had no resistance to
- [French Town Seeks Bust Sold By Parish Priest 100+ Years Ago](https://culturalpropertynews.org/french-town-seeks-bust-sold-by-parish-priest-in-1906/) - In early January, the mayor of Saint-Yrieix-La-Perche, a village of around 7,000 in west-central France, sent a letter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York demanding the restitution of the reliquary of its namesake Saint Yrieix. The gold and silver reliquary bust, which at one time contained a piece of the saint’s skull,
- ['Historic Environment Scotland' Tackles Climate Change](https://culturalpropertynews.org/climate-change-threatens-scotlands-heritage/) - As sea levels rise and extreme weather events become more common, there is increased attention worldwide regarding the impact of climate change on cultural heritage sites. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in conjunction with the Union of Concerned Scientists, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Conservation Monitoring Center
- [Museums Can Help to Save the World](https://culturalpropertynews.org/museums-can-help-to-save-the-world/) - “How Museums Can Help to Save the World” is an inspiring interview by Gesine Bahr-Reisinger with Stefan Weber, Director of Berlin’s Museum für Islamische Kunst, for the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation). A substantial grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a fresh reason to celebrate the remarkable work of Berlin's Museum
- [Native Visions - Photographs by Don Kirby](https://culturalpropertynews.org/native-visions-photographs-by-don-kirby/) - Cultural Property News is privileged to share images of ancient Native American dwellings and rock drawings by photographer Don Kirby. All images are copyright Don Kirby. Kirby and his wife, photographer Joan Gentry, have walked hundred of miles across the Southwest to memorialize relics of the ancient Puebloan culture. The images in this group of
- [Catalonia Seeks Independence: Spain Orders Art Returned](https://culturalpropertynews.org/catalonia-seeks-independence-spain-orders-art-returned/) - In a startling example of how museums are caught in political controversies, the first orders issued by the central government of Spain after suspending the pro-independence government of Catalonia required a Catalonian museum to send artworks to neighboring Aragon. The orders were the first made after a decision by Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to
- [Museums Around the World Display Global Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/museums-around-the-world-display-global-heritage/) - Exhibitions Highlight Scholarship and Enduring Traditions. Everyone is fascinated to learn about their family tree, or the amazing and complex contributions from around the world in their genetic background. Where can you learn about the glories and accomplishments that make up your cultural history? Certainly, you can find information in libraries or on the Internet,
- [Germany Denies Immunity for Dead Sea Scrolls](https://culturalpropertynews.org/germany-denies-immunity-for-dead-sea-scrolls/) - The Dead Sea Scrolls left Israel for the first time in 2005. They were displayed in Berlin, Germany at the Martin Gropius Bau exhibition hall, in an exhibit entitled "The New Hebrews, 100 years of art in Israel", an event organized to commemorate 40 years of diplomatic ties between Israel and what was then West
- [Düsseldorf Mayor Cancels Stern Exhibition - Then Reverses Decision](https://culturalpropertynews.org/dusseldorf-mayor-cancels-stern-exhibition-reverses-decision/) - Updated December 28, 2017. The Mayor of Düsseldorf, Thomas Geisel, in response to international uproar over the cancellation of the exhibition, “Max Stern — From Düsseldorf to Montreal," announced today that the exhibition will go forward, but the opening will be delayed until October 2018, and an international symposium on Stern will be organized by
- [Mobile Herders or Teenage Warriors from the Steppe?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/mobile-herders-or-teenage-warriors-from-the-steppe/) - Two pioneering studies on ancient DNA continue to shed light on ancient Central Asian and northern Russian steppe pastoralists’ contribution to European genetics and culture. While the two competing theories disagree whether there was a massive sudden sweep of pastoralists called the Yamnaya into European regions 5000 years ago or whether they arrived over an
- [Longstanding Federal Policy Threatened by Indian Art Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/stop-act-remains-present-threat-for-museums-collectors-tribal-economies-2/) - At the end of 2017, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sent nine bills to the Senate floor for passage - all passed with Unanimous Consent. The Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act, S. 1400, known as the STOP Act, was NOT among them. It appears that a number of Senators on the Indian Affairs Committee
- [“I Must Have It!” Art, Crime and Value in Film](https://culturalpropertynews.org/i-must-have-it-art-crime-and-value-in-film/) - First in a series on the representation of cultural property in popular culture. Cultural property is generally defined as artifacts, artworks, texts, or historic locations, important to a nation, a people, or to humanity as "cultural heritage." In the modern world, places or objects designated as cultural property can serve many purposes. They attract tourists,
- [Getty Paper Challenges Nationalist Cultural Heritage Policies](https://culturalpropertynews.org/getty-paper-challenges-cultural-heritage-policies/) - The first J. Paul Getty Occasional Paper in Public Policy is Cultural Cleansing and Mass Atrocities: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict Zones, published December 2017. While Cultural Cleansing and Mass Atrocities is intended to “provide guidance about how best to pursue an international framework for the protection of cultural heritage in wars," the 45
- [US Blocks Import of Art and Artifacts from Libya](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-blocks-import-of-art-and-artifacts-from-libya/) - Emergency Restrictions on import of objects into the United States from Libya were announced on December 5, 2017. Objects of material culture from Libya will be blocked from entry to the U.S. until at least May 30, 2022. The list of prohibited items ranges from architectural items to statuary, furniture, inscriptions, tools, weapons, jewelry, seals
- [CCP Testimony on 2017 STOP Act](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ccp-testimony-to-senate-indian-affairs/) - Mr. Chairman, my name is Kate Fitz Gibbon and I am the Executive Director of the Committee for Cultural Policy, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the American public and urging an open discourse as the foundation of a balanced cultural policy in the US. The Committee for Cultural Policy supports museums and the museum
- [Philippine's Duterte Demands Bells Back](https://culturalpropertynews.org/president-duterte-of-philippines-demands-repatriation/) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is probably best known for promoting the extra-judicial murder of thousands of drug dealers, users, and others on the fringes of Filipino society. He is also famous for verbally attacking anyone critical of his regime, including the United States’ government. Late July, in Duterte’s State of the Nation speech, he lambasted
- [Peabody-Essex Artifacts Go Back to Tribes](https://culturalpropertynews.org/native-american-collection-goes-to-peabody-essex-museum/) - Twenty-seven years after passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), neither the 210 year-old Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) nor the Peabody Essex Museum, which housed the ANTS collection of 1,100 Native American artifacts for over seventy years, had cataloged the collection under NAGPRA or notified possible tribal claimants. According to
- [New Art Law for India?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/new-art-law-for-india/) - India’s antiquities laws are widely regarded – in India – as failing to serve the nation’s most basic requirements for administering cultural heritage. Current laws are mired in a veritable swamp of bureaucracy. There are thousands of Indian communities with important sites that are left unprotected. Communication between the central administration, government archaeologists, customs, police,
- [Tsirogiannis: Master of the Blame-Game Goes After Frieze Masters](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tsirogiannis-master-of-the-blame-game-goes-after-frieze-masters/) - Christos Tsirogiannis, the media savvy ‘sleuth’ who uses secret police files available only to him to identify artworks associated with discredited dealers, has struck again. Tsirogiannis generated headlines when he announced that two vases in a booth at the Frieze Masters art fair in London were once associated with Sicilian dealer Gianfranco Becchina. The announcement
- [Economic Policy Not Opium Caused China Collapse](https://culturalpropertynews.org/economic-policy-not-opium-caused-china-collapse/) - Dr. Werner Burger’s two-volume book Ch’ing Cash, makes the case that the decline of China’s Qing dynasty was not caused by the draining of silver through the opium trade, but by a complete lack of understanding in the Qing administration of how monetary systems should be managed. Dr. Burger’s extraordinary and meticulous research has spanned
- [Second opinion: Bad Data on US Cambodia MOU](https://culturalpropertynews.org/dubious-data-on-cambodia-from-the-antiquities-coalition/) - An advance report authored by Ms. Katie Paul is circulating on the Antiquities Coalition website and was presented in public testimony to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) meeting on the request for renewal of import restrictions by Cambodia. The report not only illustrates how easy it is to tell half the story to advance
- [US Gives China License to Loot](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-gives-china-license-to-loot/) - A booming market for Chinese artwork and antiquities in Mainland China makes a mockery of a US-China agreement in place since 2009 and due for renewal in 2018. The same objects restricted from import into the US are now sold in galleries and at auction right next door to the People’s Republic in semi-independent Hong
- [100 Year Negotiation Won’t Bring Books Home](https://culturalpropertynews.org/100-year-negotiation-wont-bring-books-home/) - When Russian Zionists bought Baron David Günzburg’s collection of 2,000 manuscripts and 14,000 books from his widow in 1917, they had no idea it would take one hundred years for the collection to come close to residing in a Jewish academic institution, in accordance with the Baron’s wish. Three generations of the Günzburg family assembled the collection:
- [Ancestors Return to Indigenous Peoples](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ancestors-return-to-indigenous-peoples/) - Autumn 2017 has seen a wave of returns of Native American human remains and funerary objects from institutional collections to tribes across the United States for burial. It has been nearly thirty years since NAGPRA, the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, passed into law. NAGPRA requires consultation with Native American tribes when
- [Bible Museum Opens in US Capitol](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bible-museum-opens-in-us-capitol/) - November marked the opening of both the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and a Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Like everything else in Washington, the museum opening has political overtones. North Carolina’s Representative Robert Pittenger introduced a concurrent resolution in Congress on its opening day, recognizing the opening of the museum, and citing the Christian Bible’s
- [Puma Graffitis Indian Monuments](https://culturalpropertynews.org/puma-graffitis-indian-monuments/) - The Indian government appears confused about the heritage protections given to architectural works of the Mughal period. Earlier this year the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the Taj Mahal is located, dropped India’s most famous building from its tourism brochure and its budget. The state had neglected the building for years partly because of its Muslim origin
- [Doggie Boondoggle](https://culturalpropertynews.org/doggie-boondoggle/) - Anti-art trade advocates claim that the increase in Syrian and Iraqi “antiques” entered through US Customs shows that smuggling of ancient art is rampant. At the same time, there is no record of seizures of illicit antiquities in these shipments by US Customs. Some think that Customs officers aren’t canny enough to catch the perpetrators.
- [Innovative Antiquities Sale by Toledo Museum](https://culturalpropertynews.org/innovative-antiquities-sale-by-toledo-museum/) - The Toledo Museum of Art announced in early April that it is selling 145 duplicative or minor artworks from its collections to other museums, and later, if not desired by museums, to the public. The artworks date to between the periods of Old Kingdom Egypt to Imperial Rome. The museum spent two years reviewing its
- [Vikan: New Culture of Antiquities Collecting](https://culturalpropertynews.org/vikan-new-culture-of-antiquities-collecting/) - “We are an immigrant nation and we all have a shared interest in the preservation of ancient culture; and we should all value the controlled, legal movement of cultural property as we value the free movement of people, literature, and ideas.” So writes Gary Vikan, Committee for Cultural Policy (CCP) President and former director of
- [Art Dealer Foundation Supports Native 'Soul of Nations'](https://culturalpropertynews.org/art-dealer-foundation-supports-native-soul-of-nations/) - Soul of Nations assists young artists from Southwestern reservations to foster their creative abilities, gain gallery and museum exposure, and develop business and marketing skills. A 2017 renewal grant from the ATADA Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by tribal art dealers and collectors, will be used to continue and expand Soul of Nations’ work. While
- [Two 7500 BC Skeletons Go to Tribal Organization](https://culturalpropertynews.org/two-9500-year-old-skeletons-will-go-to-native-tribal-organization/) - On January 25, 2016, the US Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by three scientists against the University of California. The scientists were seeking to study the DNA of two human skeletons discovered by an archaeological team in La Jolla in 1976 and now held by the San Diego Archaeology Center in California.
- [Seizure at Met Interrupts Repatriation](https://culturalpropertynews.org/repatriation-interruptus-mets-good-faith-attempt-to-work-with-italy-stymied-by-seizure/) - Today’s announcement of the seizure of an ancient Greek vase from the Metropolitan Museum in New York is an example of how prosecutors and a self-styled artifacts hunter can make hay with claims that were already being dealt with in good faith between a museum and a source country government. The real story is that
- [Rome's “Ketchup City” Found Beneath the Waves](https://culturalpropertynews.org/ketchup-city-romes-neapolis-found-beneath-the-waves/) - After seven years of rough conditions, calmer waters have finally allowed archeological dive teams to locate underwater remains of a long-lost Roman city off the coast of current-day Tunisia, which was submerged by a tsunami over 1,600 years ago. Mounir Fanter, the head of the Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission that made the find, told AFP News
- [Preservation Pioneer: Nancy Hatch Dupree](https://culturalpropertynews.org/nancy-hatch-dupree-1927-2017-preservation-pioneer-in-a-war-zone/) - American writer and historian of Afghanistan Nancy Hatch Dupree died in Kabul on September 10, 2017, after complications from an injured leg and failing heart and lungs. She was nearly ninety years old. Nancy and her archaeologist-husband, Louis Dupree were witnesses to the transformation of Afghanistan from the post-war modernization of the central government to
- [Viking Warrior Women – Myth or Reality?](https://culturalpropertynews.org/illegal-trade-of-malesuada-magna-mollis-euismod/) - According to recent DNA skeletal research, Viking warrior women really did exist. For centuries legends have told of fierce Nordic women like the Valkyries immortalized in Die Walküre, the second opera of Wagner’s famous Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen). Shieldmaidens, the subject of Norse saga, were thought to have fought valiantly alongside men. Now,
- [Zero, what a Concept!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/zero-what-a-concept-radiocarbon-dating-reveals-its-older-than-we-thought/) - Research commissioned by the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries on an ancient Indian text known as the Bakhshali manuscript has moved the use of zero in Indian mathematics back five hundred years to between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE. The discovery, through radiocarbon dating, is significant because it more clearly indicates the place in
- [Antiques & Elephants: Changes to UK Ivory Law](https://culturalpropertynews.org/antiques-elephants-changes-to-uk-ivory-law/) - A proposed UK law could ban the sale of virtually all items containing ivory. The law would affect England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As of October 6, 2017, The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking feedback from collectors, trade and the public on the proposed legislation through an online
- [Dikers' Native American Art at the Met](https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-diker-collection-of-native-american-art-assumes-its-place-in-history-in-the-american-wing-of-the-met/) - Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announced that Charles and Valerie Diker have made a gift of 91 masterworks to the museum from their collection of Native American art. The objects will be exhibited in the American Wing of the Met, starting in the fall of 2018 – the first
- [US Rescue of Iraqi Jewish Archives Imperiled](https://culturalpropertynews.org/us-agreements-with-iraq-libya-egypt-beyond-rescuing-the-iraqi-jewish-archives/) - THE IRAQI JEWISH ARCHIVES – THE TALE OF A COMMUNITY’S LOST HISTORY The story of the Iraqi Jewish Archives began long before US troops helped rescue historical artifacts of the Jewish community from the flooded basement of Iraq’s secret police headquarters in 2003. It started in the early 1980s, when men from the Iraqi government,
- [CCP Statement to CPAC on Cambodian MOU](https://culturalpropertynews.org/statement-of-the-committee-for-cultural-policy-on-renewal-of-mou-with-cambodia/) - Meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) in Review of the Proposed 5 Year Extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia on Import Restrictions on Khmer Archaeological Material, October 23, 2017. This statement is made on behalf of
- [Syrian Museum Wants Art Looted By Syrian Soldiers Back](https://culturalpropertynews.org/syrian-museum-wants-art-looted-by-syrian-soldiers-back/) - An article posted September 13, 2017 on the website of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces reported that the Directorate of Museums in the Free Idlib Provincial Council plans “to file lawsuits in international courts to recover the looted relics that Assad’s militias stole and smuggled out of Syria.” Idlib Museum director,
- [Bearing False Witness: The Media, ISIS and Antiquities](https://culturalpropertynews.org/bearing-false-witness-the-media-isis-and-antiquities/) - “We have beautiful heroines, we have bad guys, we have supporters, we have the terrorists.” Deborah Lehr of the Antiquities Coalition, speaking to the Middle East Institute, April 24, 2014 Pockmarked satellite images of cultural heritage sites in Syria and Iraq incontrovertibly show a pandemic of destruction. What these images do not show us is whether any antiquities were
- [Hobby Lobby, the Antiquities Mess and Need for Reform](https://culturalpropertynews.org/commentary-hobby-lobby-the-antiquities-mess-and-the-need-for-reform/) - Hobby Lobby’s settlement of charges stemming from its purchase of Near-Eastern antiquities has once again cast a harsh light on the antiquities trade and called into question the legitimacy of the entire field of antiquities collecting. Our law firm represented Hobby Lobby in the settlement. Over the last 20 years, we have extensive experience representing
- [No EU problem with terrorist antiquities, so let’s legislate for it](https://culturalpropertynews.org/no-eu-problem-with-terrorist-antiquities-so-lets-legislate-for-it-says-commission/) - COMMENT: Following on from my last blog, the European Commission’s 199-page Deloitte report into tackling cultural property trafficking now confirms that there is no evidence at all that terrorism-related material is entering the EU. It is even helpful enough to publish a bar chart showing this, which I reproduce above. So where does that leave us? To
- [US Renews Mali MOU, Blocks 19-20th C Imports](https://culturalpropertynews.org/cpac-us-renews-mou-with-mali-to-halt-art-imports-including-19-20th-c-books-manuscripts/) - On September 19, the State Department announced a 5-year extension of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government of Mali. The MOU prohibits the importation of virtually all ancient art from that country – and the accompanying Mali Designated List expands the scope of earlier MOUs to include a block on imports of manuscripts
- [Teaching Racial Diversity in the Ancient World](https://culturalpropertynews.org/education-coloring-books-illustrate-racial-diversity-in-the-ancient-world/) - Something as simple as a coloring book may be used as a tool to introduce people to the racial diversity that existed in the ancient world. For centuries the whiteness of marble statues has led viewers to believe that the people represented were of a single race. What was overlooked was the fact that the
- [Qatar Works to Preserve Sudan's Monuments](https://culturalpropertynews.org/qatar-invests-in-preserving-sudans-ancient-monuments-while-saudi-arabia-is-drowning-them/) - The $15 billion dollar investment by Saudi Arabia in Sudan’s infrastructure, and another $11 billion invested by the UAE simply dwarf Qatar’s $135 million contribution to restore and preserve Sudan’s ancient monuments. Yet the 40 international projects (French, German, and Polish) presently funded by Qatar could rewrite Sudan’s ancient history, and their discoveries might encourage
- [Key Issues in Return of Benin Artifacts](https://culturalpropertynews.org/return-of-benin-artworks-talks-conferences-and-opposing-arguments/) - Four years of discussions among a “Benin Dialogue Group” have resulted in a tentative commitment between the Court of Benin, Nigerian museums and several European museums with major Benin collections to eventually establish a permanent display of loaned European museum materials in Benin City, Nigeria. The actual objects to be loaned and exhibited are expected
- [American-Libyan Jews Seek Rights to Heritage](https://culturalpropertynews.org/libya-claims-jewish-heritage-is-lybian-patrimony/) - Update July 27, 2017. CCP and AAMD Speak Out at CPAC Meeting – Reported by HAARETZ. It is the longstanding policy of the Department of State that people do not have legitimate claims to their history or their art; only governments have claims to art and history. A request to block all art and artifacts
- [Exhibition: Native Fashion Now!](https://culturalpropertynews.org/exhibition-native-fashion-now/) - The Native Fashion Now exhibit opened February 16 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York. The show represents the innovations of over 50 years of contemporary indigenous fashion with the majority of the pieces being the creation of Native Americans. Sixty-seven US and Canadian artists and
- [Native Alaskan Craftsmen Suffer from Ivory Laws](https://culturalpropertynews.org/native-alaskan-craftsmen-suffer-from-ivory-laws/) - Native Alaskan craftsmen and women who legally carve marine mammal ivory for a living have seen revenues reduced by 40% as a result of consumer confusion about new federal laws on elephant ivory – and a new California law that prohibits trade in marine mammal ivory. Melanie Bahnke, who heads a craft nonprofit for artisans
- [Hobby Lobby Breaks the Rules](https://culturalpropertynews.org/hobby-lobby-breaks-the-rules/) - A large US corporation, Hobby Lobby, appears to have dismissed red flags and warnings regarding acquiring antiquities overseas, and reaped the consequences. Ignoring instructions can be dangerous, especially when they could be paraphrased as “DO NOT remove Tablets A from Foreign State B or insert into United States!” Hobby Lobby is a closely-held US corporation.
- [Indian Monuments Threatened By Removal of Legal Protections](https://culturalpropertynews.org/indian-monuments-threatened-by-removal-of-legal-protections/) - Will the next Indian elevated highway be built in front of the Tomb of Akbar in Agra? An opinion piece in The Hindu newspaper, Making of a Monumental Crisis, spotlights how Indian legislation on monuments has been undermined by government policies that favor development above preservation. History professor Nayajot Lahiri of Ashoka University writes that
- [Congress Holds CPAC Accountable](https://culturalpropertynews.org/congress-holds-cpac-accountable/) - Congress has finally taken steps to ensure that the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) actually documents the effort (or lack of it) that art-source countries make on their own behalf to inventory and protect sites and museums. The law that CPAC operates under requires that a country requesting import restrictions meet this requirement: 19 U.S.C.
- [Texan Puts Up a Fight for Tyrannosaur Head](https://culturalpropertynews.org/texan-puts-up-a-fight-for-tyrannosaur-head/) - A Texas doctor says that the federal government had no right to seize a dinosaur fossil he purchased on the open market in the US. James Godwin’s Houston attorney, Michael Villa, Jr. told the Dallas News that the doctor will contest a forfeiture claim brought by the US government against what federal authorities say is
- [Major Case on Chinese and Cypriot Coins Should Be Heard](https://culturalpropertynews.org/major-case-on-chinese-and-cypriot-coins-should-be-heard/) - The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild has asked the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to overturn a lower court decision that allowed significant overreach by US government agencies. The Guild filed a reply brief in the ongoing forfeiture action concerning two lots of relatively low value Cypriot and Chinese coins that the Guild imported
- [Colorful Classical Statues Still Surprise Us](https://culturalpropertynews.org/colorful-classical-statues-still-surprise-us/) - The November 2017 opening in San Francisco of an updated version of the 2003 Munich Glyptotek’s Bunte Götter or Gods in Color, was a shock to the senses of museum viewers. The original Glyptotek show was the first major public exhibition of recreations of classical statues in their original colors. Greek and Roman artists did not consider their

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- [Resources](https://culturalpropertynews.org/resources/) - RESOURCES Our Resources page provides key documents, including legislation, art market publications, museum commentaries and testimony, government reports, and domestic and international resources on cultural policy, proposed legislation and law enforcement. Scroll down to see current categories on art trade regulations and art market, legislation, policy briefs, ISIS, coins, testimony on Native American issues, United
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## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/uncategorized/)
- [US Art News](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/us-art-news/) - US Art News includes current news, events, legal conflicts, foreign claims, and public policies affecting US museums, collectors and the art trade. Articles explore US laws regulating the international movement of art and antiquities, and US initiatives to prevent looting and protect global heritage. US antiquities and ethnic arts policy was framed by Congress, but is implemented by federal agencies including the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security. Some observers believe that federal agencies have overridden Congress’ intent to enact a balanced cultural property law that would discourage looting while ensuring public access to art. They say that US policies are now oriented toward ending the legal art trade, to the detriment of cultural understanding and exchange. Since 1999, the Department of State has administered the 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act. Current US policy prohibits import of virtually all art from 16 foreign nations, and the list is growing. Critics say that the State Department has ignored Congress’ requirements that embargoed art and artifacts actually be at risk from looting, that other nations have similar restrictions on trade, and that art-source countries take self-help measures to protect their cultural heritage. Currently, art from many cradles of civilization – Greece, Italy, Egypt, Iraq, Peru, Central America and China – cannot enter the US without a permit, but these countries do not issue permits. Many of the same foreign nations allow trade in antiquities within their own borders. In some nations, government control of art and cultural heritage has political and social repercussions; cultural heritage claims are used to bolster dictatorships, encourage ethnic cleansing or persecution of minority religious or ethnic communities. Other kinds of issues arise because there are two conflicting legal systems governing the transfer of international cultural property in the US. The Cultural Property Implementation Act protects at-risk archaeological resources based upon Congressionally mandated criteria; the National Stolen Property Act prioritizes foreign national ownership and enforces foreign laws. What is legal under one US law is illegal under another, a dangerous contradiction. Everyone, from art dealers to museums, believes that art stolen from public or private collections in foreign countries should be returned. However, many are concerned when the US enforces foreign laws that are ignored in art-source countries against US museums. The US Art News pages illustrate conflicting perspectives on the future of US cultural policy. Advocates of wholesale repatriation consider much of American public and private collections to be ‘stolen art.’ Some even want to impose a ‘pollution tax’ on the legal art trade. Others think this contradicts both the legal realities and the facts, and denies America’s history as a melting pot of world cultures. More moderate solutions prioritize preservation, documentation, and public access, advocate hearing legitimate foreign claims in a neutral forum, and establishing clear and unambiguous US laws and policies.
- [Native American Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/native-american-art/) - Native American Art News covers issues and events impacting Native communities, arts institutions holding American Indian and Hawaiian artifacts and the 150 year old trade in Native American art. Articles discuss tribal claims that conflict with scientific and scholarly access, the lack of funding and federal support for tribal heritage offices or for US museums to comply with existing laws, and the constitutional as well as pragmatic issues that arise when legislating for sacred and communally-owned items. American Indian art has been legally collected for more than 140 years, encouraged by the US government. For the last 40 years, there has been greater recognition of Native American and Hawaiian people’s rights in their indigenous heritage. Trade in Native American and Hawaiian cultural items has primarily been regulated under two US laws, the Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA), which limits trade of items over a 100-year rolling date to objects found on private lands, and the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which requires US institutions receiving federal funds to inventory human remains, funerary objects and return them to tribes. NAGPRA also has criminal provisions that make trade in communally-owned ceremonial items unlawful. In both 2016 and 2017, controversial legislation known as the STOP Act proposed removing past federal support for museum and private collecting of Native art. It made export of an undefined category of art illegal and encouraged the voluntary return all Indian-affiliated objects to tribes, potentially discouraging a commercial market on which Native artisans depend, and overwhelming tribes with unwanted returns. STOP also departed from Congress’ original intent under ARPA to preserve scientific and academic access for the public benefit through private collections of Native American cultural objects. Meanwhile, an art dealer-backed community-based voluntary returns program focused on key, current, ceremonial items has returned dozens of important objects in 2017. Other Native American art issues range from trade legislation to laws to protect Native American artisans from fakes entering the market from overseas, challenges to monument designations that would open protected and sacred sites to commercial exploitation, and controversies surrounding Native artists’ rights to freedom of expression in works that sometimes challenge tribal traditions.
- [Global Art](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/global-art/) - Global Art news covers international events, from the destruction of cultural heritage through war, infrastructure development, and government neglect – to the successful implementation of policies that enable documentation, scholarship and art preservation. Articles cover both nationalist perspectives and the historic view that the international circulation of art is a bridge for communication, humanist study, and mutual understanding. Current events demonstrate how international cultural property issues have become highly politicized, both as an expression of self-determination for formerly-colonized nations and as diplomatic bargaining chips. In the past, Western nations had virtually unlimited access to art from around the world; today, the pendulum has swung to the furthest opposite position, as national governments claim absolute ownership of the entire history of art within their political boundaries. Fifty to one hundred years after independence, few countries have established the state-regulated trade in art envisioned in the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Instead, many countries have made it illegal to export virtually all art through laws that make art the property of the state. Other nations have seized control over the cultural heritage of Christian, Jewish, and other religious and ethnic minorities. This is the background to current events in which the legitimate art trade is treated as a pawn in international diplomacy, and access to art is viewed as expendable compared to more pressing economic or trade interests.
- [Museums & Discoveries](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/museums-discoveries/) - Articles under Museums & Discoveries cover exhibitions, research, technical innovations, archaeological discoveries and more. Many describe compelling connections between artistic periods, links between distant peoples, and the evolution of ideas and human creativity. Global museums preserve mankind’s artistic history and enable the public to discover its wonders. The museum mission is to foster appreciation and respect for the achievements of all peoples, ancient, indigenous, and contemporary. Today, museums are more than a field trip – they are an essential resource for children’s education and they honor our citizens’ multi-cultural roots. America’s independent museums rely on generous public support, which is often 85% of total revenue, and on donations from private collectors. Under pressure after revelations of past collecting abuses, many US museums adopted new policies in 2008, refusing to acquire objects without a documented history of US ownership before 1970, or proof of lawful export from source countries. Unfortunately, this policy failed to acknowledge that export permits were not required for legal import in the past. If such documents ever existed, they were not retained for up to 40 years. This policy has created hundreds of thousands of art ‘orphans’ that were legally imported, and may be lawfully sold, but cannot be donated to US museums. Many observers believe that there is no safer place for art in a troubled world than in a museum. They see a legal, transparent art trade as crucial to ensure access to art in publicly supported museums. The Museums & Discoveries section covers these policy questions and others, as museums take the lead in urging preservation, protection, and safe harbor for global heritage.
- [Analysis](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/analysis/) - Opinion, analysis, and commentary on the issues and events of the day. In-depth reports examine how US government and museum policies impact scholarship, trade, and public access to art. Contributors from museum directors to art critics to legal and academic specialists and collectors discuss current controversies and how to reform and improve US cultural policy. Cultural Property News is committed to correcting the record on misleading information in the media, including the widely accepted myth of a multi-billion-dollar illegal trade in art. The Analysis section includes research reports that track the spread of phony stories, debunking the claim that money is flowing to terrorists from art dealers selling looted art. We cover stories on changes to domestic and international laws. For example, a restrictive 2016 law has already forced out major collectors, businesses and auction houses from Germany. We examine proposed European Commission trade regulations with similar effect for 2018. This section also sets forth a variety of solutions to the current cultural property crisis. While some extremists want to end the thousand-year-old trade in global antiquities, others, including members of the museum community, have responded by calling for taking global responsibility for the protection of heritage in crises, funding for global museums in under-served regions, creating legal, digitally documented markets, enabling museums to securely acquire art, and giving repose to works that have circulated for decades.
- [ArtNews](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/artnews/)
- [Commentary](https://culturalpropertynews.org/category/commentary/)

## Tags

- [Kate Fitz Gibbon](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tag/kate-fitz-gibbon/)
- [Ivan Macquisten](https://culturalpropertynews.org/tag/ivan-macquisten/)
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