UNESCO is belatedly celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1970 UNESCO Convention with a conference in the City of Lights, Paris. See http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/ And what better way to show UNESCO is still relevant than to address the crisis in the Middle East?
The cultural bureaucrats are rightly concerned about the effect of unrest in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya on those nations' cultural patrimony, but one can only hope there is more emphasis on nipping the problem at the source rather than on taking advantage of situation to further an anti-collecting agenda. "Emergency import restrictions" that effectively shift the burden of proof onto the holder virtually guarantee seizures of perfectly legitimate artifacts that don't have detailed collection histories. Good police work combined with more effective efforts to record what is missing is a better, far less controversial approach.
Showing posts with label Tunisia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tunisia. Show all posts
Reflections On Cultural Politics After Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan Revolts
A madman is still killing his people in Libya. Autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt have been deposed, but the democracy the people have died for remains elusive. Oddly, Western archaeologists seem more focused on trying to tie any looting of archaeological sites and stores to mysterious Western dealers and collectors than on criticizing the regimes whose policies have caused the societal unrest that unleashed any looting in the first place.
Anyway, here are some observations based on recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya:
1. Draconian cultural patrimony laws are natural expressions of authoritarian regimes;
2. Such laws are applied to common people and foreigners, but not to cronies of the regime;
3. Such systems also hide financial improprieties, i.e., skimming of public funds that should go to archaeological projects;
4. Educated elites are less likely to loot than the poor and uneducated;
5. Looting and vandalism can also be used by the authorities to try to justify their repressive measures;
6. Foreign archaeologists will not speak out against regimes that offer them excavation permits;
7. The prospect of jobs or funding can silence source country archaeologists from expressing their own concerns.
Anyway, here are some observations based on recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya:
1. Draconian cultural patrimony laws are natural expressions of authoritarian regimes;
2. Such laws are applied to common people and foreigners, but not to cronies of the regime;
3. Such systems also hide financial improprieties, i.e., skimming of public funds that should go to archaeological projects;
4. Educated elites are less likely to loot than the poor and uneducated;
5. Looting and vandalism can also be used by the authorities to try to justify their repressive measures;
6. Foreign archaeologists will not speak out against regimes that offer them excavation permits;
7. The prospect of jobs or funding can silence source country archaeologists from expressing their own concerns.
One Law for the Powerful, Another for Everyone Else
The Art Newspaper reports that Tunisa's deposed leader and his family had a taste for high quality antiquities. See
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Antiquities%2Bfound%2Bin%2Bhomes%2Bof%2Bdeposed%2BTunisian%2Bpresident%E2%80%99s%2Bfamily/23188
Big surprise. One law for the powerful and another for everyone else. I'm wondering if it will be next revealed that officials of the Mubarak regime had similar tastes for artifacts that would get other Egyptians a long jail sentence.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Antiquities%2Bfound%2Bin%2Bhomes%2Bof%2Bdeposed%2BTunisian%2Bpresident%E2%80%99s%2Bfamily/23188
Big surprise. One law for the powerful and another for everyone else. I'm wondering if it will be next revealed that officials of the Mubarak regime had similar tastes for artifacts that would get other Egyptians a long jail sentence.
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