Saturday, September 20, 2014

Commerce Not Such a Bad Thing?

CPO remembers that not so long ago AIA members regularly denounced "commercial interests" at every CPAC meeting.  So, its refreshing to see that the AIA now accepts advertising on its website and that the Saint Louis Chapter is even auctioning off some Egyptian artifacts long in its possession.

Perhaps commercial interests are not so bad after all.
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3 comments:

  1. John HSeptember 21, 2014 at 8:11 AM

    Food for thought indeed, Mr Tompa. Who, one wonders, apart from archaeologists read the website, but it's still good to know that it carries ads for collectors and all with presumably impeccable provenances.

    I wonder how long it will be before the gentleman from Warsaw dares to condemn the AIA. I do hope that artifacts for sale by archaeologists are not sourced from ISIS.

    Warm wishes

    John Howland
    England

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  2. Duncan FinchSeptember 22, 2014 at 12:19 AM

    Come on now! These objects were legally excavated and were officially property of the excavator (i.e. the institution sponsoring the excavation) through an official act of partage after the excavation. Thus, while irrationality on the part of governments cannot be excluded, the Egyptian government can have no legal, moral or anything reason to claim it.

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  3. Cultural Property ObserverSeptember 22, 2014 at 2:23 AM

    Duncan, agreed. These artifacts were excavated long ago. The more general issue is condemning commerce on one hand end embracing it on the other. Best, Peter Tompa

    ReplyDelete

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