Italian-Greek MOU in the Offing

The website of the Hellenic Society for Law and Archaeology reports that Italy and Greece plan to sign a bilateral cultural agreement soon. See http://www.law-archaeology.gr/Index.asp?C=3

As the website states,

Greece and Italy plan to sign a bilateral cultural agreement in the near future. This was announced after the visit of the Greek Minster of Culture Mr. Pavlos Geroulanos to Italy last week. The agreement will cover issues such as the promotion of the historic cultural heritage as well as the contemporary art. A further issue under discussion was the closer cooperation among the mediatrenian [sic] countries and the application of new technologies in the field of culture. Relevant article by Greek Newspaper “Kathimerini” (in Greek): http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_26/05/2010_339482

One wonders if the agreement will include any provisions relating to the enforcement of export controls or whether current EU regulations are considered sufficient.

One also wonders about the impact of the Greek financial meltdown and Italy's own budget woes. Presumably, anything other than an aspirational agreement will be difficult to finance given economic realities.

It would be interesting if the private sector could be tapped to participate in such cultural exchanges, but that may mean collectors might also have to be allowed into the mix!

Greece Fails to Take Care of its Own Cultural Property

The nationalistic Greek government has made a big show of seeking repatriations of artifacts from museums abroad. Yet, as this article indicates, it is doing a poor job of taking care of its major archaeological attractions at home: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/23/greece.heritage/print

There has been other embarrassing news about Greek cultural officials recently, including corruption charges and a suicide attempt by a former minister.

What gives? A cynic might suspect that the Greek government's "chest thumping" on repatriatons may at least in part be an attempt to create a diversion from real problems at home.