New Art and Cultural Heritage Law Blog

Michael McCullough, an art, cultural heritage and customs lawyer,  has started a new blog.  Michael can draw on a wealth of expertise from years at Sotheby's and in private practice representing the interests of dealers, collectors, artists and auction houses concerning the transfer of cultural goods.  His views should be a welcome addition to blogging in an area that remains dominated by academics with no practical experience in how markets work and the difficulties facing the trade.

More Problems Discovered at Pompeii

A week after reports surfaced about thefts of antique books from a historic library in Naples, Italian authorities have announced another arrest, this time of the head of a restoration firm that allegedly skimmed monies meant for the restoration of Pompeii.  

While it's good to see Italian authorities finally clamp down on some corruption, such news once again suggests that import restrictions, repatriation demands and the like are diversions from what really ails Italy's cultural patrimony.

Slim Public Support for Renwal of the Cambodian MOU

Only 37 public comments have been posted on the regulations.gov website regarding the proposed renewal of the Cambodian MOU.  It's a bit surprising  the number is so low, particularly given all the negative press drummed up against Sotheby's concerning the ongoing forfeiture proceeding in New York over a Khmer statue.  Unsurprisingly, though most comments come from archaeologists or those with some professional or business affiliation with the Cambodian cultural bureaucracy.  The list includes two groups who have or currently do receive public funds from the US Government or the EU.  This again suggests that import restrictions are largely "feel good measures" for special interests with friends in Government.   

Should Transparency Be a Two Way Street?

Archaeo-Blogger and Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire wants to mandate additional record-keeping for dealers in cultural goods in the name of "transparency."  Leaving aside whether creating more red tape will accomplish anything other than to place additional administrative burdens on the small businesses of the antiquities and coin trade, one wonders whether he would also acknowledge that transparency should be a two way street. 

So, how about some transparency for the State Department and CBP concerning their process for imposing import restrictions on cultural goods?  Or how about imposing new record keeping requirements on archaeologists, such as requiring them to publish their findings within in a reasonable time on the Internet so they will be easily accessible to interested members of the general public?

After all, State, CBP and the archaeological community all purport to act in the public's interest, so is some transparency from them too much to ask?

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Reaction to Hugh Eakin

The New York Times has published a series of Letters to the Editor concerning Hugh Eakin's recent opinion piece regarding repatriations.   Barbara Newsome, the founder of the Archaeological Conservancy, discusses both her organization's efforts here in the US as well as the importance of museums and collectors in preserving the artifacts of others because they value them.    Noted cultural property expert Bill Pearlstein questions whether archaeological looting is really driven by American demand given statements by the Italian police.  Finally, Fiona Rose-Greenland sees repatriation demands as nationalistic in character and part of power politics.   Perhaps, the archaeology-over-all perspective should not be allowed to dominate this debate. 

Timbuktu Library Update

It looks like early Islamic manuscripts thought to have been burned by fleeing Islamic fanatics associated with an al-Qaeda offshoot  may not have been destroyed after all.  If so, this is welcome news, though the situation still seems rather bleak.

This also once again raises the larger question of whether the assumptions behind the US MOU with Mali (a state capable of being a good steward for its cultural resources) are faulty.  Certainly, even when renewal of Mali's MOU was being considered, there was no reason to consider Mali anything but a failed state incapable of undertaking its own obligations under the UNESCO Convention to protect its cultural patrimony.