On the illegal movements of works of art

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Le Monde Diplomatique

Philip Buck

The illegal sale of cultural property is booming. The reason? The fierce speculation in all developed markets, art. From the South is constantly exported works of art, and many irreplaceable loss. As to the international conventions, they are every day demonstrating their low efficiency.

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After the capture of Baghdad by U.S. forces April 9, 2003 to replace the bombing came fires and looting. April 10 The Archaeological Museum of Baghdad, the repository of ancient culture of Iraq was looted, the National Library and Archives died in a fire. Some sources say that 14000 of 170000 exhibits were stolen. 4000 items were found and returned to the Museum.

August 16, 2003, Mr. Jacques Chirac called it a waste of museum pieces "crime against humanity". By this statement he summoned the sympathy of all countries affected by the export of national cultural values. But if he has not forgotten about the two other cases, the theft of works of art, of course, nasravnimyh-scale looting of the Baghdad museum, where he participated in some way?

At the end of 1996 a close associate of Mr. Chirac gave him terracotta statuettes of Malian origin. Photos of the statuettes, published in the magazine Paris Match, policy makers have allowed the International Council of Museums - non-governmental organization, which is close to the UNESCO - to identify it: it came from a lot of works of art confiscated by the police on the ground and underground raskopkok stolen during transport to the museum Bamako . This revelation occurred at the most inopportune moment - France just had to ratify the UNESCO convention designed to combat the illegal trade in cultural property \ Yami. In early 1998, after godolvalyh negotiations with the International Council of Museums, Mr. Chirac was forced to return the statue to the museum Bamako.

The second incident occurred in April 2000, at the opening of the hall of the primitive art of the Louvre, the Museum showcases the future of primitive art at Quai Branly, a project very dear to the President of France. The newspaper Liberation published an article which stated that 3 terracotta statuettes of "films" and "Sokoto" were found in illegal excavations in Nigeria. The museum bought it for two years before the opening of the hall for 450000 euros. In its justification for the museum's director, Mr. Stephen Martin, who explained that "these statues byli for sale in Belgium Gallery, and in accordance with current French regulations, in this transaction was not anything wrong. We decided to buy them, because for us it was important to show the public that in the era of Pericles, and in Africa, too, to create masterpieces. But a code of ethics of the International Council of Museums recommended that the members of this organization - 15000 leaders and conservatives museums - not to acquire the tools found in the conditions, "capable of causing destruction, or to cause intentional harm to archaeological sites." Mr. Chirac tried to obtain from the President of Nigeria, the official document covering this acquisition, resulting in both countries the number of critical articles have increased. In the end, the museum returned the statuettes of Nigeria, which has agreed to leave them in the Louvre for long-term storage.

Such theft of cultural property is very difficult to measure in numbers, but we can assume that it produces between 2 and 4.5 billion euros - largest circulation, it should be just behind the illegal trade in arms and drugs - and reproduces inequality dominating other markets, the export value realized from South in galleries and collections in the North. Countries with military conflicts are particularly loyal and innovative suppliers: Kabul Museum was looted several times, Institut National Museums of Zaire, was stolen during the fall of President Mobutu ...

One of the most affected countries is Cambodia. During the military conflict, each party selling cultural goods on the cheap to get money to buy weapons. So were stolen bas-reliefs of temples and palaces of Angkor. And despite the fact that in 1992, Angkor was added to the list of cultural property worldwide importance of UNESCO, the robbers continued to wield. In Africa, in a state of war, were formed local networks antiquities market, buying up a refugee art.

But in a situation of peace and lack of security, corruption and poverty are leading to massive theft of cultural property from museums and pander to the illegal trade. Since 1994, 90%of archaeological sites in the region offices functioning in the Niger suffered from clandestine excavations. In the early 1990's. arrived in Mali, the Netherlands team of scientists found that 450 of the 834 archaeological sites were looted. During the same period in the European market of primitive art have appeared a huge number of terracotta statuettes "NOC", "Sokoto" and "Katsina" from clandestine excavations made in northern Nigeria to podsobnichestve local administration. Roderick J. McIntosh, an archaeologist working on the site Jen-Jen in Mali, explains: "The work of art that has been extracted without definition of the archaeological layer, in which it was, it is impossible to date. In addition, if this work exhibited no indications of archaeological origin, it is deprived of economic, social, ideological and historical contexts, without which the ancient art is inexplicable. So, completely looted objects vanished civilization Komaland in Ghana is now on display, stating: "The tribe, of which nothing is known.

In Peru, the tombs were looted 100000 - half of all existing in the country, Cyprus has been stolen from churches 16000 icons and mosaics, in China plundered tombs 16000 ... Between 2001 and 2003. LC Jiroft in Iran was subjected to massive looting. Thousands of chlorite vases, indicating a sophisticated civilization that existed 5000 years ago, filled with European, American and Asian art market. In the end, the intervention of the Iranian police led to the beginning of scientific excavation.

The ambiguous role of the major collectors

Everywhere local looters digging, and then sell pieces of art to local antique dealers, who in turn export them. So these things pass from hand to hand - from art dealers to collectors. They travel from country to country, participate in exhibitions and acquiring "pedigree", without giving time to the International Council of Museums and UNESCO to stop their movement. The price for these items increased 10, 100, 1000.

In 1991, from Iraqi museums were stolen 4000 archaeological artifacts. In 2001, John Russell, an archaeologist at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, told the world about the "complete looting of Nineveh". But in 2002 an Iraqi archaeologist Donny George, a premonition that the worst is yet to come: "In the case of a U.S. attack razhischenie archaeological sites is enhanced. /.../Robbers had time to organize a network of illegal trade and find yourself an international clientele. They are well trained and armed.

In July 2003, archaeologist and journalist Jannah minced stated: "The richest area of Umma Zhoha in the region, opened only 4 years ago, now looks like a battleground." According to the American archaeologist McGuire Gibson for most of the sites in southern Iraq rashischzenie continues. In the north, officially the American soldiers guarding the site, but the decision is too late - the bas-reliefs Hatra and Nimrod had been looted, destroyed Nineveh.

The question arises: Does not played American Council of Cultural Property, which includes the largest collectors of the U.S. role in such passivity of American troops? Some of its members who were present for several days prior to the occupation of Iraq, 24 January 2003 at a meeting with top leaders of the Pentagon and State Department to exert pressure so that the laws governing the export of goods of Iraqi origin antikarnyh have been softened. Fortunately, on 22 May of that year, the Council behopasnosti UN adopted an emergency resolution that compels all nations to return the items stolen in Iraq since 1990, and prohibit trafficking. This is the first time that the international community had to unite to combat such practices.

Since 1954, at UNESCO's disposal is the Hague Convention, applies to countries with a military conflict. Additional Protocol to the Convention prohibits the export of cultural property from occupied territories and obliged to return the stolen items. To date, 500 countries have ratified these texts. However, the United Kingdom and the United States has still not entered their number.

In 1970, UNESCO has developed other conventions applicable in the situation of the world. It suggests measures "be taken to prohibit the import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property." This text encourages all States to ratify it to enact legislation protecting its cultural heritage, and to take stock of their collections. The text that is in the nature of ethics rather than. Ridichesky, but, as noted by Mr. Guido Carducci, head of the section of the UNESCO international norms, "it was the first text, which established certain principles, such as the requirement of the export certificate for the export of cultural property, and also provided an opportunity to demand their return. "

However, in 1995, Mr. Lindell V. Prott, who succeeded Mr. Guido Carducci, stated: "Assotsitatsii merchants of art are an extremely powerful pressure groups, who are often able to prevent the initiatives aimed at implementing stricter controls over their activities" . Pervymmi States that have ratified the convention, were mostly those of the South - "exporting", as well as the North-victims of trafficking - Italy, Greece and Spain. United States ratified with reservations in 1983, and then entered into bilateral agreements with some countries.

In 1995, UNESCO adopted a convention "to return ukrazhennyh or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects at the international level, which allows the country from which they were removed, legal action against the purchaser of these items in the country of his residence. The latter receives compensation for damages only if he demonstrates that he has taken all measures to verify the legal origin of the purchased item. Unfortunately, this convention is not retroactive.

Thus was interrupted by the traditional practice of many European countries: the principle of protecting the buyer "inadvertently" and a very short period preskriptsii (France - 3 years). This convention has caused strong resistance to art dealers.

Thus, Mr. Jean-Paul Chazal, counsel of the National Syndicate of Antiquaries, believes that some provisions of the text contrary to the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789 he criticized the notion of "significant cultural values," too vague and can change its meaning. "Together with the right to act for 50 years, it creates an atmosphere full of market uncertainty. Such a convention would lead to the fact that art in general no longer circulate. Mr. Alexander Zhol, a lawyer of the Swiss association of collectors, as opposed to the convention: "it is contrary to the general human understanding of the culture and prevents the expansion of contacts in political, economical and social fields. In Paris, antique dealers are unanimous: "This - this neo-colonialism" - one said, "We can not impose our ideology countries who live under other laws", - adds another, and the third concludes: "the Convention for European idealists, but if not pragmatic idealism, SRW this is fascism. "


At present, only 11 States have ratified the convention, among which there are no major countries importing works of art, 12 more countries acceded to the Convention without ratifying.