STOP
the LOOTING of AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS
The
ICOM Red
List
|
April
2000
Eight
categories of African archaeological objects are under
particularly serious threat from looting today. These
figure on the ICOM
Red List, which aims to inform museums,
art dealers, and police and customs officials about the
systematic theft to which certain types of cultural property
fall victim.
These
artefacts are amongst the cultural property that is the
worst affected by looting and theft. They are protected
by legislation, banned from export, and may under no circumstances
be put on sale. An appeal is therefore being made to museums,
auction houses and collectors to stop buying them.
Illicit
archaeological excavations in Africa irreparably undermine
the historical sources of the continent and those of humankind
as a whole. The objects looted in Africa are resold
in Europe and in North America. The historical context
of the places in which the objects were found is thus
wiped out and can never be reconstituted. As a result
we will never be able to learn about the civilisations
that produced these artworks.
Today,
thanks to financial support from the Prince Claus Fund
for Culture and Development and the French Ministry
for Foreign Affairs, a detailed dossier has been put together
containing information about the African objects on the
Red List.
A
tool for providing information and a means of verification,
the dossier gives details on each category, including
where the objects come from, their physical features,
and the national and international legislation protecting
them. A section called The Urgency of the Situation
highlights the fact that this type of artwork should no
longer be bought so as not to encourage looting.
The
dossier was drawn up by African, European and North American
museum professionals during a workshop in Amsterdam on
the Protection of the African Heritage organised
by ICOM in October 1997.
The
file will be widely distributed to art dealers, auction
houses and museums in Africa, Europe and North America
as well as to police and customs officials. This awareness-raising
campaign on African archaeological heritage fits in with
the active policy that ICOM has been applying for several
years to combat the theft of cultural property.
In
this context, the recent
agreements that ICOM has signed successively
with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and INTERPOL
involving police and customs officials in the fight against
the illicit traffic in cultural property mark a new
step forward in heritage protection. The fact that
international organisations responsible for controlling
the situation are aware of the vast extent of the traffic
should mean that museums have new resources at their disposal
to curb the scourge.
The
Red List contains objects that are in particularly
grave danger, but it is not exhaustive. Every time an
archaeological object is put on sale the question of the
legality of its export arises.
The
fight against the illicit
traffic in cultural property
The
extent of illicit trafficking has never been greater.
It is taking place in both developed and developing countries,
affecting churches in Italy, castles in France, archaeological
sites in Africa and Latin America, and temples in Asia.
In
order to fight against the trafficking, museum professionals
in ICOM give priority to concrete, efficient action to
raise awareness. Museums have to be the leading players
in the fight and must apply strict rules to any object
they are offered for sale, in compliance with ICOM's Code
of Professional Ethics.
Generally,
action by ICOM to fight against the theft and looting
of cultural property takes place upstream of any police
action, in an international, non-governmental context.
The
main action required for safeguarding objects is to strengthen
safety measures in museums and put in place standards
for inventories of collections.
At
the same time, there have been regional workshops in Africa
bringing together police officers, museums and customs
officials to reinforce cooperation between the different
players responsible for protecting heritage. Furthermore,
in collaboration with UNESCO, ICOM also endeavours to
urge States to adopt the national and international legal
instruments that protect heritage, such as the 1970 UNESCO
Convention and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention.
To
raise public awareness ICOM also publishes a series of
books called One Hundred Missing Objects. Through
photos and descriptions the publications show items that
have been stolen from public collections or looted from
sites. To date there are three books in the series: Looting
in Angkor (Sept. 1993), Looting in Africa (Sept.
1994) and Looting in Latin America (January 1998).
The books have been widely distributed to the professionals
concerned (museums, art dealers, galleries, auction houses,
police, etc.) and have resulted in several objects being
identified. When Looting in Angkor came out several
items listed in the book were found, such as statuette
DCA 7081 (P. 46) which was put on sale at Sotheby's in
New York (Lot 96) on 2nd June 1992 and found in Switzerland
in January 1995. Similarly, when Looting in Africa
came out various items that had been stolen from museums
in Africa or looted from sites were found and restored
to their countries of origin.
These
restitutions are very encouraging, but nonetheless remain
symbolic when compared with the great number of objects
that are stolen. With the Red List, ICOM is hoping
to draw attention to the even more serious looting of
archaeological sites which results in the destruction
of precious historical data.
Information:
ICOM Secretariat
Tel. 33 (0)1 47.34.05.00
Fax. 33 (0)1 43.06.78.62
Governing
Bodies
