From museum-security at museum-security.org Mon Aug 1 09:15:09 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 09:15:09 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Museum moves to bring back treasure Message-ID: <20050801071511.JMLJ2457.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> Museum moves to bring back treasure ISABEL COCKAYNE 01 August 2005 06:30 For the best part of a quarter of a century one of Norfolk's biggest treasure troves has been out of the county. And the Thetford Treasure - a hoard of Roman gold, jewellery and silver spoons - has not been displayed in the town, simply because it is too precious. Some of the hoard was displayed at the Castle Museum, in Norwich, in the early 1980s, but has not been back to the region since. But improvements to Thetford's Ancient House Museum, part of which includes work to toughen security, there is a strong chance the original pieces could be on display in the museum by 2007. Ancient House curators have talked about the hoard display with those from the British Museum, which houses the 82-piece collection. For 19 years the Ancient House has displayed replicas of the fourth century pieces unearthed 26 years ago at Gallows Hill, but it would be "very exciting" to have the originals, said curator Oliver Bone. "We're working on it. We need to satisfy the British Museum in terms of security and so on. We're very hopeful we will be able to display some of the real Thetford Treasure for up to six months after we reopen," he said. "It is brilliant that a national museum like the British Museum, is keen to lend some of the national collection," he said. "We can't be certain this can go ahead. When the museum is refurbished, the British Museum will have to check it is satisfied that the conditions are right and the level of security is high enough." The museum is undergoing a ?1.5m five-year project, paid for with a Heritage Lottery Fund grant and cash from local authorities, of repair and conservation work. It reopens in spring next year. Frances Carey, head of national programmes at the British Museum, confirmed some of the items could return to Thetford. "Norfolk Museums Service/Thetford Ancient House Museum are in discussion with the British Museum about the loan of a portion of the Thetford Treasure in 2007, through the British Museum's Partnership UK scheme," she said. The Thetford Treasure, which includes gold bracelets and rings, has revealed information about life in late Roman Britain in 380-390 AD. Many of the items were not worn or used and there are inscriptions on the spoons, referring to the cult of the pagan nature god Faunus. "This cult was illegal in Christian Roman Britain and it could be their burial in the ground was something to do with their illegal nature," said Mr Bone. Former mayor Mike Edmond spearheaded an appeal for the display of replicas of the Thetford Treasure during the 1980s and there are now 32 items. From museum-security at museum-security.org Mon Aug 1 12:10:07 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 12:10:07 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Entdeckte Arie erklingt ein Jahr nach Brand in Anna Amalia Bibliothek Message-ID: <20050801101009.HOKK18546.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Entdeckte Arie erklingt ein Jahr nach Brand in Anna Amalia Bibliothek August 1, 2005 Weimar (dpa) - Die k?rzlich entdeckte einzige Arie von Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wird ein Jahr nach dem verheerenden Brand der Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar am 3. September aufgef?hrt. Die Klassik Stiftung Weimar wolle mit dem Konzert und einer kleinen Dokumentation auf die Sanierung des historischen Geb?udes und die B?cherrestaurierung aufmerksam machen, sagte Bibliotheksdirektor Michael Knoche der dpa. Bei der Katastrophe am 2. September 2004 wurde die zum Weltkulturerbe geh?renden Bibliothek schwer besch?digt. 50 000 historische B?cher verbrannten oder wurden durch Feuer und L?schwasser schwer in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Das Konzert werde zum Kunstfest Weimar aufgef?hrt. Auf dem Cembalo spielt der ungarische Pianist Andr?s Schiff, es singt Juliane Banse (Sopran). ?Es ist pures Gl?ck gewesen, dass die damals unbekannte Komposition in der Brandnacht nicht auf der zerst?rten zweiten Galerie, sondern in der Restauratorenwerkstatt war?, sagte Knoche. Die zweiseitige Komposition - im Oktober 1713 zum 52. Geburtstag von Herzog Wilhelm Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar (1662- 1728) entstanden - befand sich in einem Sammelband mit Fest- und Huldigungsschriften. Ein Wissenschaftler des Bach-Archivs Leipzig hatte das Werk in der Werkstatt zuf?llig entdeckt. Das beidseitig beschriebene Blatt ist nach Auskunft des Leiters der Restaurierungswerkstatt Matthias Hageb?ck im Vergleich zu anderen Bach-Handschriften in einem verh?ltnism??ig guten Zustand. Bach war von 1708 bis 1717 Hoforganist und von 1714 an auch Konzertmeister in Weimar. Die Klassik Stiftung Weimar wird zum ersten Jahrestag des Bibliotheksbrandes die Arie als Faksimile-Druck herausbringen. Dazu geh?rt auch der zw?lfstrophige Text mit dem Zeilenbeginn ?Alles mit Gott und nichts ohne ihn? - dem Wahlspruch des Herzogs. Geschrieben hat ihn der Buttelstedter Superintendent Johann Anton Mylius (1657- 1724). Der B?renreiter Verlag Kassel, der die Bachschen Werke verlegt, drucke zwei unterschiedliche Ausgaben, sagte Knoche. Die eine sei ein limitiertes bibliophiles Programmheft, das Besucher zum 3. September um die 150 Euro kaufen k?nnen. Damit unterst?tzten sie die Restaurierung brandgesch?digter B?cher. Bisher seien rund zehn Millionen Euro an privaten Spenden eingegangen. www.swkk.de From museum-security at museum-security.org Mon Aug 1 22:16:05 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 22:16:05 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?_De_pl=E1cemes=2C_ladrones_de_arte_s?= =?iso-8859-1?q?acro_enM=E9xico_-_Prensa_Latina?= Message-ID: <20050801201606.YBNU2060.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> De pl?cemes, ladrones de arte sacro en M?xico M?xico, 31 jul (PL) Quienes en M?xico se dedican hoy al robo de arte sacro est?n de pl?cemes: de 267 hurtos reportados en los seis ?ltimos a?os, apenas en una decena de casos se recuperaron las piezas sustra?das. Puebla, Tlaxcala, Estado de M?xico, Guanajuato, Morelos, San Luis Potos? y Quer?taro, son los siete estados que han presentado denuncias por la p?rdida -en su conjunto- de m?s de 700 objetos de alto valor. La entidad m?s golpeada por este flagelo es Puebla, donde desde 1999 a esta fecha se cometieron 149 atracos a iglesias y ?nicamente en dos oportunidades fue posible encontrar los art?culos sustra?dos. Una situaci?n similar registra Tlaxcala, pues ninguno de los 61 robos ocurridos de 2001 a esta parte fue resuelto por la Procuradur?a General de la Rep?blica, que es la encargada de investigar estos casos por tratarse de un delito federal. Aunque en una cuant?a menor, el panorama es id?ntico en Morelos, San Luis Potos? y Quer?taro, entidades que registraron de conjunto una decena de robos y todos permanecen impunes, indic? el peri?dico digital Mural. En el Estado de M?xico, de los 39 hurtos registrados desde el 2000, las autoridades han logrado resolver seis casos y recuperado 13 piezas, mientras en Guanajuato se han podido esclarecer dos de los 10 atracos cometidos en los ?ltimos cinco a?os. fg/mpm http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Mon Aug 1 22:17:53 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 22:17:53 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Art theft shows Katif's culture crumble Message-ID: <20050801201754.ECTM18546.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Art theft shows Katif's culture crumble ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Talya Halkin, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 1, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- When the exhibition that Zipi Luria and Avner Bar Hama curated at the Neve Dekalim community center opened 10 days ago, both they and the 26 artists participating in the exhibition were well aware of the fact that they were abandoning the artworks there to an unknown fate. The exhibition had an opening date - July 20 - but no closing date. It would be taken down or destroyed, the curators had decided in advance, by the same security forces that would dismantle the material infrastructure of Gush Katif. On Saturday evening, however, the community center's director of cultural programs, Anat Ya'akov, discovered that one of the works was missing. When she returned on Sunday morning, her coworkers reported to her that the center's safe had also been stolen. Paradoxically, the stolen art was created by Naomi Shalev, a Tel Aviv artist and curator who defines herself as "as far left as you can be on the Israeli political map." The work contained an image, taken from a fashion magazine, of what Shalev described as "a very sexy woman in an orange dress," which the artist had slashed with a sarcastic and humorous sentence, reading: "I will never disengage from my house in Neve Avivim," a reference to a well-to-do Tel Aviv neighborhood. "There are two options," Shalev said, laughing, "either the criminals who stole the work are right wingers who didn't like it because they felt it made a left-wing statement, or perhaps they were left-wing criminals who liked the work and were bothered by the fact that it was being displayed in Gush Katif." "It makes us feel that we are being looted while we are still living here, before we even left," Ya'akov said. According to Ya'akov, it seems there has been an increase in burglaries and break-ins in the Gush Katif area. During a previous burglary attempt, she said, her printer and computer were stolen from her office. "Our cars and houses have been open for twenty years," she said. "I don't even have a key to the house." The police spokesperson's office for Gush Katif told the Post that it is still unclear who was responsible for breaking into the community center - or what their motives might have been - and said that an investigation was underway. There had been no statistical indication of a rise in burglaries in the Gush Katif area in recent weeks or days, the police said. Margot Dudkevitch contributed to this report. From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Tue Aug 2 10:43:36 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:43:36 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] The Plunder of Tibet's Treasures Message-ID: <42EF3238.6010500@bruggemansolutions.com> The Plunder of Tibet's Treasures The ancient Himalayan culture of Tibet?already subject to strict controls from Beijing?is suffering irreparable cultural losses amid increasing burglaries, looting and illegal trade in treasures from its tombs, monasteries and temples, scholars and local residents say. The growing trade in stolen Tibetan artifacts has in part been fueled by a rising tide of commercialism which seeks to exploit the region's cultural relics, often with the help of corrupt local officials, a recent investigative report by RFA's Mandarin service has found. "The chief of the local precinct started digging in the very beginning," said one resident of the Tibetan-inhabited county of Dulan in China's northwestern Qinghai province, which is home to a large, and frequently robbed, complex of Tibetan tombs. "They arrested and sentenced many people at that time. However, up until now, the tomb robbery situation has not improved. They captured over 200 non-Tibetan farmers last year. Most of them belonged to the Hui [Muslim] nationality, but there were Hans as well," the Tibetan man said. Rampant tomb robbery The tombs in question are in the Haixi Mongolian-Tibetan Nationalities Autonomous Prefecture, an ancient Silk Road town, and the birthplace of Nuomuhong culture. Excavations have revealed gold coins from the eastern Roman empire, silver Persian coins and many Tibetan cultural relics. The State Cultural Relics Bureau of China listed them as one of the top 10 archeological discoveries of 1996. But that status has done little to protect them or their contents. Migrant workers from elsewhere in the region often pursued tomb robbery as a lucrative sideline to their jobs as construction workers, and the armed guards stationed at some of the tombs could not prevent them all, the Dulan county resident said. "They started implementing some anti-theft measures a few years ago," he told RFA's Investigative Report. "Nevertheless, these measures are not effective because the tombs are scattered relatively far apart along the slopes and most of them have been robbed empty." An officer at the Dulan county police station said police were committed to tackling the issue. "They have a specialized relic police precinct," the officer said. "They will definitely arrest any tomb robber." But local relics specialists lack resources to manage the treasures, which are rapidly slipping away under their very eyes. Lack of funds for enforcement "They cannot do anything," Haixi Prefecture Nationality Museum official Daba told RFA. "The road is rugged. It is about money, financial problems. Let?s say you were the public security. You learn that someone is burgling the tomb and you go there but cannot find anybody. What can you do?" "For us, it is mainly a financial problem. We do not have money to manage the relics," he said. But the problem isn't only caused by criminal organizations. Government departments, academic institutions and private individuals both within China and overseas have contributed to the plunder over the past few decades, Tibetan scholars and Buddhist leaders told RFA. Beijing-based Han Chinese scholar Wang Lixiong, who has written several works on Tibetan issues, including the Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, says that the large-scale losses to Tibetan culture began with the state-sponsored destruction of the Cultural Revolution. "During the Mao era, they considered the artifacts dross and destroyed them. Now, they see them as merchandise and sell them. Speaking overall, either way, it is an abuse," Wang said. Many overseas scholars worry that Tibetan culture is gradually becoming extinct. Insiders help thieves Pema Wangyal, Professor of Tibetan Buddhism at Western University in Los Angeles, said there was widespread theft of and trafficking in Tibetan artifacts from Buddhist temples and monasteries, in which government officials frequently colluded with the traders and thieves. "The theft of artifacts is very common among large Tibetan temples but the government has not done much to investigate or report the issue," Pema Wangyal said. "For instance, seven precious gold bowls that served as the sacrificial lamps for the Buddha at the Taer Temple were stolen in the 1980s. I believe they were artifacts from the Ming Dynasty." "The matter was shelved in the end. This situation happens to temples in many places," he said. He said there was also a huge collection of precious Tibetan artifacts in the United States, in Washington D.C., in some U.S. museums, in schools of East Asian Study at many U.S. universities, and in some personal collections. "The Asian Museum in Los Angeles has many valuable exhibits," Pemal Wangyal added. "Some are from personal collections while others are obtained through unknown means. They have some priceless items, even from the Ming and Yuan Dynasties." He cited the case of an auction held in New York recently at which someone bought a rice steamer from the Tang Dynasty and a statue of a guardian warrior of the Buddha made of stonewood from the Ming Dynasty. Treasures appear overseas "I saw the statue myself. It cost U.S.$3.8 million," he told RFA reporter Bai Fan. Living Buddha Arjia Rinpoche, the original Abbot of the Taer Temple in Qinghai Region, now manages the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom in California. He said the problem had grown worse during the 1980s and 1990s. "A serious case happened to the Taer Temple while I was the Abbot there. I think it was on August 25, 1987," Arjia Rinpoche said. "The famous Wudan lamps made of pure gold were stolen...After that, the artifacts of the temple were burglarized one after another. During my term as Abbot, I went out on business one time and eight invaluable artifacts in our museum, including an ivory ball, were also stolen," he said. Taer Temple monk Monk Qirap, who works in the temple security office, said there were established networks for the illegal trade in Tibetan treasures. "The trafficking of stolen artifacts does exist," Qirap said. "Usually, they are transported to China by vehicle and shipped overseas through Guangzhou and Guangdong." More thefts in recent years Qirap confirmed an increase in the illegal art trade in recent years. "They mainly steal items such as statues of Buddha; ancient items that are valuable now. For example, statues of Buddha made of sulphonium and jade," he told RFA. Other observers point to the politics at work in Tibet, which was occupied by Chinese troops from 1949-1951, and has seen a major influx of ethnic Han Chinese who reap most of the benefits of the recent economic growth of recent years. Rinchin Tashi, a U.S.-based Tibetan scholar, believes that the Chinese government only wants control of Tibet, but does not treat the requests of the Tibetans for the return of their relics and personal properties seriously. "Even the higher levels of government seem not to care too much once you talk about personal property, human rights, and personal rights," Rinchin Tashi said. "Laws and policies are required for the better protection of Tibetan property. You can see that there isn't in fact much autonomy in the Tibetan Autonomous Region." "If they give the Tibetans a certain degree of autonomy and establish the rule of law across the country, then China will become a democratic country under the rule of law. Then, all the people living in the People?s Republic of China, whether they are Tibetans or Hans, will be able to protect their personal property," he told RFA. http://www.rfa.org/ From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Tue Aug 2 10:43:40 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:43:40 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Argentina: =?windows-1252?q?Declarar=E1n_monumento_hist=F3rico_ru?= =?windows-1252?q?inas_religiosas_de_Ica=F1o?= Message-ID: <42EF323C.2000005@bruggemansolutions.com> Declarar?n monumento hist?rico ruinas religiosas de Ica?o El Senado aprob? un proyecto de ley mediante el cual declara como monumentos hist?ricos provinciales las ruinas de edificios religiosos existentes en la Villa Vieja de Ica?o, en la localidad del mismo nombre, en el departamento La Paz. La iniciativa parlamentaria pertenece al senador V?ctor Luna. El legislador coment? que si bien la zona de la jurisdicci?n de Ica?o, ?es toda un important?simo yacimiento arqueol?gico que nos muestra la presencia humana en ella desde hace diez mil a?os?, el proyecto tiende a revalorizar las construcciones religiosas levantadas en esos lugares. Dijo que el verdadero asiento poblacional comienza con la fundaci?n de la ciudad Barco III, estableci?ndose desde la misma un sistema de mercedes y encomiendas de indios existiendo referencias de la Merced de Colauil, la que fuera otorgada en 1619 por el gobernador Qui?ones y Osorio a la esposa del capit?n Garc?a Barata, la que habr?a estado poblada desde a?os atr?s. El casco de una de las estancias de la familia antes mencionada, habr?a estado en lo que hoy se conoce como Villa Vieja de Ica?o. Existen antecedentes que indican adem?s que entre 1800 y 1850 pasaba por ICa?o la ruta que un?a C?rdoba con Catamarca. En la zona de Ica?o quedan actualmente testimonios de nuestro patrimonio hist?rico, cultural y religioso; el altar de lo que fuera la cuarta iglesia, la Casa Parroquial y el Cementerio Viejo. ?estas ruinas constituyen uno de los ?ltimos eslabones de los monumentos coloniales que habi?ndose iniciado en el Alto Per?, se establecieron en las serran?as del este catamarque?o?, indic? Luna. Asegur? adem?s que el altar es el ?nico que queda en pie de lo que fuera la cuarta iglesia. Tambi?n que si bien que no existen datos precisos de cu?ndo fue construida la casa parroquial, se cree que fue levantada antes del a?o 1866 por los materiales utilizados. Resalt? adem?s que en el cementerio viejo se conservan estructuras antiguas y descansan en el lugar dos sacerdotes que misionaron en la zona. ?Este proyecto de ley tiende a preservar estas ruinas hist?ricas como testimonio de quienes nos antecedieron en el camino de la vida. Ellas son nuestro derecho propio y como tal tenemos el deber de conservarlas?, fundament? Luna durante el tratamiento de la iniciativa en el Senado. http://www.diarioc.com.ar/ From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Tue Aug 2 18:15:02 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 18:15:02 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] State Examines Spending at Getty Message-ID: <42EF9C06.5050506@bruggemansolutions.com> State Examines Spending at Getty By Robin Fields and Jason Felch, Times Staff Writers In the latest in a series of setbacks for the world's richest art institution, the California attorney general's office has opened a wide-ranging inquiry into financial practices at the J. Paul Getty Trust, according to a confidential memorandum. The memo, written by the Getty's general counsel and circulated to the trust's upper management, said the attorney general has requested eight years of records relating to trust Chief Executive Barry Munitz's compensation and expenses, as well as expenditures made for his wife, grants, gifts to trustees and a 2002 real estate transaction. State regulators also have asked for documents connected to criminal charges pending in Italy against Marion True, the Getty's curator for antiquities, for allegedly conspiring to purchase looted artifacts. Times stories describing Munitz's spending, perks and favors for friends prompted the state's review, according to the memo by Peter Erichsen, the Getty's top lawyer. He cautioned 17 senior Getty officials, including Munitz, not to destroy records related to the attorney general's areas of interest and instructed them to preserve all communications with The Times. The attorney general's office said policy prohibited it from confirming or denying the existence of an investigation. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who has led a national push for stricter oversight of nonprofits, called the attorney general's inquiry into Getty transactions "the responsible course of action." Under state and federal law, foundations such as the Getty Trust must use their resources for the public good, not private benefit. "Nonprofit status is government-conferred and taxpayer-supported," said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is considering the first major overhaul of laws governing tax-exempt groups in 30 years. "Nonprofits have to abide by certain standards to enjoy that status. Public scrutiny is part of keeping nonprofits accountable for their special position." Getty officials would not respond to The Times questions, but issued a written statement through their public relations consultant saying that it will "fully cooperate" with the inquiry. "Counsel to the Getty has already met with representatives of the attorney general's office to ensure that information or documents responsive to any request are produced as quickly as possible," the statement said. In the past, Getty officials have denied that Munitz's practices were out of step with the law. They have also said the IRS recently concluded an audit of the Getty's 2001, 2002 and 2003 fiscal years and found nothing wrong with Munitz's pay, perks or financial dealings. They would not provide a copy of the IRS findings letter, which identified other areas of concern. Experts on nonprofit law said that, in certain regards, California's statutes are written more broadly than the federal tax code. For example, officers have a far-reaching "duty of loyalty" to protect nonprofits' resources. The attorney general's office is likely to look for patterns of excessive spending or instances when Getty resources may have been diverted for personal benefit, they said. The Times reported in June that Munitz has traveled the world first-class at Getty expense, sometimes with his wife. His total compensation, which topped $1.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 2004, ranks him among the nation's highest-paid nonprofit leaders. In 2003, when the trust was laying off staff and making cutbacks, the Getty paid $72,000 to provide Munitz with a Porsche Cayenne SUV. At times, records show, Munitz has dispatched Getty employees to do personal tasks for himself and his wife. His office spent more than $20,000 on gifts for four retiring trustees. Federal and state law prohibit nonprofits from giving resources to insiders, and J. Paul Getty's will bars trustees from receiving any form of compensation. The Getty has said the gifts were appropriate. In 1999, two grant payments totaling more than $90,000 were rushed out at Munitz's direction without the due diligence required by the tax code. The attorney general's office also is reviewing the Getty's 2002 sale of a Brentwood property to billionaire Eli Broad for $700,000 less than its appraised value. As The Times reported in Dec. 2004, Munitz played a direct role in negotiating the sale to Broad, a close personal friend. The Getty has said the transaction was conducted properly, and the trust received fair market value for the land. The attorney general's inquiry adds to the troubles that have surrounded the Getty since late last year. Museum director Deborah Gribbon abruptly resigned in October, citing differences with Munitz. Her position has yet to be filled, and her interim replacement has taken a job elsewhere. The Getty's curator for antiquities, True, faces trial in Rome on charges that she conspired to purchase looted antiquities. True also directs the Getty Villa, the museum's soon-to-be-re-opened Malibu campus. After the publication of The Times story in June, the Council on Foundations, the industry group that represents nonprofits, also initiated a review of the Getty. The attorney general's request for information will not necessarily result in regulatory action against the trust, experts said. If state regulators were to conclude there had been misuse of the Getty's resources, they could impose penalties, require the misspent money to be repaid, or, in an extreme measure, remove trustees. California is among the few states with the resources to investigate private foundations, and is considered more aggressive than most, said Janne Gallagher, the Council on Foundation's general counsel. "They bring cases fairly frequently," said Douglas Mancino, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in nonprofit legal matters. "If they smell a rat, they would be very much willing to make demands on the organizations and the individuals involved." http://www.latimes.com/ From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Tue Aug 2 18:17:40 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 18:17:40 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] How South Africa is losing its cultural treasures Message-ID: <42EF9CA4.5070602@bruggemansolutions.com> How SA is losing its cultural treasures Valuable South African cultural treasures, including art works, firearms, furniture and archaeological artefacts, are being smuggled out of the country for foreign collectors. According to South African Heritage Resources (Sahra) CEO Phakamani Buthelezi, the value of objects taken "ranges between R500 to R50 000, even to R100 000". Speaking to the South African Press Association (Sapa) on Tuesday, he was reluctant to put a figure on the total value of cultural property that has been illegally exported, saying only "we are losing quite a lot". A reliable source told Sapa the total figure is probably in the millions, although it is difficult to put a value on some of the artefacts, which could be considered "priceless". Earlier on Tuesday, in a written reply to a parliamentary question, Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan said a strategy is being developed to halt the illegal trade. Jordan said his department has begun an audit of "immovable and movable cultural properties in South Africa". "The Department of Arts and Culture is working with ... the South African Police Service, Interpol and Sahra to come up with a coherent strategy to address law enforcement of heritage-related matters. "[It] has recently embarked upon a comprehensive audit of immovable and moveable cultural properties in South Africa." This will be completed in 2008, and will give a clear picture of the extent of cultural assets in the country, Jordan said. Buthelezi said it is in the interest of Sahra -- the organisation tasked with the protection of the country's heritage -- to "have a system working with other bodies to stop this thing [illegal exports]". He also called for closer cooperation with other Southern African states in this regard. In terms of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999, a permit is required to export or import so-called cultural property. http://www.mg.co.za/ From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Wed Aug 3 06:39:03 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 06:39:03 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Turkish Lawyers File Suit Against British Museum Halikarnassos Mausoleum Message-ID: <42F04A67.9080007@bruggemansolutions.com> Turkish Lawyers File Suit Against British Museum Halikarnassos Mausoleum A campaign has been launched for the restitution of Turkey over the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos that was transported from Bodrum in southern Turkey to the British Museum 150 years ago. A documentary was prepared and 30,000 signatures were collected within the framework of the campaign. A group of lawyers is now preparing to file a lawsuit against the British Museum in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Nearly 30 lawyers from Istanbul and Izmir together with the Bodrum Municipality along with various non-government organizations launched a campaign for the restitution of the Mausoleum transported to London in 1846. To this end a documentary film, entitled ?Antique Halikarnasos?, has been prepared. Lawyer Remzi Kazmaz relating they had had received support from the Bodrum district administration and the Bodrum municipality says that they aim to draw public attention to the case before the judicial process begins. Kazmaz also reports that the Bodrum Municipality and the Alternative Cinema group have launched a widespread signature campaign and have so far collected more than 30,000 signatures. Another interesting action undertaken within the frame of the campaign was placing a black wreath at British Museum. Kazmaz says they will first appeal to the British Courts, and then if they cannot get any results in Britain, they will take the case to the ECHR. International Law Specialist, Lawyer Sekan Cengiz says: ?The British Museum exhibits historical monuments transported from various places from all around the world. The true owners of these exhibits have launched legal processes for their restitution. There are similar cases from Greece and Egypt.? Queen Artemis constructed the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos for her husband, who ruled in the Bodrum region between 353 and 377 BC. Statues and reliefs belonging to the monument unearthed by British archeologist 150 years ago are now on display at the British Museum. http://www.zaman.com/ From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Wed Aug 3 06:53:33 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 06:53:33 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Kingdom's role in protecting Iraq's cultural wealth lauded Message-ID: <42F04DCD.8070004@bruggemansolutions.com> Kingdom's role in protecting Iraq's cultural wealth lauded AMMAN (JT) ? Participants in the opening ceremony of a training course on Iraq's cultural heritage preservation highlighted Jordan's role in protecting the Arab neighbour's cultural wealth, particularly archaeological sites. Sponsors of the programme commended Jordan's commitment to helping the Iraqis preserve their precious heritage, which has been under threat in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of the country. The 60-day training course, which involves Iraqi antiquities officials, is organised and sponsored by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Antiquities. The programme is part of Japan's reconstruction assistance to Iraq in cooperation with Germany, France and UNESCO. Trainees will receive theoretical and practical training on excavation, antiquities maintenance and reconstruction. The training will take place in the northern Um Qais historical area. The opening ceremony of ?Cultural Heritage Training Course? for the Iraqis was held yesterday and attended by representatives from JICA and co-sponsoring governments and organisations, in addition to Jordanian antiquities officials and the participants. In remarks at the ceremony, Japanese Ambassador Koichi Obata underscored the importance of transferring expertise to Iraqi archaeological officials, noting that the programme comes as part of the international community's efforts to help reconstruct the war-torn country. He expressed his thanks to Jordan, UNESCO and the other contributors to the project. Other speakers also highlighted the need to protect Iraq's heritage and tackle the damage it has received, vowing full cooperation to achieve these goals. They included Director General of the Department of Antiquities Fawaz Khreishah, Director of the French Institute of the Near East in Amman Jean-Francious Salles, Hisatoshi Okubo, representative of Iraq unit at JICA's Jordan office, and officials from the German embassy and UNESCO. Japan organised in February and March a training course titled ?Comprehensive Preservation and Management Skill for Cultural Heritage? in cooperation with the governments of Jordan, France and Germany, and UNESCO. The course that started yesterday was a second step of this joint effort to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq in the field of cultural heritage. The Japanese government has implemented various courses in which a total of 300 Iraqis were trained in the fields of electricity, statistics, solid waste management, water resources management and education in addition to cultural heritage. Jordan, which signed with JICA a third country agreement, has put all its facilities and know-how in these fields at the disposal of the Iraqis. http://www.jordantimes.com From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Wed Aug 3 17:36:24 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 17:36:24 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Paraguay: Roban valiosa obra =?windows-1252?q?hist=F3rica?= Message-ID: <42F0E478.5000709@bruggemansolutions.com> Roban valiosa obra hist?rica SANTISIMA TRINIDAD, Itap?a. (De nuestra redacci?n regional). La cabeza de una imagen de piedra ubicada en el templo principal de las ruinas jesu?ticas de Sant?sima Trinidad ha desaparecido del lugar. El objeto habr?a sido robado por alg?n coleccionista o para ser vendido. En una foto captada por periodistas de este diario, el 14 de febrero pasado, la estatua a?n estaba completa. La desaparici?n de la valiosa obra hist?rica no habr?a sido notada sino varios meses despu?s por las autoridades de la secretar?a de turismo (Senatur), entidad que tiene a su cargo el cuidado y la administraci?n de este patrimonio cultural. La denuncia fue formulada el pasado 3 de marzo por Rub?n Gonz?lez Mart?nez, encargado de restauraci?n de las ruinas, ante la comisar?a de Sant?sima Trinidad. Seg?n los agentes policiales, el robo habr?a ocurrido el pasado 24 de febrero de este a?o. Lo llamativo es el silencio de las autoridades de la Secretar?a de Turismo ante tal situaci?n, de innegable significaci?n en lo que hace a la conservaci?n de este monumento hist?rico. Las ruinas jesu?ticas de Sant?sima Trinidad, junto con las de Jes?s de Tavarangue, un pueblo vecino, fueron declaradas patrimonio cultural de la humanidad, en 1993. Desde su puesta en valor, a partir de la d?cada de los ?70, este invalorable patrimonio hist?rico se ha visto con serias dificultades para su mantenimiento y cuidado, debido a la falta de presupuesto e indefinici?n sobre acciones a tomar para su mejor conservaci?n. Las ruinas est?n ubicadas a unos 35 y 45 kil?metros al noreste de la capital departamental, Encarnaci?n, por la ruta nacional VI. PULPITO SE ESTA DESTRUYENDO Otra situaci?n de extrema gravedad que est? ocurriendo en el interior de las ruinas es el hecho de que el p?lpito, una pieza tallada en piedra, ?nica en su g?nero que a?n se conserva entre todos los pueblos de origen jesu?tico, se est? destruyendo lentamente. Las im?genes e inscripciones originales, as? como los colores originales, se est?n cayendo, borr?ndose, porque la superficie se est? descascarando, y las im?genes y letras est?n cayendo en peque?os pedazos. El hecho de estar a la intemperie y el haber sido sometido a un proceso de conservaci?n con un producto qu?mico impermeabilizante hacen que por los efectos de las lluvias y el sol la superficie de la piedra se desprenda, y con ello se est? perdiendo un testimonio hist?rico de insustituible valor. Expertos en la materia sostienen que se deben tomar acciones urgentes para evitar la destrucci?n total, ya sea trasladando la obra de arte a un sitio especial o construy?ndole una suerte de "pecera" de vidrio, climatizada. http://www.abc.com.py/ From cho at savingantiquities.org Thu Aug 4 03:14:01 2005 From: cho at savingantiquities.org (Cindy Ho) Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 21:14:01 -0400 Subject: [CPProt.net] SAFE launches "Say YES to Italy'" to support renewal of bilateral agreement with the U.S. Message-ID: On September 8 the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) will meet to consider Italy's request to renew the bilateral agreement that restricts the importation of antiquities into the U.S. "Say YES to Italy" is the latest campaign launched by SAFE | Saving Antiquities For Everyone (www.savingantiquities.org) in support of this renewal. We ask all those concerned about the devastation of Italy's cultural heritage by the illicit antiquities trade to visit our website and sign our online appeal: http://www.savingantiquities.org/i-safe-mouitaly.php SAFE will present signatures to CPAC, so sign NOW and tell everyone--colleagues, friends, family, everyone--you know to do the same. SAFE urges all scholars, especially those who work in Italy, to submit written statements to CPAC. Your personal knowledge of looting in Italy and anything you can recount about whether and how the 2001 bilateral US-Italy agreement has helped to mitigate the situation will be critically important. For details, please visit our website. SAFE | Saving Antiquities for Everyone creates educational programs and media campaigns to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving cultural heritage worldwide. SAFE is a coalition of professionals in communications, media, and advertising working alongside experts in the academic, legal and law enforcement communities. SAFE has no political affiliations and is sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501(c)(3) corporation. "Say YES to Italy" follows SAFE's campaign to support China's request for a bilateral agreement in February 2005. From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 06:12:01 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 06:12:01 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] The Art Newspaper newsletter Message-ID: <20050805041202.GUNY10024.amsfep15-int.chello.nl@cremers> The Art Newspaper newsletter >From News: Jerwood moves its assets from Liechtenstein to UK Who was the mysterious pearl trader behind one of Britain?s richest charities?- By Martin Bailey LONDON. The Art Newspaper has learned that the Jerwood Foundation has recently transferred its assets from the Liechtenstein-based Jerwood Foundation to the UK-registered Jerwood Charity, which has been endowed to the tune of ?25 million. Jerwood has now become one of the UK?s largest arts charities, disbursing well over ?5 million a year. A total of ?70 million has been awarded or put into an endowment since John Jerwood?s death in 1991. The move from a Liechtenstein foundation... go to article >From News: Bitter dispute over Alberto Burri The Arte Povera artist?s brother-in-law is claiming ownership of over 1,000 works- By Emma Beatty LONDON. Cecil Craig, 85, the brother-in-law of the Arte Povera artist Alberto Burri, has taken up his late sister?s campaign to gain ownership of the Italian artist?s estate, which has been managed by the Burri Foundation since shortly after the artist?s death... go to article >From Museums: Virginia gets $100 million gift of American art The donation puts the collection on par with those in Boston, New York and Washington, DC, says director- By Jason Edward Kaufman RICHMOND. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has received 130 American paintings, valued in excess of $100 million, from trustee Frances G. McGlothlin and her husband James W. McGlothlin, chairman and ceo of the Virginia-based financial services and industrial supply company United Co. and one of the US?s wealthiest individuals. The gift transforms the museum?s holdings of American art... go to article From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 07:40:52 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 07:40:52 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] North Carolina regains copy of original Bill of Rights Message-ID: <20050805054053.GWKU11566.amsfep12-int.chello.nl@cremers> North Carolina regains copy of original Bill of Rights By EMERY P. DALESIO Associated Press Writer Thursday, August 4, 2005 RALEIGH, N.C. - An original copy of the Bill of Rights that was given to North Carolina by George Washington back in 1789 was returned to the state Thursday, culminating a bitter legal tug-of-war over the historic document. Gov. Mike Easley accepted the document at a brief ceremony in the capitol after a judge ordered federal marshals to turn it over to the state _ the first time North Carolina has owned the document since the end of the Civil War. "I am pleased to accept this document on behalf of the state and look forward to having a grand celebration when we make it available to citizens and school children across North Carolina," Easley said. "North Carolina's stolen Bill of Rights may have been out of state for nearly 140 years, but never out of mind." Easley signed a receipt accepting possession of the document from U.S. marshals during a brief, quickly announced ceremony inside the antebellum state Capitol from which the document was stolen by an invading Union soldier in 1865. Easley and other politicians celebrated victory as a diagonal beam of afternoon sunlight splayed across the weathered parchment in its ivory-colored frame. The document is one of the original 13 delivered to the colonies for review before the final document was approved in 1789. Only hours before, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle signed an order directing the U.S. Marshal's Office to immediately hand over the document to Easley. The document has been in possession of the court during the legal battle. The stolen document was sold by the Union soldier in 1866 to a Troy, Ohio, buyer, whose family sold it to Connecticut antiques dealer Wayne Pratt in 2000 for $200,000. In March 2003, an FBI agent posing as a museum buyer at a meeting in Philadelphia pretended to purchase the paper from Pratt and his investor, Robert V. Matthews of Washington Depot, Conn., for $5 million. Instead, the agent presented a seizure warrant signed by Boyle. Pratt relinquished his ownership claim to the document. Matthews continues to claim partial ownership of the paper, which has been valued at up to $40 million. Boyle last year awarded it to North Carolina. But in January, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., told Boyle to reconsider. Boyle determined the document should return to the possession of the person or entity who owned it before the government's sting operation. Boyle ruled Thursday that Pratt, his company and his agent in the proposed sale, attorney John L. Richardson, had the clearest right to possession. But they had relinquished their claim to North Carolina, Boyle said. Matthews had said in court depositions that he was a passive investor in the document's purchase. That meant he could not claim ownership, Boyle ruled. "It's just thievery; it's absolute thievery," said Matthews' attorney, Mike Stratton of New Haven, Conn. "Bob Matthews paid real money, $200,000, to buy a document that's been in private hands for 140 years." Stratton said Boyle's decision ignores an earlier 4th Circuit order that mandated the rights of all parties staking a claim to the document be respected _ including those of his client. A North Carolina legislative leader praised the decision. "Justice is finally being done, and we're delighted to have it returned," Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said on the Senate floor. Easley said the Bill of Rights will be displayed in the state Museum of History. ___ Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story. From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 07:45:53 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 07:45:53 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Vandals wreak havoc at Columbine Gallery Message-ID: <20050805054604.MYBS14362.amsfep17-int.chello.nl@cremers> Vandals wreak havoc at Columbine Gallery $25,000 to $50,000 damage done July 5, 2005 By Pamela Dickman The Daily Reporter-Herald The first sign that something was amiss at Columbine Gallery Wednesday morning was water flooding the parking lot. Then owner John Kinkade walked into the one-acre sculpture garden and got an eyeful. Bronze sculptures were knocked over, scratched and damaged at the business at 2683 N. Taft Ave., across the street from North Lake Park. Aphrodite, a marble sculpture, was overturned. Her head, broken from her body, was pitched at other art pieces. Lawn furniture was tossed into a pond. Trees were damaged. A chiminea was smashed like Humpty Dumpty. Sprinkler heads and lights were destroyed. Three pieces of art are missing - stolen or thrown in the pond - and other sculptures and pedestals are now covered with feces. All told, vandals caused an estimated $25,000 to $50,000 damage at the business. "I'm shellshocked," Kinkade said. "It's a nauseating experience." A week and a half before the gallery's large show, held the same weekend as Loveland's sculpture show, Kinkade's family is left cleaning up the mess. And Loveland police are investigating. Officer Bobbi Jo Brown responded to Kinkade's call and documented the damage, but police have not arrested anyone. Nor do they know how many people were involved. The culprits, who also threw up on the sidewalk, may have been drunk. Based on when the sprinkler system is set to operate, Kinkade believes the damage happened after midnight. And based on the amount of damage, Brown thought the vandals were there for at least two hours, according to police and Kinkade. But no witnesses have come forward. One of the destroyed pieces, Aphrodite, was worth about $8,500, Kinkade said. "It was one of a kind," he said. "It had been sold, and somebody had been making payments on it." Now instead of the chosen piece, the buyer will either receive a refund or another piece. Kinkade plans to install security cameras and devices, and police have promised to patrol the area more often in the coming weeks. He also hopes the community will keep an eye out. "It's beyond kids just horsing around," said Alyson Kinkade, whose father owns the gallery. "This is just beyond all of it. "It's just kind of devastating. It's just our garden, and we didn't do anything to anybody. You just feel violated." From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 07:54:09 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 07:54:09 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Thieves steal fake Munch artworks Message-ID: <20050805055415.HEBQ11566.amsfep12-int.chello.nl@cremers> Thieves steal fake Munch artworks August 4, 2005 Masked thieves in Norway have stolen what they thought were three Edvard Munch paintings - but they turned out to be worthless copies. Two unarmed men burst into Oslo's Hotel Continental, threatened staff and removed three pictures from the walls. But the hotel had swapped the originals with duplicates after two real Munch works were stolen from the Munch Museum in the city almost a year ago. "It's a real fiasco for the thieves," hotel manager Siv Lunde Kolrud said. The hotel's art collection includes 12 Munch originals, which were "in a very safe place", Ms Lunde Kolrud said. These are amateurs - they made a fool out of themselves Vidar Hjulstad Oslo police The pictures stolen on Wednesday were actually photographs of The Vampire, Self-Portrait and Melancholy, she said, adding that the frames were the only things of value. The men who raided the Munch Museum last August are not suspected of carrying out this theft, police spokesman Vidar Hjulstad said. "They are not like the thieves from the real Munch Museum, these are amateurs," he said. "They made a fool out of themselves." An abandoned getaway car was found about a kilometre (0.6 miles) away. After the theft last August, security was stepped up and five arrests have been made. But The Scream and Madonna have not been found and the Munch Museum remained closed until last month. In March, three lesser Munch works were taken from another hotel but were recovered the following day. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4741683.stm From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 07:54:09 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 07:54:09 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Theft snaps up $895,000 in photos Message-ID: <20050805055418.HECU11566.amsfep12-int.chello.nl@cremers> Theft snaps up $895,000 in photos August 4, 2005 Renowned artist Barbara F. Gundle's van and trailer were stolen after her show at Cherry Creek. By Kirk Mitchell Denver Post Staff Writer A van and trailer filled with $895,000 in pictures by a nationally renowned photographer were stolen after she exhibited her work at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Photos by Barbara F. Gundle of Portland, Ore., including limited-edition portraits and scenes from around the world, filled the van and trailer, said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson. It is not known whether the thief or thieves understood how valuable the pictures are, Jackson said. Gundle had left the van and trailer in a hotel parking lot at 6201 Tower Road to fly back to Portland between art shows, said Terry Adams, director of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. When she returned to Denver on July 14 to drive to her next show in Michigan, the van and trailer were gone, Jackson said. The van is a blue and white 1998 Ford Econoline 350 with a high top and an extended body. The Oregon license plate is XDK132. The theft took place between July 5 and July 14, Jackson said. Gundle's photographs range in price from around $350 to $1,200 each, Adams said. "She exhibits at a lot of top shows around the country," Adams said. "She is one of many high-quality artists in the country." People who think they may have bought the stolen pieces should contact police, Jackson said. Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell at denverpost.com. From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 08:57:44 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 08:57:44 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] The British House of Commons, the Axum Obelisk, and "Patent Absurdity" of retaining the Maqdala Loot Message-ID: <20050805065746.GBZI2060.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> The British House of Commons, the Axum Obelisk, and "Patent Absurdity" of retaining the Maqdala Loot August 5, 2005 A dramatic turn of events has taken place on a Select Committee of the British House of Commons, which has been discussing the loot from Maqdala in the light of the imminent return from Italy of the Axum Obelisk. This discussion was initiated by AFROMET, the Association for the Return of Maqdala Loot, which has been campaigning, as most readers will be aware, for the return to Ethiopia of the loot from Emperor Tewodros's citadel at Maqdala, taken by British troops in 1868. AFROMET emphasises that the looting of Maqdala was entirely unjustified in international law, and that, since a large part of the booty was seized from the church of Madhane Alam, it was in fact an act of sacrilege. AFROMET has petitioned the Queen of England, the British House of Commons, and other institutions. The Association's testimony on the loot from Maqdala was duly published in the House of Commons Cultural Property: Return and Illicit Trade Seventh Report, Vol. III. New Developments The question of the Maqdala loot has now come up again in the House of Commons Select Committee on Cultural Objects. In its recently released official report of 16 December 2003 includes an important section on "sacred objects" in which it discusses British Museum holdings of Ethiopian cultural property, and, imlicitly supporting the views of AFROMET, states:: . "Magdala Treasures "As the previous Committee identified, there has been consensus over the need to treat claims for the restitution of human remains and spoliation as special categories. There are strong arguments, which the HRWG acknowledges implicitly, that sacred objects should be added to this list. One example of a claim involving indisputably sacred objects concerns the "Magdala treasures". In 1868 Sir Robert Napier headed a British expedition which looted, then burned, Magdala, Emperor Tewodros' mountain stronghold in north-western Ethiopia. This sacking extended to the nearby Church of Madhane Alam. In accordance with common practice the collected loot was auctioned soon after to raise prize-money for the enlisted men and contemporary accounts indicate that Richard Holmes, Assistant in the British Museum's Department of Manuscripts "armed with ample funds". out-bid all in most things" on behalf of the museum. There are Ethiopian religious and royal artifacts scattered around the world in private and public collections " The objects sought most ardently by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church are, perhaps, the Tabots which focus the presence of God in every Ethiopian church and are held in the greatest reverence as symbolic of the Ark in the Jewish Temple. The British Museum does not display the Tabots within its collection, paradoxically, in deference to the practice of the Ethiopian Church. A number of Magdala artefacts have been returned from other collections and sources over the years and we note, parenthetically, that the Italian Government has begun to work on returning the iconic Axum Obelisk which was looted by Mussolini's army in 1937. We believe there to be a patent absurdity in a situation where the British Museum does not display artefacts - out of due deference to other cultural and religious values - but is not in a position even to consider returning them. We hope that the British Museum's legal consultations have this case in mind as well as human remains" Comment Though the Report focuses on the Tabots currently held in the British Museum, it should be emphsised that the loot from Maqdala still in Britain includes many other articles, including numerous crosses and manuscripts - the latter of immense historical importance, as well as a gold crown and a chalice, two silver royal drums and colourful royal tents - and part of Tewodros's hair and clothing. The Select Committee must now turn to these items too!n From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 08:57:44 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 08:57:44 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] book on the distruction of Irak art and manuscripts, will describe the worst world cultural disaster of the past 500 years (500 years) Message-ID: <20050805065749.GCAB2060.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Looted history August 5, 2005 A book of the intellectual Charlmets Johnson on the distruction of Irak art and manuscripts, will describe the worst world cultural dissaster of the past 500 years. Here, the C Chalmers Johnson, Imediata In the months before he ordered the invasion of Iraq, George Bush and his senior officials spoke of preserving Iraq's "patrimony" for the Iraqi people. At a time when talking about Iraqi oil was taboo, what he meant by patrimony was exactly that -- Iraqi oil. In their "joint statement on Iraq's future" of April 8, 2003, George Bush and Tony Blair declared, "We reaffirm our commitment to protect Iraq's natural resources, as the patrimony of the people of Iraq, which should be used only for their benefit."[1] In this they were true to their word. Among the few places American soldiers actually did guard during and in the wake of their invasion were oil fields and the Oil Ministry in Baghdad. But the real Iraqi patrimony, that invaluable human inheritance of thousands of years, was another matter. At a time when American pundits were warning of a future "clash of civilizations," our occupation forces were letting perhaps the greatest of all human patrimonies be looted and smashed. There have been many dispiriting sights on TV since George Bush launched his ill-starred war on Iraq -- the pictures from Abu Ghraib, Fallujah laid waste, American soldiers kicking down the doors of private homes and pointing assault rifles at women and children. But few have reverberated historically like the looting of Baghdad's museum -- or been forgotten more quickly in this country. Teaching the Iraqis about the Untidiness of History In archaeological circles, Iraq is known as "the cradle of civilization," with a record of culture going back more than 7,000 years. William R. Polk, the founder of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, says, "It was there, in what the Greeks called Mesopotamia, that life as we know it today began: there people first began to speculate on philosophy and religion, developed concepts of international trade, made ideas of beauty into tangible forms, and, above all developed the skill of writing."[2] No other places in the Bible except for Israel have more history and prophecy associated with them than Babylonia, Shinar (Sumer), and Mesopotamia -- different names for the territory that the British around the time of World War I began to call "Iraq," using the old Arab term for the lands of the former Turkish enclave of Mesopotamia (in Greek: "between the [Tigris and Eurphrates] rivers").[3] Most of the early books of Genesis are set in Iraq (see, for instance, Genesis 10:10, 11:31; also Daniel 1-4; II Kings 24). The best-known of the civilizations that make up Iraq's cultural heritage are the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Parthians, Sassanids, and Muslims. On April 10, 2003, in a television address, President Bush acknowledged that the Iraqi people are "the heirs of a great civilization that contributes to all humanity."[4.] Only two days later, under the complacent eyes of the U.S. Army, the Iraqis would begin to lose that heritage in a swirl of looting and burning. In September 2004, in one of the few self-critical reports to come out of Donald Rumsfeld's Department of Defense, the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication wrote: "The larger goals of U.S. strategy depend on separating the vast majority of non-violent Muslims from the radical-militant Islamist-Jihadists. But American efforts have not only failed in this respect: they may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended."[5] Nowhere was this failure more apparent than in the indifference -- even the glee -- shown by Rumsfeld and his generals toward the looting on April 11 and 12, 2003, of the National Museum in Baghdad and the burning on April 14, 2003, of the National Library and Archives as well as the Library of Korans at the Ministry of Religious Endowments. These events were, according to Paul Zimansky, a Boston University archaeologist, "the greatest cultural disaster of the last 500 years." Eleanor Robson of All Souls College, Oxford, said, "You'd have to go back centuries, to the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, to find looting on this scale."[6] Yet Secretary Rumsfeld compared the looting to the aftermath of a soccer game and shrugged it off with the comment that "Freedom's untidy. . . . Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes."[7] The Baghdad archaeological museum has long been regarded as perhaps the richest of all such institutions in the Middle East. It is difficult to say with precision what was lost there in those catastrophic April days in 2003 because up-to-date inventories of its holdings, many never even described in archaeological journals, were also destroyed by the looters or were incomplete thanks to conditions in Baghdad after the Gulf War of 1991. One of the best records, however partial, of its holdings is the catalog of items the museum lent in 1988 to an exhibition held in Japan's ancient capital of Nara entitled Silk Road Civilizations. But, as one museum official said to John Burns of the New York Times after the looting, "All gone, all gone. All gone in two days."[8] A single, beautifully illustrated, indispensable book edited by Milbry Park and Angela M.H. Schuster, The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005), represents the heartbreaking attempt of over a dozen archaeological specialists on ancient Iraq to specify what was in the museum before the catastrophe, where those objects had been excavated, and the condition of those few thousand items that have been recovered. The editors and authors have dedicated a portion of the royalties from this book to the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. At a conference on art crimes held in London a year after the disaster, the British Museum's John Curtis reported that at least half of the forty most important stolen objects had not been retrieved and that of some 15,000 items looted from the museum's showcases and storerooms about 8,000 had yet to be traced. Its entire collection of 5,800 cylinder seals and clay tablets, many containing cuneiform writing and other inscriptions some of which go back to the earliest discoveries of writing itself, was stolen.[9] Since then, as a result of an amnesty for looters, about 4,000 of the artifacts have been recovered in Iraq, and over a thousand have been confiscated in the United States.[10] Curtis noted that random checks of Western soldiers leaving Iraq had led to the discovery of several in illegal possession of ancient objects. Customs agents in the U.S. then found more. Officials in Jordan have impounded about 2,000 pieces smuggled in from Iraq; in France, 500 pieces; in Italy, 300; in Syria, 300; and in Switzerland, 250. Lesser numbers have been seized in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. None of these objects has as yet been sent back to Baghdad. The 616 pieces that form the famous collection of "Nimrud gold," excavated by the Iraqis in the late 1980s from the tombs of the Assyrian queens at Nimrud, a few miles southeast of Mosul, were saved, but only because the museum had secretly moved them to the subterranean vaults of the Central Bank of Iraq at the time of the first Gulf War. By the time the Americans got around to protecting the bank in 2003, its building was a burnt-out shell filled with twisted metal beams from the collapse of the roof and all nine floors under it. Nonetheless, the underground compartments and their contents survived undamaged. On July 3, 2003, a small portion of the Nimrud holdings was put on display for a few hours, allowing a handful of Iraqi officials to see them for the first time since 1990.[11] The torching of books and manuscripts in the Library of Korans and the National Library was in itself a historical disaster of the first order. Most of the Ottoman imperial documents and the old royal archives concerning the creation of Iraq were reduced to ashes. According to Humberto M?rquez, the Venezuelan writer and author of Historia Universal de La Destrucci?n de Los Libros (2004), about a million books and ten million documents were destroyed by the fires of April 14, 2003.[12] Robert Fisk, the veteran Middle East correspondent of the Independent of London, was in Baghdad the day of the fires. He rushed to the offices of the U.S. Marines' Civil Affairs Bureau and gave the officer on duty precise map locations for the two archives and their names in Arabic and English, and pointed out that the smoke could be seen from three miles away. The officer shouted to a colleague, "This guy says some biblical library is on fire," but the Americans did nothing to try to put out the flames.[13] The Burger King of Ur Given the black market value of ancient art objects, U.S. military leaders had been warned that the looting of all thirteen national museums throughout the country would be a particularly grave danger in the days after they captured Baghdad and took control of Iraq. In the chaos that followed the Gulf War of 1991, vandals had stolen about 4,000 objects from nine different regional museums. In monetary terms, the illegal trade in antiquities is the third most lucrative form of international trade globally, exceeded only by drug smuggling and arms sales.[14] Given the richness of Iraq's past, there are also over 10,000 significant archaeological sites scattered across the country, only some 1,500 of which have been studied. Following the Gulf War, a number of them were illegally excavated and their artifacts sold to unscrupulous international collectors in Western countries and Japan. All this was known to American commanders. In January 2003, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, an American delegation of scholars, museum directors, art collectors, and antiquities dealers met with officials at the Pentagon to discuss the forthcoming invasion. They specifically warned that Baghdad's National Museum was the single most important site in the country. McGuire Gibson of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute said, "I thought I was given assurances that sites and museums would be protected."[15] Gibson went back to the Pentagon twice to discuss the dangers, and he and his colleagues sent several e-mail reminders to military officers in the weeks before the war began. However, a more ominous indicator of things to come was reported in the April 14, 2003, London Guardian: Rich American collectors with connections to the White House were busy "persuading the Pentagon to relax legislation that protects Iraq's heritage by prevention of sales abroad." On January 24, 2003, some sixty New York-based collectors and dealers organized themselves into a new group called the American Council for Cultural Policy and met with Bush administration and Pentagon officials to argue that a post-Saddam Iraq should have relaxed antiquities laws.[16] Opening up private trade in Iraqi artifacts, they suggested, would offer such items better security than they could receive in Iraq. The main international legal safeguard for historically and humanistically important institutions and sites is the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, signed on May 14, 1954. The U.S. is not a party to that convention, primarily because, during the Cold War, it feared that the treaty might restrict its freedom to engage in nuclear war; but during the 1991 Gulf War the elder Bush's administration accepted the convention's rules and abided by a "no-fire target list" of places where valuable cultural items were known to exist.[17] UNESCO and other guardians of cultural artifacts expected the younger Bush's administration to follow the same procedures in the 2003 war. Moreover, on March 26, 2003, the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), headed by Lt. Gen. (ret.) Jay Garner -- the civil authority the U.S. had set up for the moment hostilities ceased -- sent to all senior U.S. commanders a list of sixteen institutions that "merit securing as soon as possible to prevent further damage, destruction, and/or pilferage of records and assets." The five-page memo dispatched two weeks before the fall of Baghdad also said, "Coalition forces must secure these facilities in order to prevent looting and the resulting irreparable loss of cultural treasures" and that "looters should be arrested/detained." First on Gen. Garner's list of places to protect was the Iraqi Central Bank, which is now a ruin; second was the Museum of Antiquities. Sixteenth was the Oil Ministry, the only place that U.S. forces occupying Baghdad actually defended. Martin Sullivan, chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Cultural Property for the previous eight years, and Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and a member of the committee, both resigned to protest the failure of CENTCOM to obey orders. Sullivan said it was "inexcusable" that the museum should not have had the same priority as the Oil Ministry.[18] As we now know, the American forces made no effort to prevent the looting of the great cultural institutions of Iraq, its soldiers simply watching vandals enter and torch the buildings. Said Arjomand, an editor of the journal Studies on Persianate Societies and a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, wrote, "Our troops, who have been proudly guarding the Oil Ministry, where no window is broken, deliberately condoned these horrendous events."[19] American commanders claim that, to the contrary, they were too busy fighting and had too few troops to protect the museum and libraries. However, this seems to be an unlikely explanation. During the battle for Baghdad, the U.S. military was perfectly willing to dispatch some 2,000 troops to secure northern Iraq's oilfields, and their record on antiquities did not improve when the fighting subsided. At the 6,000-year-old Sumerian city of Ur with its massive ziggurat, or stepped temple-tower (built in the period 2112 - 2095 B.C. and restored by Nebuchadnezzar II in the sixth century B.C.), the Marines spray-painted their motto, "Semper Fi" (semper fidelis, always faithful) onto its walls.[20] The military then made the monument "off limits" to everyone in order to disguise the desecration that had occurred there, including the looting by U.S. soldiers of clay bricks used in the construction of the ancient buildings. Until April 2003, the area around Ur, in the environs of Nasiriyah, was remote and sacrosanct. However, the U.S. military chose the land immediately adjacent to the ziggurat to build its huge Tallil Air Base with two runways measuring 12,000 and 9,700 feet respectively and four satellite camps. In the process, military engineers moved more than 9,500 truckloads of dirt in order to build 350,000 square feet of hangars and other facilities for aircraft and Predator unmanned drones. They completely ruined the area, the literal heartland of human civilization, for any further archaeological research or future tourism. On October 24, 2003, according to the Global Security Organization, the Army and Air Force built its own modern ziggurat. It "opened its second Burger King at Tallil. The new facility, co-located with [a] . . . Pizza Hut, provides another Burger King restaurant so that more service men and women serving in Iraq can, if only for a moment, forget about the task at hand in the desert and get a whiff of that familiar scent that takes them back home."[21] The great British archaeologist, Sir Max Mallowan (husband of Agatha Christie), who pioneered the excavations at Ur, Nineveh, and Nimrud, quotes some classical advice that the Americans might have been wise to heed: "There was danger in disturbing ancient monuments. . . . It was both wise and historically important to reverence the legacies of ancient times. Ur was a city infested with ghosts of the past and it was prudent to appease them."[22] The American record elsewhere in Iraq is no better. At Babylon, American and Polish forces built a military depot, despite objections from archaeologists. John Curtis, the British Museum's authority on Iraq's many archaeological sites, reported on a visit in December 2004 that he saw "cracks and gaps where somebody had tried to gouge out the decorated bricks forming the famous dragons of the Ishtar Gate" and a "2,600-year-old brick pavement crushed by military vehicles."[23] Other observers say that the dust stirred up by U.S. helicopters has sandblasted the fragile brick fa?ade of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon from 605 to 562 B.C.[24] The archaeologist Zainab Bahrani reports, "Between May and August 2004, the wall of the Temple of Nabu and the roof of the Temple of Ninmah, both of the sixth century B.C., collapsed as a result of the movement of helicopters. Nearby, heavy machines and vehicles stand parked on the remains of a Greek theater from the era of Alexander of Macedon [Alexander the Great]."[25] And none of this even begins to deal with the massive, ongoing looting of historical sites across Iraq by freelance grave and antiquities robbers, preparing to stock the living rooms of western collectors. The unceasing chaos and lack of security brought to Iraq in the wake of our invasion have meant that a future peaceful Iraq may hardly have a patrimony to display. It is no small accomplishment of the Bush administration to have plunged the cradle of the human past into the same sort of chaos and lack of security as the Iraqi present. If amnesia is bliss, then the fate of Iraq's antiquities represents a kind of modern paradise. President Bush's supporters have talked endlessly about his global war on terrorism as a "clash of civilizations." But the civilization we are in the process of destroying in Iraq is part of our own heritage. It is also part of the world's patrimony. Before our invasion of Afghanistan, we condemned the Taliban for their dynamiting of the monumental third century A.D. Buddhist statues at Bamiyan in March, 2001. Those were two gigantic statues of remarkable historical value and the barbarism involved in their destruction blazed in headlines and horrified commentaries in our country. Today, our own government is guilty of far greater crimes when it comes to the destruction of a whole universe of antiquity, and few here, when they consider Iraqi attitudes toward the American occupation, even take that into consideration. But what we do not care to remember, others may recall all too well. This essay is extracted from Chalmers Johnson's Nemesis: The Crisis of the American Republic, forthcoming from Metropolitan Books in late 2006, the final volume in the Blowback Trilogy. The first two volumes are Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (2000) and The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (2004). NOTES [1.] American Embassy, London, " Visit of President Bush to Northern Ireland, April 7-8, 2003." [2.] William R. Polk, "Introduction," Milbry Polk and Angela M. H. Schuster, eds., The Looting of the Iraq Museum: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005), p. 5. Also see Suzanne Muchnic, "Spotlight on Iraq's Plundered Past," Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2005. [3.] David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East (New York: Owl Books, 1989, 2001), p. 450. [4.] George Bush's address to the Iraqi people, broadcast on "Towards Freedom TV," April 10, 2003. [5.] Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication (Washington, D.C.: September 2004), pp. 39-40. [6.] See Frank Rich, "And Now: 'Operation Iraqi Looting,'" New York Times, April 27, 2003. [7.] Robert Scheer, "It's U.S. Policy that's 'Untidy,'" Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2003; reprinted in Books in Flames, Tomdispatch, April 15, 2003. [8.] John F. Burns, "Pillagers Strip Iraqi Museum of Its Treasures," New York Times, April 13, 2003; Piotr Michalowski (University of Michigan), The Ransacking of the Baghdad Museum is a Disgrace, History News Network, April 14, 2003. [9.] Polk and Schuster, op. cit, pp. 209-210. [10.] Mark Wilkinson, Looting of Ancient Sites Threatens Iraqi Heritage, Reuters, June 29, 2005. [11.] Polk and Schuster, op. cit., pp. 23, 212-13; Louise Jury, "At Least 8,000 Treasures Looted from Iraq Museum Still Untraced," Independent, May 24, 2005; Stephen Fidler, "'The Looters Knew What They Wanted. It Looks Like Vandalism, but Organized Crime May be Behind It,'" Financial Times, May 23, 2003; Rod Liddle, The Day of the Jackals, Spectator, April 19, 2003. [12.] Humberto M?rquez, Iraq Invasion the 'Biggest Cultural Disaster Since 1258,' Antiwar.com, February 16, 2005. [13.] Robert Fisk, "Library Books, Letters, and Priceless Documents are Set Ablaze in Final Chapter of the Sacking of Baghdad," Independent, April 15, 2003. [14.] Polk and Schuster, op. cit., p. 10. [15.] Guy Gugliotta, "Pentagon Was Told of Risk to Museums; U.S. Urged to Save Iraq's Historic Artifacts," Washington Post, April 14, 2003; McGuire Gibson, "Cultural Tragedy In Iraq: A Report On the Looting of Museums, Archives, and Sites," International Foundation for Art Research. [16.] Rod Liddle, op. cit..; Oliver Burkeman, Ancient Archive Lost in Baghdad Blaze, Guardian, April 15, 2003. [17.] See James A. R. Nafziger, Art Loss in Iraq: Protection of Cultural Heritage in Time of War and Its Aftermath, International Foundation for Art Research. [18.] Paul Martin, Ed Vulliamy, and Gaby Hinsliff, U.S. Army was Told to Protect Looted Museum, Observer, April 20, 2003; Frank Rich, op. cit.; Paul Martin, "Troops Were Told to Guard Treasures," Washington Times, April 20, 2003. [19.] Said Arjomand, Under the Eyes of U.S. Forces and This Happened?, History News Network, April 14, 2003. [20.] Ed Vulliamy, Troops 'Vandalize' Ancient City of Ur, Observer, May 18, 2003; Paul Johnson, Art: A New History (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), pp. 18, 35; Polk and Schuster, op. cit., p. 99, fig. 25. [21.] Tallil Air Base, GlobalSecurity.org. [22.] Max Mallowan, Mallowan's Memoirs (London: Collins, 1977), p. 61. [23.] Rory McCarthy and Maev Kennedy, Babylon Wrecked by War, Guardian, January 15, 2005. [24.] Owen Bowcott, Archaeologists Fight to Save Iraqi Sites, Guardian, June 20, 2005. [25.] Zainab Bahrani, "The Fall of Babylon," in Polk and Schuster, op. cit., p. 214. From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 09:02:39 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 09:02:39 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Verschollene_Abendmahlsszene_aufgesp?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=FCrt?= Message-ID: <20050805070240.GFPH2060.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Verschollene Abendmahlsszene aufgesp?rt VON JOHANNES SCHMITZ, 05.08.05, 07:12h Photo http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1122811430012.shtml : Die Abendmahlsgruppe aus dem 15. Jahrhundert im Katalog des Auktionshauses Die Kalksteingruppe aus dem Sakramentsh?uschen verschwand in den 1930er Jahren. Much - Karl-Josef H?ller traute seinen Augen nicht: Als der Liebhaber historischer Kunstwerke im Katalog eines K?lner Auktionshauses das Foto einer sp?tgotischen Abendmahlsszene sah, hatte er ein D?j?-vu-Erlebnis. Das ist doch ?unser? Abendmahl, war er sich sofort sicher. Denn als Kenner von Sankt Martinus und der Gemeindehistorie erinnerte er sich daran, dass die Kalksteingruppe aus dem Sakramentsh?uschen der Kirche genau so aussieht. Von dort war das Original der Darstellung Jesu und seiner J?nger bei ihrer letzten Tischgemeinschaft in den 30er Jahren gestohlen worden und galt seitdem als verschollen. 1966 wurde die schmerzliche L?cke mit einer Nachbildung gef?llt. Sofort eilte Karl-Josef H?ller aufgeregt zu Pfarrer Max Offermann, der nicht schlecht staunte, an einem Sonntagmorgen schon um kurz nach acht Uhr Besuch zu bekommen. F?r die etwa 27 mal 45 Zentimeter gro?e Skulptur forderte das Kunsthaus ein Mindestgebot von 6500 Euro. Zu viel f?r die Pfarre, um bei der Auktion mitzubieten und die Abendmahlsszene wieder nach Hause zu holen. Also erstatteten Offermann und seine Mitstreiter Anzeige bei der Kriminalpolizei in Eitorf. Dort jedoch verlangten die Beamten zun?chst Beweise daf?r, dass in Much ein solches Kunstwerk ?berhaupt gestohlen worden war. Nach l?ngerer Suche im Pfarrarchiv tauchten schlie?lich mehrere Dokumente aus dem Herbst 1932 auf, die den Fall eindeutig belegen. So existiert ein Schreiben des damaligen B?rgermeisters Egidius Stief, der den Provinzialkonservator um Mithilfe bittet. Und auch das Protokoll einer Kirchenvorstandssitzung vom November des Jahres bezeugt den Kunstraub. Doch damit ging der Krimi erst richtig los. Die Kripo stellte die Abendmahlsszene in K?ln sicher und holte sie nach Eitorf. Auf Anweisung der Staatsanwaltschaft Bonn musste sie das Kunstwerk jedoch wieder herausgeben. Der Grund: Verj?hrung. Die Mucher Katholiken gaben sich jedoch noch lange nicht geschlagen und holten sich Rat bei der Rechtsabteilung des Generalvikariats, dem Rheinischen Amt f?r Denkmalpflege und einer Anwaltskanzlei. Das Ergebnis war und blieb jedoch ern?chternd: Der Diebstahl sei nach 30 Jahren verj?hrt, es bestehe keine Chance auf R?ckgabe, sagten alle Fachleute. Unterdessen hatte die Kripo Kontakt mit dem Eigent?mer des Kunstwerks aufgenommen. Sie ermittelten, dass der Spross einer bundesweit bekannten Unternehmerfamilie das Werk von seinem Vater bekam, der es seinerseits 1951 als Geschenk von seiner Frau erhielt. Die hatte es f?r den seiner Zeit stolzen Preis von 11 000 D-Mark erworben, um ihrem Mann eine Freude zu einem Dienstjubil?um zu machen. Da der Vertrag mit dem Auktionshaus ihn binde, habe er keine M?glichkeit, die Versteigerung der Abendmahlsszene zu stoppen, teilte er den entt?uschten Muchern mit. Anfang Juli kam die Gruppe unter den Hammer. Ein belgischer Kunsth?ndler ersteigerte die Skulptur, die f?r die Mucher eine zunehmende emotionale Bedeutung erlangt hat. Pastor Offermann: ?Als ich die historische Skulptur bei dem Auktionshaus sah, habe ich sie gestreichelt und gesagt: Du kommst wieder nach Hause.? Und dieses Versprechen m?chte der geb?rtige K?lner gerne halten. Zwar hatte der Theologe zun?chst selbst an der ?bereinstimmung des Katalogbildes, das H?ller ihm gezeigt hatte, mit der in Much gestohlenen Kalksteingruppe gezweifelt, wie er heute gesteht. Doch mehrere Sch?den, die auf das gewaltsame Herausrei?en des Kunstwerkes aus dem Sakramentsh?uschen hindeuten, machen die Mucher mittlerweile sicher, ?ihr? Abendmahl wieder gefunden zu haben. Jetzt wollen sie das Werk zur?ck holen und an den Platz stellen, wo es seit der Sp?tgotik bis zum Jahr 1932 stand. Der entscheidende Haken ist jedoch der Preis. Denn der H?ndler, der in der N?he von Br?gge seine Gesch?fte mit der Kunst macht, m?chte 15 000 Euro f?r die Abendmahlsszene haben. ?Wir haben alles versucht, aber das Recht ist so?, fasst Gemeindemitglied Gisela Otzipka ihre Entt?uschung dar?ber in Worte, dass die Skulptur wohl nur gegen viel Geld zur?ck nach Much kommen wird. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, versucht die Gemeinde jetzt H?nde ringend, durch Spenden die Summe zusammen zu bekommen, bevor Jesus und seine J?nger wieder verkauft werden und ihr Preis m?glicherweise noch weiter steigt. Wer die Pfarrgemeinde Sankt Martinus in Much dabei unterst?tzen m?chte, die mehr als 500 Jahre alte Abendmahlsszene nach Hause zu holen, wird gebeten sich im Pfarrb?ro oder unter 02245 / 2163 zu melden. From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Aug 5 11:53:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 11:53:27 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Pilfering part of prehistory. Thieves hit Mojave's fossil sites Message-ID: <20050805095328.GHA1950.amsfep13-int.chello.nl@cremers> Pilfering part of prehistory Thieves hit Mojave's fossil sites August 5, 2005 By Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer It probably took less than an hour for vandals to chisel out the fossilized tracks of long-extinct camels that roamed the Mojave Desert 15 million or more years ago. Four heart-shaped tracks of two-toed camels were removed from an overhanging mudstone ledge capped with a layer of rock-hard volcanic ash. "This is a profound loss to science and all of us,' said Robert Hilburn, president of Barstow's Mojave River Valley Museum, who discovered the desecration of the rare fossils while leading a group of hikers up a sandy wash recently in the desert north of Barstow. The fossil site is in the Rainbow Basin Natural Area, which gets its name from its colorful, sedimentary rock formations. Fossilized remains of the oldest North American mastodon, tiny prong-horned antelopes and camels have been unearthed at the site, along with fossils of ancient rhinos, three-toed horses and a fearsome creature called a bear-dog, Redlands paleontologist Robert Reynolds said. During the Miocene epoch, which occurred from 5 million to 21 million years ago, prehistoric camels fed on native grasses that flourished along the shore of an ancient inland sea. Unlike today, the region was subtropical, with stands of palm trees amid arrays of shrubs. "These animals were walking along the edge of the inland sea, creating footprints in mud on the shore,' Hilburn said. "Sometime later, volcanic eruptions blanketed the region in ash. Heat, pressure and time then turned the mud into stone.' The fossilized tracks of the camels were protected from wind, rain and intense sun by a 6-inch-thick overhanging layer of volcanic ash, pressed into stone. Visitors on 4-wheel drive or all-terrain vehicles have looted or damaged hundreds of prehistoric sites throughout the Mojave during the past half-century. It's virtually impossible to protect these locations in an 18,000-square-mile region, despite their remoteness in canyons and caves or high on sides of cliffs. "There are thousands of known archaeological sites,' said Joan Oxendine, an archaeologist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the past 21 years. "An inventory conducted in the early 1980s for the California Desert Plan determined that 36 percent of these sites were already damaged.' Bureau geologist Ken Schule said destruction of petroglyphs and fossils is extensive. "A lot of vandalism has occurred at Inscription Canyon near Barstow over an undetermined period of time,' he said. "The problem is quite severe, but we don't have enough rangers to patrol the area.' An extreme example of site desecration occurred in the early 1970s, said Reynolds, consulting paleontologist with LSA Associates of Riverside. "Petroglyphs (Indian wall paintings) at Black Canyon northwest of Barstow were dynamited by people who thought they were maps for hidden treasure or lost gold mines beneath the site,' he said. "Of course, no treasure was found there.' In an effort to protect a petroglyph area in a canyon in the Rodman Mountains near Newberry Springs, the Bureau of Land Management installed pipe barriers in the 1970s to prevent visitors from entering the canyon. "Vandals used pipe-cutters to cut the pipes and haul them off,' Hilburn said. Despite severe penalties, vandals and others determined to profit through black-market sales of remnants from the past wreak havoc at archaeological sites. "It's extremely difficult to protect these places,' Oxendine explained. "However, if someone is caught damaging a site they could face a fine of up to $100,000 or a substantial prison term. And new federal legislation is being introduced that could impose a 10-year prison sentence and severe fine.' Meanwhile, scientists and educators aren't standing by idly in their efforts to save the Mojave's rich archaeological and geological treasures for posterity. In the case of fossil sites, paleontologists on professional excavations cover untouched fossils with sand or soil for future digs without leaving hints of where they lie. Or they try to educate youngsters, as early as third grade, in the intrinsic value of petroglyphs, fossils and other cultural resources. "Through our junior naturalist program, we teach kids to be environmentally responsible,' said Rose Foster-Beardshear, program coordinator at Barstow's Desert Discovery Center. "It's vital to protect the wonders of our desert because once they are lost, they are gone forever.' There is another way to save the images from the past. Reynolds, Hilburn and volunteers from the Mojave River Valley Museum reproduce copies of the fossils through the use of silicon rubber molds. Working in the intense heat of summer, they painstakingly place a petroleum-based mold release compound over the native rocks to ensure that fossilized tracks are not damaged. After 48 hours, team members retrieve the ancient images, add a fabric backing and then peel the mold from the rock. At the Desert Discovery Center on Barstow Road, the rubber molds are cleaned and readied for casting. Plaster, plastic or concrete is poured over the molds to create a life-sized replica of the fossil tracks. "By adding an appropriate pigment, the replicas are easier to see and last longer than originals,' Reynolds explained. And without these images, he said the scientific world has lost a marvelous and fundamental record of the desert's prehistory. From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Fri Aug 5 21:23:49 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 21:23:49 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Espa=F1a=3A_Ayuntamiento_Segovia_cap?= =?iso-8859-1?q?turar=E1_palomas_para_preservar_monumentos?= Message-ID: <42F3BCC5.7050001@bruggemansolutions.com> Ayuntamiento Segovia capturar? palomas para preservar monumentos El Ayuntamiento de Segovia ha iniciado una campa?a para reducir el n?mero de palomas, con el fin de preservar los monumentos, cuya piedra es ahora da?ada por la constante presencia de estas aves y por sus ?cidos excrementos. Fuentes municipales indicaron hoy a Efe que, inicialmente, se van a invertir en torno a los 4.000 euros para contratar a una empresa que se encargar? de capturar las palomas con una red, con el fin de soltarlas luego en el campo. Las capturas se llevar?n a cabo en diferentes puntos del recinto hist?rico, que est? declarado por la Unesco como Patrimonio de la Humanidad, as? como por emblem?ticas plazas y entornos de iglesias y edificios nobles. Cada ma?ana, la empresa encargada del control de las palomas les suministrar? alimento en diversos puntos, con el fin de crear costumbre e ir juntando a las aves en una ?rea de unos dos metros cuadrados. Tras varias semanas de suministro de alimento, se las habr? agrupado y se proceder? a su captura, calcul?ndose que pueden retirarse en torno al noventa por ciento de las palomas que hay en la actualidad. http://actualidad.terra.es/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Aug 6 09:59:57 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005 09:59:57 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Interpol_devolvi=F3_a_su_due=F1o_una?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_valiosa_pintura_robada_en_2003?= Message-ID: <20050806075959.OOQ10024.amsfep15-int.chello.nl@cremers> Interpol devolvi? a su due?o una valiosa pintura robada en 2003 August 6, 2005 El cuadro "Los Marinos Bretones", robada en marzo de 2003 y hallada por Interpol Holanda en el aeropuerto de La Haya cuando un ciudadano argelino intent? ingresarla, fue devuelta hoy a su propietario en la sede de Interpol Argentina, informaron fuentes policiales. El caso comenz? el 4 de marzo de 2003 luego de que C?sar Vairo, due?o de la mencionada obra del pintor Chalers Cotter (1863-1924), public? un aviso ofreci?ndola en venta. Una persona se mostr? interesada en adquirir el cuadro y concret? una cita en la que, acompa?ado por un c?mplice, intimid? a Vairo y logr? que se lo entregara. Tras la denuncia realizada en la Justicia bonaerense qued? a cargo de la investigaci?n judicial el titular de la Fiscal?a de Pilar, Enrique Ferrari, quien le dio intervenci?n a Interpol Argentina. La secci?n Centro Nacional de Protecci?n del Patrimonio Cultural, de Interpol, propag? el alerta para que potenciales compradores de la obra supieran que hab?a sido robada. Tres meses despu?s, Interpol Holanda con sede en La Haya, avis? que la pintura hab?a sido secuestrada en el aeropuerto de Schiphol el 26 de marzo, 22 d?as despu?s del robo, cuando un ciudadano argelino fue detenido al intentar ingresarla a Holanda. Luego de la tramitaci?n correspondiente la pintura fue devuelta hoy a su propietario en la sede de Interpol Argentina, Cavia 3350 en el porte?o barrio de Palermo. Adem?s de Vairo estuvo presente Henrie Van Housse asesor cultural de la Embajada de Holanda y hizo entrega de la obra el titular de Departamento Interpol de la Polic?a Federal, comisario inspector Luis Fuensalida junto al jefe de la secci?n subcomisario Luis Soria. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Aug 6 10:05:09 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005 10:05:09 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Roban cuatro tallas de una iglesia soriana Lira de oro Message-ID: <20050806080516.ZUDJ18546.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Roban cuatro tallas de una iglesia soriana Lira de oro para Angelines Porres August 6, 2005 Google translation below SORIA. El p?rroco de la iglesia San Juan Bautista de Carrascosa de la Sierra ha denunciado el robo de cuatro tallas religiosas de madera policromada del interior del templo. El expolio se produjo, el pasado mi?rcoles en el transcurso del intermedio para comer que realizaban lo operarios que est?n acometiendo obras de mejora en el interior / EFEVALLADOLID. La concejal de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, Mar?a Angeles Porres, y la redactora jefe del peri?dico 'El D?a de Valladolid', Carmen Vi?as, han sido galardonadas con el premio 'Lira de oro' que concede la Sociedad Amigos de la Zarzuela que ha programado una representaci?n para el d?a 7 de septiembre en Valladolid / E. PRESSSEGOVIA. El director de cine de origen checo Milos Forman va a rodar 'Los fantasmas de Goya', una pel?cula en la que narrar? parte de la historia de Espa?a, entre los siglos XVIII y XIX, a trav?s de la figura de uno de los principales genios de la pintura espa?ola. Forman recorri? ayer Segovia en busca de exteriores para el rodaje de su filme. / EFE Google translation: They rob four statures of a soriana church Lira of gold for Angelines Porres SORIA. The parish priest of the San Juan church Baptist of Carrascosa of the Mountain range has denounced the robbery of four wood religious statures policromada of the interior of the temple. Expolio took place, the past Wednesday in the course of the interval to eat that they made the workers who are undertaking works of improvement in interior/EFEVALLADOLID. The councilman of Culture of the City council of Valladolid, Maria Porres Angels, and the editor head of the newspaper ' the Day of Valladolid', Carmen Vines, has been awarded with the prize ' Lira of prayed that she grants to the Society Friends of the Zarzuela that has programmed a representation for day 7 of September in Valladolid/And PRESSSEGOVIA. The director of cinema of Czech origin Milos Forman is going to roll ' the ghosts of Goy?, a film in which will narrate part of the history of Spain, between centuries XVIII and XIX, through the figure of one of the main geniuses of the Spanish painting. They form crossed yesterday Segovia in search of exteriors for the running of his films/EFE From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Aug 6 10:20:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005 10:20:30 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Burial for Pakistan's fake mummy Message-ID: <20050806082038.BQEO28432.amsfep14-int.chello.nl@cremers> Burial for Pakistan's fake mummy August 6, 2005 By Aamer Ahmed Khan BBC News, Karachi A "mummy" that duped archaeologists and nearly sparked a diplomatic row between Pakistan and Iran is finally being laid to rest. Discovered in a wooden sarcophagus in October 2000, the mummy was thought to be Persian and date to about 600BC. Iran laid claim to the sarcophagus and Pakistani provinces squabbled over it until tests showed the "mummy" was a fake only a few decades old. A charity has now agreed to perform the last rites and bury the body. "No one is interested in it anymore," Rizwan Edhi, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation told the BBC news website. Mr Edhi said the charity had taken the decision to bury the fake mummy because it could no longer afford to keep it. "It has cost us hundreds of thousands of rupees over the past three years just to keep it in our mortuary," Mr Edhi said. He said the burial would take place after the local elections scheduled for this month and next. Videotape While the mummy was not as old as thought, it has managed to rustle up an interesting history in the five years since it was discovered. No one is interested in it anymore Rizwan Edhi, Edhi Foundation Karachi police stumbled upon a video of the mummy in the course of a murder investigation into a man called Ali Akbar. On being quizzed about the video, Ali Akbar told police the mummy was with a Baloch tribesman in Quetta - the capital of Pakistan's south-western Balochistan province, neighbouring Afghanistan. Police raided the house of the tribesman, recovered the mummy and brought it to Karachi. They then contacted Pakistan's most experienced archaeologist, Professor Ahmed Hasan Dani. Prof Dani said the cuneiform script on the gold plate indicated the mummy's Persian roots. It may have been the daughter of ancient Persian King Xerxes, he said. The Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation immediately laid claim to the artefact - declaring it a part of Iran's royal heritage. It threatened to mobilise Interpol to recover the mummy. The Taleban regime in Afghanistan also said it was interested in finding out if the mummy had been found in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Balochistan government accused Sindh province of stealing its archaeological treasures and demanded the mummy be returned to Quetta. It was left to Archaeology magazine to suggest it was a fake that had been for sale on the black market for several months. Its "owners", the magazine said, had been offered $1.1m by a Western collector. But the sale fell through because the asking price was closer to $11m. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4749861.stm From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Aug 6 10:20:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005 10:20:30 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] El genocidio cultural en Africa (with Google translation) Message-ID: <20050806082041.BQFL28432.amsfep14-int.chello.nl@cremers> El genocidio cultural en Africa August 6, 2005 (Google translation at the end) Lic. MsC. Aldo Guzm?n Ramos Especialista en Patrimonio y Turismo Rebeli?n ?Cuando no sabemos hacia donde vamos, no debemos olvidar de donde venimos? (Proverbio africano) Las terribles guerras internas, como el caso de Angola, Nigeria, etc., las crisis socioecon?micas y los gobiernos dictatoriales que agobiaron y aun afectan a muchos estados del continente africano, han provocado, adem?s de miles de muertes, heridos y m?s de 40 millones de desnutridos desde el ?frica Austral hasta el Sahara, la perdida de una parte importante de su rico patrimonio cultural, que en estos momentos podr?a contribuir fuertemente al desarrollo econ?mico, actual o potencial, del continente africano, a partir del turismo. Si bien el continente es conocido por la variedad de su fauna, lo cual ha motivado costosos programas de caza y en la actualidad, bajo una mirada m?s ecol?gica, safaris fotogr?ficos, tambi?n existe una riqueza cultural muy importante que puede ser explotada tur?sticamente, excepto Egipto que tiene tradici?n en la actividad, pero que tambi?n perdi? parte de su patrimonio a manos de ingleses, franceses, etc. y aun lo sigue perdiendo, de hecho recientemente, condenaron a uno de los comerciantes de arte m?s conocidos de Nueva York por haber tomado parte en robos en una de las ?reas hist?ricas de este pa?s", y algunos pocos pa?ses m?s como Sud?frica, Marruecos, etc. Debemos considerar que el patrimonio cultural se ha convertido en los ?ltimos a?os en un elemento clave para el desarrollo del turismo, por lo cual su conservaci?n y preservaci?n es fundamental para permitir que la actividad tur?stica crezca. Tambi?n es cierto que junto al patrimonio natural y cultural, el cual es la materia prima del turismo, es necesario disponer de infraestructura para desarrollar las instalaciones y equipamientos tur?sticos. Pero esto puede hacerse, como de hecho se realiza en muchos pa?ses africanos, atrayendo inversionistas de otras partes del mundo o incluso en algunos casos a partir de empresarios locales. Es as? que si bien el continente africano tiene un fabuloso patrimonio cultural producto de las civilizaciones y pueblos que desarrollaron a lo largo de siglos su vida en esa tierra, lamentablemente ha perdido y sigue perdiendo una parte de este enorme legado cultural. Esta sangr?a constante por parte de museos e instituciones de los pa?ses m?s ricos del mundo y por coleccionistas privados, que viven precisamente en estos mismos pa?ses, esta generando en los pueblos africanos una perdida de la identidad y de su propia historia, adem?s de un efecto econ?micamente al continente, por provocar una reducci?n de las posibilidades futuras para aprovechar estos recursos desde un punto de vista tur?stico. El ?frica desde hace 150 a?os, esta siendo despojada constantemente de sus objetos culturales y, si bien la mayor?a de los pa?ses centrales donde se encuentran estas piezas aceptan que muchas de ellas llegaron de forma il?cita, a la hora de devolverlas las opiniones se dividen. En Suiza, pa?s donde se puede encontrar una de las m?s vastas colecciones del patrimonio cultural africano, el debate est? abierto y se enfrentan los que quieren iniciar un proceso para reintegrar estas obras y quienes sostienen que el continente no est? preparado para hacerse cargo de estas piezas y que, adem?s, no las valoran como Occidente. Diferentes piezas culturales, como por ejemplo las terracotas nok y kwatakwashi de 2.000 a?os de antig?edad de Sokoto en Nigeria, las m?scaras fang, relicarios de Ben?n y bronces sao, se encuentran distribuidas entre instituciones p?blicas (museos europeos) y colecciones privadas. Estas ?ltimas se encuentran inmersas en el gigantesco mercado de arte legal y principalmente ilegal, que mueve miles de millones de d?lares al a?o, siendo unos de los negocios m?s rentables despu?s de la venta de armas y drogas. En Europa y en otras partes, nadie responde por el robo general del patrimonio cultural al que Africa, en general, ha sido sometida. La colonizaci?n, la miseria, las guerras, la corrupci?n, todo esto sumado condujo a la actual situaci?n, catastr?fica para la identidad cultural del continente. Vasta un solo ejemplo para ilustrar esto, en Costa de Marfil, es casi imposible mostrarle a la poblaci?n las m?scaras rituales m?s significativas de su cultura, todas est?n en el exterior por lo cual el estudiante deber? conformarse con verlas por Internet, con suerte. Los gobiernos de los pa?ses pobres de ?frica Occidental, donde existe un extraordinario patrimonio cultural, sin embargo, tienen menos control sobre los robos. Este hecho y el elevado nivel art?stico de los imperios antiguos de Ghana (entre el siglo VII y XII, en la actual Mal? y Mauritania), de Mal? (entre el siglo XII y XV, en lo que hoy en d?a es Mal?, Guinea y Senegal), de Songhay (siglos XV y XVI en los actuales Mal? y Burkina Faso) y de Ben?n (entre el s. XVI hasta 1898 en la actual Nigeria meridional) sit?a a la regi?n cada vez m?s en el punto de mira de los saqueadores y traficantes de arte. Seg?n argumentan algunos coleccionistas privados, el continente africano no esta preparado para resguardar su patrimonio cultural, pero en realidad muchos de los objetos extra?dos de Africa tienen un poder ritual y son elaborados espec?ficamente por cada etnia y s?lo ella comprende todos sus detalles. Al sacarlos de su contexto natural, los objetos pierden parte de su valor simb?lico y su significado. Adem?s para los arque?logos, antrop?logos, etc., los objetos fuera de contexto son desaprovechados desde el punto de vista cient?fico, incluso en ?frica, muchas de las antiguas sociedades eran total o parcialmente sociedades sin cultura escrita, por lo que la conservaci?n de la cultura material es esencial para conocer y recrear la historia del continente. Ahora bien ?como proteger el patrimonio cultural? Todas las leyes y convenios internacionales no pueden impedir el tr?fico ilegal mientras Africa est? sumergida en la pobreza extrema. En Camer?n, por ejemplo, los jefes de la tribu bamileke si bien tienen prohibido vender las piezas de su antiguo tesoro, terminan comercializando objetos a trav?s de otros miembros de la tribu, pero con el benepl?cito de funcionarios corruptos que son quienes finalmente permiten la salida del pa?s de las piezas. Pero ?quien obtiene realmente una ganancia? Por ejemplo en la cuenca de N?ger es posible que un agricultor o un pastor encuentren una cer?mica nok del siglo XII, al venderlo a un intermediario, puede comprar mijo, su alimento b?sico, para nutrir a su numerosa familia durante por lo menos un mes, lo cual significa mucho para esta persona, pero en el mercado de arte europeo, esta pieza puede llegar a venderse a un valor que oscila entre los 1.500 y 10.000 d?lares, seg?n el tama?o, la ?poca y la calidad. Esto nos indica que es necesario ayudar econ?micamente a los pueblos africanos para que no vendan su patrimonio cultural, porque por un lado est?n vendiendo y perdiendo una parte de su identidad y por otro porque tambi?n pierden la oportunidad de obtener mayores ingresos si logran que, aunque sea, un peque?o porcentaje de los millones de turistas que recorren el planeta (que en el 2010 llegaran a 1.000 millones), se dirijan a sus tierras para apreciar, sin destruir ni saquear, su patrimonio cultural. Adem?s del cada vez m?s importante factor del mercado internacional de arte, Kl?na Sanogo, del Instituto de Ciencias Humanas en Bamako (Mal?) culpa del "espectacular incremento del saqueo de material cultural" a una nula existencia de conciencia y orgullo locales en las ra?ces culturales de la regi?n, pero podemos agregar que la pobreza y a?os de esclavitud son factores muy importantes que han socavado la identidad africana. Sanogo establece "el hecho de que la idea del patrimonio, desarrollada alrededor del material cultural y de los sitios arqueol?gicos, no corresponde a la realidad cultural seg?n los residentes locales. La destrucci?n no intencionada del patrimonio cultural es un problema igual al del saqueo". Desde los a?os 70, el robo de arte en la regi?n del oeste africano ha pasado a ser, de algo ocasional, a un negocio organizado. Antiguos residentes locales encontraban de vez en cuando joyas, piezas de cer?mica y otros objetos antiguos. Estos art?culos fueron vendidos, sobre todo, localmente. Ahora, se han establecido canales de venta y los art?culos m?s valiosos alcanzan f?cilmente mercados internacionales. Si bien es cierto que las hambrunas, las guerras tribales, los golpes de Estado y los problemas econ?micos de los pa?ses africanos son un serio obst?culo para lograr la conformaci?n de instituciones fuertes que preserven el patrimonio cultural, tambi?n es l?gico pensar que los pa?ses centrales y las organizaciones internacionales como la UNESCO, puedan ayudar con distintos programas y con dinero, para generar una verdadera red de protecci?n del patrimonio cultural africano. Tal vez, la forma de protecci?n a trav?s de museos, estilo europeo, no sea lo m?s conveniente para un continente donde pueden encontrarse objetos, piezas, etc. de valor, dispersas por todo el territorio, por lo cual posiblemente sea m?s apropiado establecer como estrategia la creaci?n de ecomuseos o museos territoriales. Es cierto tambi?n por otra parte que las fronteras actuales de los Estados africanos son las de las antiguas colonias, que dibujaron los pa?ses europeos, por esta raz?n las etnias quedan cortadas, divididas por l?neas que ellos nunca trazaron. Por lo cual si el museo esta ubicado en la capital se pueden generar roces, que terminen en enfrentamientos feroces. Estas diferencias pueden ser aprovechadas por algunos inescrupulosos para recrear peque?as guerras y hacer su negocio. Por lo tanto la soluci?n es ayudar a que cada regi?n ?tnica desarrolle su propio sistema para proteger, valorizar y dinamizar el patrimonio cultural, como una forma de mantener su identidad y como un recurso econ?mico, por la posibilidad de convertirse en un atractivo tur?stico. L?gicamente es necesario que especialistas colaboren para que la utilizaci?n del patrimonio cultural como recurso tur?stico no termine banalizando la cultura y convirti?ndola en una simple mercanc?a. De esta forma por ejemplo los senoufos, etnia repartida territorialmente entre Mal? y Costa de Marfil, no tendr?a que tener su patrimonio en Bamako, dominada por la etnia bambara o en Abidj?n, hogar de los akan, podr?an tener su ecomuseo, por ejemplo, en Korhogo, en la regi?n senoufo. Seguramente podr?amos preguntarnos ?ese ecomuseo alejado de las grandes rutas podr?a ser incorporado a alg?n circuito tur?stico? La verdad es que la falta de comunicaciones en ocasiones dificultan las posibilidades de desarrollo econ?mico, en todo sentido, y en particular en el turismo. Aunque en este caso particular, existe una posibilidad, y es que sino cuento con ciertos medios de transporte a nivel local, es posible recurrir a los tradicionales medios de transporte (elefantes, caballos, camellos, canoas, balsas, carros, etc.), lo cual se puede sumar a un programa tur?stico de aventura, para el cual existe un mercado cada vez m?s amplio. Otros tipos de productos, cereales, carne, maderas, etc., pueden ser objetos mucho m?s dif?ciles de movilizar que un grupo de turistas, que aunque puedan llegar doloridos y cansados, disfruten por ejemplo de un viaje en elefante. Por supuesto que existen otros elementos necesarios para el desarrollo de las instalaciones y equipamientos tur?sticos que deben ser subsanados, aunque siempre son cuestiones que con mucha creatividad y algo de capital pueden ser resueltos. Seguramente una cuesti?n fundamental es que deba existir al menos en la regi?n un aeropuerto internacional en buenas condiciones. Volviendo al tema de la restituci?n de objetos al Africa y del fin del saqueo, perpetrado por africanos pobres, pero manejado por los grandes traficantes mundiales provenientes de los pa?ses ricos, es cierto que en ocasiones las situaciones pol?ticas internas de los pa?ses han puesto en peligro el patrimonio cultural. Por ejemplo en Zaire, el Museo de Kinshasa recibi? como restituci?n, piezas desde B?lgica, pero lamentablemente una parte fue vendida o donada por Mobutu y el resto fue robado o quemado durante los disturbios que acompa?aron la toma del poder por Kabila. Tambi?n el Museo de Fort-Lamy en Chad fue destruido durante los innumerables golpes militares que sufri? el pa?s. En cuanto a Nigeria, todos los Estados situados al Norte, donde se encuentran los vestigios de los nok, son musulmanes y adoptaron la sharia (ley isl?mica) en 2001, por lo que las estatuillas pueden correr la suerte de los Budas de Bamiy?n, pues las figuras est?n prohibidas en esta religi?n. Estos no son m?s que ejemplos de la realidad pol?tica del continente: la inestabilidad que es atizada, en muchas ocasiones de forma externa, para sacar ventajas econ?micas, relacionadas a la explotaci?n de recursos naturales principalmente. Por esto es necesario que los pueblos africanos entiendan que su enorme patrimonio cultural, implica un recurso extraordinario para desarrollar el turismo y por ende para reactivar una parte importante de su deprimida econom?a, pero es necesario que se organicen, olviden o solucionen antiguas disputas territoriales, y pidan urgentemente ayuda a los organismos internacionales, para lograr entre todos planificar un desarrollo sostenible del continente, basado en un desarrollo econ?mico con equilibrio social y preservando el ambiente y el patrimonio cultural y natural de ?frica. Para finalizar, si consideramos en proverbio africano, si el continente, desde que el hombre blanco irrumpi? en sus tierras, ha perdido de alguna manera el horizonte, debe rescatar su patrimonio para encontrar nuevamente el camino que lo lleve a un futuro mejor. http://www.rebelion.org/cultura/040531sc.htm Google translation: The cultural genocide in Africa Lic. MsC. Aldo Guzm?n Branches Specialist in Patrimony and Tourism Rebellion "When we do not know towards where we go, we do not have to forget where we come" (African Proverb) The terrible internal wars, as the case of Angola, the socioecon?micas Nigeria, etc., crises and the dictatorial governments who even oppressed and affects many states of the African continent, has caused, in addition to thousand of deaths, hurt and more than 40 million of undernourished from Austral Africa to the Sahara, the lost one of one leaves important from its rich cultural patrimony, that at the moment could contribute strongly to the economic development, present or potential, of the African continent, from the tourism. Although the continent is known by the variety of its fauna, which has motivated expensive programs of hunting and at the present time, under one more a more ecological glance, safaris photographic, also a very important cultural wealth exists that it can tourist be exploded, except Egypt that has tradition in the activity, but that also lost part of its patrimony at English, French hands of, etc. and it even continues it losing, in fact recently, they condemned more to one of the retailers of art known New York to have taken part in robberies in one from the historical areas from this country ", and some few countries more like South Africa, Morocco, etc. We must thus consider that the cultural patrimony has in the last become years a key element for the development of the tourism, its conservation and preservation is fundamental to allow that the tourist activity grows. Also it is certain that next to the natural and cultural patrimony, which is the raw material of the tourism, it is necessary to have infrastructure to develop to the facilities and tourist equipment. But this can become, as in fact it is made in many African countries, attracting investors of other parts of the world or even in some cases from local industralists. It is so although the African continent has a fabulous cultural patrimony product of the civilizations and towns that developed throughout centuries their life in that earth, lamentably have lost and continue losing a part of this enormous cultural legacy. This constant drain on the part of museums and institutions of the richest countries of the world and by deprived collectors, who live indeed in these same countries, this generating in the African towns a lost one of the identity and of their own history, in addition to an effect economically to the continent, to cause a reduction of the future possibilities to take advantage of these resources from a tourist point of view. Africa for 150 years, this being undressed constantly of their cultural objects and, although most of the central countries where are these pieces has been accepting that many of them arrived from illicit form, at the time of giving back them the opinions are divided. In Switzerland, country where one of the vastest collections of the African cultural patrimony can be found, the debate is open and those face that they want to initiate a process to refund these works and that maintain that the continent is not prepared to become position of these pieces and that, in addition, do not value them like the West. Different cultural pieces, like for example terra-cottas nok and kwatakwashi of 2,000 years of antiquity of Sokoto in Nigeria, the masks fang , relicarios of Ben?n and bronzes sao , are distributed between public institutions (European museums) and private collections. These last ones are immersed in the gigantic market of legal and mainly illegal art, that moves thousands of million dollars to the year, being of the most profitable businesses after the sale of arms and drugs. In Europe and other parts, nobody is responsible for the general robbery of the cultural patrimony which Africa, in general, has been put under. The colonization, the misery, the wars, the corruption, all this added lead to the present situation, catastrophic for the cultural identity of the continent. Vast a single example to illustrate this, in the Ivory Coast, is almost impossible to show the population more significant the ritual masks to him of its culture, all are in the outside thus the student will have to be satisfied to seeing them by Internet, luck. The governments of the poor countries of Western Africa, where an extraordinary cultural patrimony exists, nevertheless, have less control on the robberies. This fact and the high artistic level of the old empires of Ghana (between century VII and XII, in the present Mali and Mauritania), of Mali (between century XII and XV, in which nowadays it is Mali, Guinea and Senegal), of Songhay (centuries XV and XVI in present the Mali and Burkina Ditch) and of Ben?n (between s. XVI until 1898 in the present southern Nigeria) more and more locates to the region in the front sight of the plunderers and dealers of art. According to some deprived collectors, the African continent argue not this prepared to protect their cultural patrimony, but in fact many of the extracted objects of Africa have a ritual power and are elaborated specifically by each ethnic group and only she understands all her details. When removing them from their natural context, the objects lose part of their symbolic value and its meaning. In addition for the archaeologists, anthropologists, etc., the objects outside context are failed to take advantage of from the scientific point of view, even in Africa, many of the old societies were total or partially societies without culture written, reason why the conservation of the material culture is essential to know and to recreate the history of the continent. However like protecting the cultural patrimony? All the laws and international treaties cannot prevent the illegal traffic while Africa is submerged in the extreme poverty. In Cameroun, for example, the heads of the tribe bamileke although have prohibited to sell the pieces of their old treasure, end up commercializing objects through other members of the tribe, but with the approval of corrupt civil employees who are the one who finally allow the exit of the country of the pieces. But who really obtains a gain? For example in the river basin of Niger it is possible that an agriculturist or a shepherd finds a ceramics nok of century XII, when selling it to an intermediary, can buy mijo, his basic food, to nourish to his numerous family during at least a month, which means much for this person, but in the market of European art, this piece can get to be sold to a value that oscillates between the 1,500 and 10,000 dollars, according to the size, the time and the quality. This indicates us that it is necessary to help the African towns economically so that they do not sell its cultural patrimony, because by a side they are selling and losing a part of its identity and by another one because also they lose the opportunity to obtain greater income if they obtain that, although it is, a small percentage of the million tourists which they cross the planet (that in the 2010 reached 1,000 million), go to its earth to appreciate, without destroying nor sacking, its cultural patrimony. In addition to more and more the important factor of the international market of art, Kl?na Sanogo, of the Institute of Human Sciences in Bamako (Mali ') fault of the "spectacular increase of the sacking of cultural material" to a null existence of local conscience and pride in the cultural roots of the region, but we can add that the poverty and years of slavery are very important factors that they have undermined the African identity. Sanogo establishes "the fact that the idea of the patrimony, developed around the cultural material and of the archaeological sites, does not correspond to the cultural reality according to the local residents. The nondeliberate destruction of the cultural patrimony is an equal problem to the one of the sacking ". >From years 70, the robbery of art in the region of the African west has happened to be, of something occasional, to an organized business. Old local residents once in a while found jewels, old pieces of ceramics and other objects. These articles were sold, mainly, locally. Now, sale channels have settled down and the most valuable articles reach international markets easily. Although it is certain that hambrunas, the tribal wars, the coup d'etats and the economic problems of the African countries are a serious obstacle to obtain the conformation of strong institutions that preserve the cultural patrimony, also is logical to think that the central countries and the international organizations like UNESCO, can help with different programs and money, to generate a true network of protection of the African cultural patrimony. Perhaps, the form of protection through museums, European style, is not most advisable for a continent where objects can be, pieces, etc. of value, dispersed by all the territory, thus are possibly more appropriate to establish like strategy the territorial creation of ecomuseos or museums. It is certain also on the other hand that the present borders of the African States are those of the old colonies, that drew the European countries, therefore the ethnic groups are cut, divided by lines that they never drew up. Thus if the located museum this in the capital can be generated rubbing, that finishes in ferocious confrontations. These differences can be taken advantage of by some inescrupulous ones to recreate small wars and to make their business. Therefore the solution is to help to that each ethnic region develops its own system to protect, to valorize and to dinamizar the cultural patrimony, as a form to maintain its identity and like an economic resource, by the possibility of becoming attractive a tourist one. Logically it is necessary that specialistic they collaborate so that the use of the cultural patrimony as tourist resource does not end up banalizando the culture and turning it simple merchandise. Of this form for example the senoufos , ethnic group distributed territorially between Mali and the Ivory Coast, must not have her patrimony in Bamako, dominated by the ethnic group bambara or in Abidj?n, home of akan them , could have their ecomuseo, for example, in Korhogo, the region senoufo. Surely we could ask that moved away ecomuseo of the great routes could be incorporated to some tourist circuit? The truth is that the lack of communications sometimes makes difficult the possibilities of economic development, in all sense, and individual in the tourism. Although in this particular case, a possibility, and is that exists but story with certain means of transport at local level, is possible to resort to traditional means of transport (elephants, horses, camels, canoes, rafts, cars, etc.), which can be added to a tourist program of adventure, for which an ample market exists more and more. Other types of products, cereals, meat, wood, etc., can be objects much more difficult to mobilize that a group of tourists, who although can arrive sore and tired, enjoys for example a trip in elephant. Of course that exists other necessary elements for the development of the facilities and tourist equipment that must be corrected, although always are questions that with much creativity and something of capital can be solved. Surely a fundamental question is that an international airport in good conditions must exist at least in the region. Returning to the subject of the restitution from objects to Africa and of the aim of the sacking, perpetrated by African poor men, but handled by the great originating world-wide dealers of the rich countries, it is certain that sometimes the internal political situations of the countries have put in danger the cultural patrimony. For example in Zaire, the Museum of Kinshasa received like restitution, pieces from Belgium, but lamentably a part was sold or donated by Mobutu and the rest it was robbed or burned during the disturbances that accompanied the taking by the power by Kabila. Also the Museum of Fort-Lamy in Chad was destroyed during the innumerable military coups that the country underwent. As far as Nigeria, all the States located to the North, where are the vestiges of nok, are Muslim and adopted the sharia (Islamic law) in 2001, reason why the statuettes can suffer a fate of the Budas de Bamiy?n, because the figures are prohibited in this religion. Estos no son m?s que ejemplos de la realidad pol?tica del continente: la inestabilidad que es atizada, en muchas ocasiones de forma externa, para sacar ventajas econ?micas, relacionadas a la explotaci?n de recursos naturales principalmente. Por esto es necesario que los pueblos africanos entiendan que su enorme patrimonio cultural, implica un recurso extraordinario para desarrollar el turismo y por ende para reactivar una parte importante de su deprimida econom?a, pero es necesario que se organicen, olviden o solucionen antiguas disputas territoriales, y pidan urgentemente ayuda a los organismos internacionales, para lograr entre todos planificar un desarrollo sostenible del continente, basado en un desarrollo econ?mico con equilibrio social y preservando el ambiente y el patrimonio cultural y natural de ?frica. Para finalizar, si consideramos en proverbio africano, si el continente, desde que el hombre blanco irrumpi? en sus tierras, ha perdido de alguna manera el horizonte, debe rescatar su patrimonio para encontrar nuevamente el camino que lo lleve a un futuro mejor. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Aug 6 14:02:54 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005 14:02:54 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] The story of a map quest, a notable dealer's arrest --and now, a Chicago twist Message-ID: <20050806120257.MXTS14362.amsfep17-int.chello.nl@cremers> The story of a map quest, a notable dealer's arrest --and now, a Chicago twist By Tonya Maxwell Tribune staff reporter Published August 6, 2005 Two antique maps are missing from Chicago's Newberry Library and the last person likely to have handled them is a well-known map dealer charged with the theft of three similar prints, according to the library's president. That dealer, E. Forbes Smiley III, 49, is expected to appear in a New Haven, Conn., courtroom for arraignment early next week on three counts of stealing centuries-old maps from a Yale University library. Investigators allege he took those maps, appraised at $178,000, from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. In March, Smiley visited the Newberry, at 60 W. Walton St., and viewed four atlases, said Charles Cullen, the library's president. Two of the books each have a map torn from them, he said. Top map repositories across the country have been scouring their collections since July, when federal agents announced they wanted to know if Smiley had visited their institutions. The federal investigation was launched shortly after a Yale librarian found an X-Acto knife blade on the floor of the Beinecke library and noticed Smiley studying atlases nearby, authorities said. Cullen said no other patron had viewed the Newberry maps since March, when records indicate Smiley looked at them. But staff members have access to the books, and librarians aren't able to check every page before and after an atlas is requested, he said, meaning pages could have been ripped away ear