Repatriation Winter 2022
The Cultural Property Newsletter continues to provide important coverage of ongoing repatriation issues. We strongly recommend their newsletter at https://culturalpropertynews.org
MOU or memo of understanding is the vehicle for making bilateral agreements between two parties. The State Department does this regularly to regulate imports and exports between countries. In this case it becomes an enforcement tool for UNESCO Convention created in 1970.
Cultural Property News - Kate Fitz Gibbon - January 6, 2022
2021 Cultural Agreements Deny Access to Art
US State Dept. makes and renews pacts with Turkey, Morocco, Costa Rica, Colombia, Italy, Egypt, Bolivia and Greece.New cultural property agreements for Turkey, Morocco, Costa Rica, 5-year renewals completed for Colombia, Italy, Egypt, Bolivia and Greece. New MOUs proposed for Nigeria, Albania, Tunisia, and Afghanistan, and a 5-year renewal for Peru, with Cyprus, Guatemala and Mali just added and upcoming in January.
This article does not provide legal advice. Readers should consult legal counsel and official US government guidance regarding importation of goods into the US.
The 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
The goal of the 1970 UNESCO Convention was, as stated in its title, to prevent illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of “cultural property.” For purposes of the Convention, “’cultural property’ means property which, on religious or secular grounds, is specifically designated by each State as being of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science.”
The 1970 Convention acknowledged the benefits of international interchange of cultural property, calling for each nation to protect and respect its heritage and that of other countries, to cooperate with each other, and to build cultural institutions, museums, and libraries “in accordance with universally recognized moral principles.” A key element of the 1970 Convention was the empowerment of signatory nations to call upon each other for the return of illicitly exported cultural goods.[1] In the US, the 1970 UNESCO Convention was signed with reservations and implemented through a domestic law, the 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA).
Drafting a US implementing law to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
Leonard Cohen, anyone? Largest single seizure of illicit “cultural goods” (LP record albums) in Turkey in 2017. World Customs Organization 2017 Illicit Trade Report, p. 18.
Although the United States strongly supported the global archaeological protections of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, under its US domestic law, the US also reserved its right to exercise independent judgement on the circumstances in which imports would be blocked and objects returned to source countries. The US was also concerned about the possibility that foreign claims could conflict with traditional American principles of private ownership rights.
Even before signing the UNESCO Convention, many countries had claimed government ownership of all cultural property. More did so afterwards. Some foreign national laws covered everything from archaeological finds to photographs, books, coins and postage stamps. Meanwhile, in hearings on the CPIA, the US Congress made it clear that “trinkets” and repetitive objects were intended to be excluded from the Act. The CPIA would only apply to objects of “cultural significance.” The CPIA also limited import restrictions to objects that were subject to current looting in the requesting country. To be covered, objects had to have been actually discovered in the requesting country.[2] When other market nations were trading in similar materials, restrictions had to be part of a “concerted international response” in which other nations had put similar restrictions in place. Restrictions on trade were to be made only if a less burdensome action was not feasible. A final mandatory element of the law stated that the US import restrictions had to “be consistent with the general interest of the international exchange of cultural property…”[3]
https://culturalpropertynews.org/2021-cultural-agreements-deny-access-to-art/
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Dutch Couple Returns 17 Pre-Columbian Artifacts To Mexico
By David Guido Pietroni Last updated Mar 2, 2022
Mexico
Dutch couple Hubert De Boer and Liesebeth Mellis returned 17 pre-Columbian artefacts to Mexico this Sunday – the latest in the series of restitution of Mexican artefacts.
The transfer was confirmed by the Mexican Ministry of Culture. The Dutch couple had the artefacts in their possession for three decades, though it was not revealed how exactly they came to acquire it. As per the statement, the couple had visited an Aztec exhibition at Leiden that made them realize the significance of the artefacts to their people – not just as works of art, but as relics of their history and culture.
The artefacts were examined by the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico, which verified them as authentic. While the objects were undeniably pre-Columbian, they came from a variety of tribes like the Mexica and Huastec people. Interestingly, the descendants of most of these tribes are alive in Mexico and continue to take their ancestral artforms forwards.
The Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico also released a statement, saying: “The Mexican ambassador to the Netherlands, José Antonio Zabalgoitia, reaffirmed Mexico’s commitment to recover cultural assets of a patrimonial nature and thanked Mr. De Boer and Mrs. Mellis for their initiative in returning the country its archaeological heritage.”
In recent months, Mexico has been making active efforts to restitute pre-Columbian artefacts from major museums across the world. The government have also tried to stop the auctions of such artefacts, as it did last November with auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. However, the auctions went ahead as planned, though the government did have some success in restituting artworks from museums.
https://www.art-insider.com/dutch-couple-returns-17-pre-columbian-artifacts-to-mexico/3539
