5
March 2002
ICOM
welcomes the French government's decision to recognise
Nigeria's ownership of three Nok and Sokoto artefacts.
The
objects in question were acquired by France in 1999 for
the planned Musée du Quai Branly and belong to the
categories of archaeological objects identified on the
ICOM
Red List as being amongst the types of
cultural goods most affected by thefts and looting.
They are protected by national legislation and
banned from export: on no account must they be purchased
or offered for sale.
ICOM
also applauds Nigeria's generous decision to deposit
the artefacts concerned with the Musée du Quai Branly,
to be exhibited with the museum's permanent collection,
for the exceptionally long period of 25 years (renewable),
in exchange for France's recognition of its ownership.
ICOM recommends that visitors should be clearly
informed of the precise status of these objects and the
way in which they were discovered.
ICOM
would like to take this opportunity to issue a reminder
that the looting of archaeological items in Africa causes
irreparable damage, destroying vital evidence of the history
of the continent and of mankind as a whole. Museums
must therefore take a lead in combating the illicit trade
in cultural goods, by adopting scrupulous acquisition
policy in line with the ICOM
Code of Professional Ethics for museum professionals.
STATUETTE
RETURNED TO BURKINA FASO
ICOM
was also delighted to hear that a stone statuette,
formerly in a private collection in Germany, was returned
to Burkina Faso on 16 December 2001. The statuette,
which was stolen in 1991, was described in ICOM's 1994
publication One
Hundred Missing Objects. Looting in Africa.
Statuettes of this type also figure on the ICOM
Red List under the heading, "Stone
statues from Northern Burkina Faso and neighbouring regions"
.
However,
ICOM regrets that neither the community to which the statuette
originally belonged nor the state of Burkina Faso has
been recognised as its rightful owner.
These
restitutions are very encouraging; but many of the other
objects on the Red List are still circulating on
the international art market, and Africa is not the
only continent to suffer from the illicit trade in artworks.
Whether it takes the form of thefts from churches (in
France and Italy), dismantling of temples and monuments
(in Asia) or unauthorised excavations of tombs (in Latin
America), looting in cultural goods is rife everywhere.
It
is therefore imperative that the campaign against illicit
trafficking in art works mounted by ICOM and its partners
reaches all sectors of the public, and that governments
ratify international legal instruments such as the
UNESCO
Convention of 1970 and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention,
to put an end to this illicit trade and safeguard our
fragile collective heritage.
Contact
ICOM
Valérie Jullien Tel. +33 (0)1 47.34.05.00 /1.45.68.28.36
Fax: + 33(0) 1.43.06.78.62
http://icom.museum/redlist
Governing
Bodies
