Courtesy of Berlin’s Neues Museum
Little by little Greece, Mexico, Peru, Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia, China, and Egypt, among other countries, are retrieving their artifacts, which they consider looted or stolen from the period of imperialism, colonialism and wars. Last November, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announced it will return 19 small objects from King Tut’s tomb to Egypt as the museum’s research proved that they were stolen. These artifacts are only small pieces, such as fragments, bits of wood and textile, a vase, a very small sphinx. However, the fact that the Metropolitan Museum gave them back voluntarily, was a triumph for the Egyptian Antiquities Department.
The legal battle of art repartition is highly difficult to execute as it is unsure that under which laws – national or international – does it come? Art repartition is the return of art and cultural objects, usually referring to ancient or looted art, back to their country of origin or former owners (or their heirs). Cultural disputes about artifacts are mainly due to imperialism, colonialism and war and rightful ownership. The disputed objects vary generally from sculptures and paintings to monuments and human remains. Many Egyptians believe these objects are significant to their national heritage, and their presence in European museums is a monument to the days of colonialist looting and exploitation.
In Egypt, some are fighting another war – the legal battle of art repartition to be settled once and for all. Yet it is a vast battle, and its main actor is Dr. Zahi Hawass, who was appointed as the Minister of Antiquities on February 1, 2011. The army and the ordinary people are now protecting the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and all the major sites of Egypt (Luxor, Aswan, Saqqara, and the pyramids of Giza) to ensure that the current civil unrest does not cause the destruction of these most famous antiquities. Continue reading
Sacha Orloff Group Insights 