International Cultural Property Legislation Now Accessible Online

The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) has launched a website that gives visitors access to cultural property laws around the world.  Their Art & Cultural Property Educational Resources is easy to use and comprehensive.  Here’s the Art Newspaper’s summary:

A section on “International Cultural Property” and export laws contains legislation from around 100 countries. IFAR summaries are included, along with complete texts, in the original language and English. Historical legislation is also included, which may be useful for those seeking to know the statutes in effect when an art object was acquired. The site provides links to relevant court decisions and international conventions and agreements. A section on “country contacts” identifies government officials to query as to whether a work of art can be legally acquired.

So if you want to see the official translation of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Protection of Cultural Relics (2003) , cruise on over to IFAR.

Hat tip to the Art Newspaper.

Derek Fincham on the Lex Originis Rule

Derek Fincham has posted to SSRN the final version of his paper, How Adopting the Lex Originis Rule Can Impede the Flow of Illicit Cultural Property.  Fancy this, I’d never heard of the Lex Originis rule, but my guess is that it means that the law of the place in which an item of cultural property originated should be used for the purposes of conflict of laws.  I will certainly read the article and if I have any public worthy thoughts I will share them.  I read Fincham’s last article on PAS and was very impressed by both the writing and quality of scholarly research.

Preah Vihear Temple Again in the Crossfire

We talked about the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple last year after its nomination as a World Heritage Site reignited nationalistic tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, spurring controversy.  The Preah Vihear temple was already damaged by armed confrontations that have taken place on the temple grounds, and now there are problems with vandals further damaging the property.  Working with UNESCO, Cambodia reports that they will be seeking compensation from Thais who are damaging the property, and that they will use international laws to prosecute vandals.

World Digital Library Launches Tomorrow

The World Digital Library is scheduled to launch on April 21, 2009, bringing cultural content from libraries and archives to the world via the internet.  The WDL will offer free access to rare books, maps, manuscripts, films and photographs, and the content is available in seven languages.  The WDL is being launched by UNESCO and was developed by the US Library of Congress.  The objective behind the initiative is to “promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.”

Norway to Apply for World Heritage Status for Svalbard

A few years ago I found myself in Iceland partying it up with some locals I had met in Marrakech two years prior.  Let me tell you those Reykjavik folk can sure do a night on town right.  In any case, that night was the first I ever heard of Svalbard (via the drunken ramblings of one of my local friends), and I’ve been fascinated ever since.

For those of you who are unilluminated as I was, Svalbard is an expansive and remote archipelago north of Europe.  As I understand it, the islands are governed by Norway.  It is rumored that there are more polar bears than people on its 23,000 square miles, although there are only 2,000 people says Wikipedia.  If you do a Google image search for Svalbard, you will see some amazing photos.

In any case, Norway is going to try and get Svalbard onto the UNESCO World Heritage list.  The application for nomination will take several years to complete, and if all goes will it will become Norway’s eighth world heritage site in 2014.