Those are some big names in cultural property law. Alright, maybe not God, but you get my drift. They’ll be meeting for a panel, “Antiquities Wars: A Conversation About Loot and Legitimacy,” at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall on November 19th. And get this — it’s FREE. And OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. This is one of the very rare moments that I wish I was in New York City. They did tell me that they’d be recording the program, and that if at all possible they would make that recording available to me. In the interest of my own potential post-panel edification, I told the very nice people at NYU that I would post their announcement here to help get the word out.
The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU presents
Antiquities Wars
A conversation about loot and legitimacy
Wednesday, November 19th, 7 pm
NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall
Silver Center for Arts and Science
100 Washington Square East
with
James Cuno
Director, The Art Institute of Chicago
Author, Who Owns Antiquity?
Sharon Waxman
Formerly of The New York Times
Author, Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Philosopher, Princeton University
Author, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
Daniel Shapiro
International Cultural Property Society
President Emeritus
This event is free and open to the public.
“Shall we empty the great museums of the world because one source country after another seeks the return of treasures past? Are there solutions to this raging conflict? Sometimes it seems not. There is an ethical betrayal in displaying an artifact in a museum that has consorted with smugglers to possess it. But the viewing public loses when museums react out of fear of prosecution, or when donors cease lending their works to museums because of the risk of legal jeopardy. There may be justice in returning plundered pieces that are sought. On the other hand, there is no benefit to returning a priceless artifact to a country that is not prepared to care for it.”
With these words from the conclusion of her new book Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World, former New York Times correspondent Sharon Waxman summons just some of the issues that will form the basis for a spirited evening of conversation in one of the NY Institute for the Humanities’ most timely symposia yet.
The event, on Wednesday evening, November 19th, at 7:00 pm, at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, 100 Washington Square East (just south of Waverly), will be free and open to the public.
For more information, please contact the New York Institute for the Humanities at 212.998.2101 or nyih.info@nyu.edu.
The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU was established in 1976 for promoting the exchange of ideas between academics, professionals, politicians, diplomats, writers, journalists, musicians, painters, and other artists in New York City—and between all of them and the city. It currently comprises 220 fellows. Throughout the year, the NYIH organizes numerous public events and symposia.
November 19, 2008 at 7:47 am
I am disappointed that people continue to use the term “antiquities wars”. We are not involved in any war but in a dispute about heritage and ownership rights in an area where most of us agree that there has to be cooperation and understanding if we are to find acceptable solutions.
Many of us from the countries that have been victims of spoliations do not feel we are at war even though many from the western countries seem to think that any questioning of their right to hold onto looted/stolen cultural artefacts is a declaration of hostility.
Taking into account that many persons have died and are still dying from wars, we should refrain from any usage which might tend to reduce the atrocious nature of wars. Inverted commas do not help much in this usage which seems to be calculated to get us used to the idea that differences in beliefs and opinions are necessarily declarations of war. We can make a contribution to a culture of peace if we do not imitate military terminology.
Dr.Kwame Opoku.
November 19, 2008 at 9:57 am
Dr. Opoku,
Thank you for your comment.
I understand that the term may come off as a bit insensitive, but I do not believe it was meant to be condescending. There are many expressions which use the word war in a tongue-in-cheek manner (tug-of-war, class wars, culture war, Portuguese man-o-war…). Of course that does not justify the use of inflammatory rhetoric (which I agree it is).
I also agree that use of the term ‘antiquities wars’ does not facilitate cooperation and mutual understanding. I was not involved in the program that is going on at NYU today, but I understand your concern. I myself have taken issue with the term “cultural property” and instead prefer “cultural material,” but as you see by the name of this blog we all bend to pragmatic concerns once in a while.
I will shoot the organizers an email and see if the panel might address the issue this evening.