tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44393206666596967652024-03-12T20:33:48.195-04:00Things You Can't Take BackThe illicit antiquities trade and other cultural heritage issues. By a mouthy youth. For the mouthy youth.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-8403524299502113422013-02-25T05:18:00.000-05:002013-02-25T09:32:16.325-05:00Guest Post: Rebekah Junkermeier from the Sustainable Preservation Initiative<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sustainablepreservation.org/wp-content/themes/spi/images/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sustainablepreservation.org/wp-content/themes/spi/images/logo.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Back when I was still in summer-mode, I had the foresight to ask a few treasured people if they would write guest posts for me on how they got interested in cultural heritage issues, and how they turned it into a career. Since issues of looting and cultural heritage aren't exactly mainstream career choices, I've always been super interested in how everyone in this community fell into it in the first place. I'm so pleased that my friend Rebekah Junkermeier from the <a href="http://sustainablepreservation.org/">Sustainable Preservation Initiative </a>has agreed to be the first! We've been trading drafts of posts for each other all winter, but it is particularly fortuitous that the finished product here comes in tandem with <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/people-not-stones-poverty-alleviation-through-cultural-heritage-preservation">SPI's current crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo</a>. Show my gurl and this great organization some love. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">________________</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxUBsy6CACtCeBahd572fhB2b9W6d8_6QFwdrNRPaPX-Mp3SPRdhEjmRnBMMfXVe2ONnytVAtEpXZy_tHPlb5jONp_MglekuGB3ip_w7ceqredO2ylCZSPPKxTM0xLEbsIQ-HsCFkYHjS/s1600/284313_872305410825_5980166_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxUBsy6CACtCeBahd572fhB2b9W6d8_6QFwdrNRPaPX-Mp3SPRdhEjmRnBMMfXVe2ONnytVAtEpXZy_tHPlb5jONp_MglekuGB3ip_w7ceqredO2ylCZSPPKxTM0xLEbsIQ-HsCFkYHjS/s200/284313_872305410825_5980166_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently, I’ve
been reading <i>Christ Stopped at Eboli</i>,
Carlo Levi’s account of his experiences in the small, poverty-stricken village
of Gagliano during Mussolini’s fascist regime in Italy. One quote of his in
particular, when he reflects on the process of writing the book, resonated with
me as I think about my own journey to and in the field of cultural heritage: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“The process
developed in successive books, changing the author’s spirit and body and words
while in a period explosive with new awareness other men also changed. The
process is not, and has never been, identification with a datum, a flight into
objectivity, but is rather discernment of love.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am not trying
to draw a parallel between Carlo Levi’s experience with destitution and poverty
and my career-path to cultural heritage. However, I <i>am</i> trying to highlight some counterpoints between his process and
mine, which have helped me make sense of my own journey so far: intellectual
development, self-awareness and awareness of the world around me, and the
effect of this new awareness on the direction of my career. To use the words of
Levi, I found my journey to be a step away from attempts at “objectivity” and
illusions of “data” and towards the discernment of love and truth and acts of
justice and empowerment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My interest in
cultural heritage began with a curiosity for all things ancient. This led me
from Dartmouth College to Turkey to a master’s program at Harvard Divinity
School as preparation for a PhD program, focusing on early Christian and Roman
history. While advancing my Greek and Latin and learning Coptic (the ancient
Egyptian language written in the Greek alphabet), I also immersed myself in the
texts and history of the time period. But while I and fellow classmates stared
at enlarged photographs of rare Coptic manuscripts, arguing whether that letter
was an <i>alpha</i> or an <i>omicron</i>, or read about the female
figurines found all over Bronze- and Iron-Age Israel and debated whether they
were representations of idols or the goddess Asherah, a voice in the back of my
mind was always (annoyingly) saying, “So what? What am I actually <i>doing</i> with this?”</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Starting the
application process for PhD programs at the end of that first of two years of
my master’s program, I asked a dear professor of mine, Karen King, to write me
a letter of recommendation. She agreed, then looked at me and asked pointedly,
“Why do you want to do it?” I fumbled for an answer I didn’t have and felt the
intensity in her gaze as she explained that this was an important (if not the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">most</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> important) question to have an
answer to upon beginning a PhD program.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After a lot of
(read: way too much) thinking, I realized that I…just didn’t know. The question
of what I was <i>actually doing</i> with all
this stuff I was learning, and, what, for that matter, academia was actually
doing with all of its Knowledge and Scholarship loomed large and foreboding.
The only response I could come up with—that I studied this stuff because, well,
I liked it—no longer seemed sufficient, and I decided to take a step back, or
rather, to the side, before making any decisions regarding a PhD program. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
questioning and side-step started a process of heightened awareness of the
structures and hierarchies and the world around me. Fortunately, a particular
course during the second year of my master’s program began to address the
questions I had. In her “Biblical Studies as an Academic Discipline” seminar,
the famous and formidable Professor Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza insisted that
the task of future academic leaders is not so much one of communicating methods
and results of scholarship to a larger audience (what one would normally
think), but rather “to learn from and to cast their lot with wo/men struggling
for survival and change in order to be able to translate wo/men’s quest for
self-esteem and justice into the language and research goals of the academy” (<i>Democratizing Biblical Studies: Toward an
Emancipatory Educational Space</i>, 13). That is, it’s not an academic’s job to
direct and produce knowledge (and empower others) from above, but to support
the oppressed and to <i>do something</i>
about this oppression by articulating their struggles in academic discourse. If
you didn’t flinch at how radical Schussler Fiorenza’s idea is, read it again.
She completely subverts the goals of the Academy, which has been the gatekeeper
to knowledge and power throughout western history. It challenged the way I
understood academia’s role, and thus my role, in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I have spent
the past two years on academic fellowships in Rome, Italy, trying to put
Schussler Fiorenza’s theories into practice. My research started as a foray
into funerary inscriptions in the Catacomb of Sant’ Agnese in northeastern Rome
and ended as a series of case studies of the transformation of specific sacred
spaces throughout the history of the city. Above all, it has made me realize
how much “remembering” and history-making is inscribed into the physical
objects and places themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Many have mentioned the juxtaposition of the ancient and the
modern in places like Rome. I would describe it less as juxtaposition and more
as a dizzying array of physical remnants of time past. Let’s take the complex
of the “House of Augustus” on the Palatine Hill as an example. This area
contains some of the earliest remains found in Rome, foundation stones of huts
dating to the Bronze and Iron Ages. Today, when looking at these remains, which
border the western side of the House of Augustus, tourists see the “Hut of
Romulus,” mythological founder of Rome. But why? Because Augustus memorialized
it as such by building his own residence next to it? Because later emperors
paid priests to maintain it as such? Because 16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup>
century noble families or fascist dictators wanted to call upon this ancient
past and history to support their own political goals? Because modern tourists want
to cash in on Rome’s cultural capital? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The multiple layers of physical memory and reinterpretation
of this single architectural space from the Iron Age to today provoke questions
of the valuation of space and cultural memory through time. And sorting through
all this memory- and meaning-making, whether through texts or physical
structures is no flight into objectivity. It is no examination of the cold,
hard “data.” Instead, it is a dialogue between a multitude of contexts, time
periods, memories, and political agendas that are cemented together in the
places, monuments, and objects of the city. I felt lost in the open sea of
knowledge: What was I searching for? I realized that amidst both the material
minutia of the history here in Rome and the larger theoretical vectors that map
its trajectory, I was searching for Truth. Love. Justice. However, it seems
that Truth (with a capital T), Love, and Justice, are ideas that cannot be
“found,” as it were, but constantly need to be discerned. In fact, I don’t think
Truth, Love, or Justice can ever be separated from a process of discernment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While I was struggling with all of the above, I attended
the American Institute for Roman Culture’s “Unlisted” Conference here in Rome
in 2011, where I stumbled upon a new non-profit organization, the Sustainable
Preservation Initiative (SPI) that embodied this discernment amidst the
whirlwind of academic discussion SPI’s<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> mission is to preserve the world’s cultural heritage by providing
sustainable economic opportunities to poor communities where endangered
archaeological sites are located. By investing in locally-created and –owned
businesses whose success is tied to the preservation of the cultural heritage
site, SPI creates jobs and empowers communities to embrace their cultural
heritage as an economic asset. Most of these businesses are local artisanal
projects, where the work of local artisans are sold near the archaeological
site to create a sustainable income for the community, and small touristic
development—building visitors centers, training local guides, and publishing
brochures for the site—and local artisanal projects,. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“People Not
Stones,” is one of the mottos of SPI. As the economy of Italy falters, the
travertine blocks of the Colosseum aren’t putting food on the table nor are
they paying for the education of Italian children; and on the north coast of
Peru, can we really blame mothers and fathers for looting an archaeological
site to provide basics for the family to survive? My response is no. That, in
these situations, the discernment of Truth and Love says you do what feeds that
human being, what preserves that life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Culture, the
memory of culture, and its physical monuments are not just important because
they teach and educate us about the past and our cultural inheritance and teach
us about what it means to be a human being. They are important because they can
fuel and transform communities and change lives TODAY. They empower people to
invest in themselves. It is this effect of cultural heritage that has me most
excited and I realized I want to take Schussler Fiorenza’s idea one step
further. I don’t just want to articulate the struggles of the oppressed in
academic discourse. I want to act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon after
learning about SPI in 2011, I started working for the organization. And, to be
frank, our results are pretty amazing. Our first project at San Jose de Moro,
one of the most important ancient cemetaries in all of Peru, has created over
40 jobs for local residents and generated over $16,000 in an impoverished community
where the daily wage is only $9.50. Looting and destructive practices at the
site have come to a halt and local residents now view the site as an economic asset.
After just one year of operations, the project is completely economically
sustainable. The local artisans informed us that no additional funding is
necessary. Their local businesses (which necessitate the preservation of the
site) are thriving on their own and transforming the local community.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What is all
this cultural heritage (the sites themselves, the artifacts, and the work of
historians and archaeologists studying them) <i>doing</i> and doing <i>today</i> in
the world? And, more importantly, what are its possibilities? These are the
questions I have been exploring since September 2012, when I moved to New York
City from Rome to work full-time for SPI. The whole process is always one of
discernment. The discernment of truth, love, and justice and your role in
manifesting them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>What can you do?</b><br />This week, SPI is launching its <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/people-not-stones-saving-sites-and-transforming-lives/x/2323615?c=pledges" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">first crowdfunding campaign on indiegogo.com</a> to raise the $49,000 needed for our two newest projects in Bandurria and Chotuna, Peru. Both sites are home to poor communities and rich cultural heritage. Bandurria contains pyramids in Peru older than those of ancient Egypt and Chotuna is a 235-acre monumental temple and pyramid complex, where several ancient royal tombs have been discovered (<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/09/120605-inca-peru-priestess-tomb-water-cult-science/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">see National Geographic link here</a>). Neither place can afford such basics as running water and electricity or has a sewer system. There are few jobs, little income and no opportunity to escape this cycle of poverty. Our project aims for nothing short of alleviating poverty in these communities and saving the archaeological sites, and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to come on board.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Help us save sites and transform lives! <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/people-not-stones-saving-sites-and-transforming-lives/x/2323615?c=pledges" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Click here to make a tax-deductible</a> <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/people-not-stones-saving-sites-and-transforming-lives/x/2323615?c=pledges" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">contribution at indiegogo.com</a> today and spread the word by liking our crowdfunding campaign on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SustainablePreservation" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, retweeting us on <a href="https://twitter.com/SPInitiative" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, or pinning our </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">project video on</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://pinterest.com/SPInitiative/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<!--EndFragment-->Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-84203966478773952352013-02-18T13:16:00.001-05:002013-02-18T13:16:15.347-05:00Hi + Cool Anti-Looting Apparel
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve
put off coming back to blogging for the last six months for a number of
admittedly lame reasons. Grad school is time consuming, I wasn’t sure how to
approach this blog as a postgraduate, I may have forgotten how to blog in
general, why should I subject myself to more criticism and self doubt when I
already subject myself to all that daily through the joyous self-flagellation
of grad school, grad school is time consuming, etc. But now I’m back and it’s
going to be great and haphazard as usual, with three particular caveats:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;">I last left this blog as a
recent undergraduate, pretty much flailing ambitiously, believing enthusiasm would probably make up for the lack of disciplinary cohesion. Now, as a postgraduate
criminologist, my perspective on these issues has shifted drastically to a more
sophisticated criminological framework. So what you see here in the future will undoubtedly reflect a more structured criminological perspective, rather
than the mix of hostility and earnestness I was fond of previously.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;">The next three years of my
life were recently determined by myself, but let’s face it, mostly by my
supervisors, Neil Brodie and Simon Mackenzie, as I looked on and nodded
solemnly like I wasn’t terrified or confused. My PhD research at the University
of Glasgow (and my Masters dissertation as well) will focus on the antiquities
market coming out of West Africa, principally Mali, Nigeria, and Niger. As a
consequence, I may be more preoccupied than usual with these countries.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -0.25in;">I think I initially geared
this blog toward undergrads because I assumed graduate students actually know
something about something and wouldn’t need some sassy little undergrad to
break it down for them. As a current graduate student, I can happily confirm
that we all only kind of know what we’re doing if we know at all, and anyone
breaking down anything is almost always pretty useful. So some key terminology
in the “About” sections and such has been altered to reflect this.</span></li>
</ol>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/0010/p/3001633_14089802_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/0010/p/3001633_14089802_b.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So for my first order of business, check out <a href="http://society6.com/SerenaAbdallah/GIVE-A-HOOT-DONT-LOOT_Print">this really amazing "Give a Hoot, Don't Loot" design</a> created by student Serena Abdallah. Not only is this really quality design work, but I'm kind of digging (haha, pun!) that it's not associated with any particular organization. It's just a really beautiful design you can wear or hang as a reminder that this stuff matters, and you'd be supporting a student who obviously cares about these things as well.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-5960517485290664752012-08-23T11:16:00.000-04:002012-08-23T11:16:01.664-04:00The Trafficking Culture website is live!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L7OWqNkh_tl3dEg5PC-UnLP47oZGdePL-mNEDb1hYo5c9EKl4vivRua0nLRa7eiR3sD_lOlLHiEOyhue4KKW66uX_EfycBYrHsJ29z25XnEVX5Y4fuFMF9x8YxWlcMHPUQ1Rv51zfMgt/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-08-23+at+11.14.41+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L7OWqNkh_tl3dEg5PC-UnLP47oZGdePL-mNEDb1hYo5c9EKl4vivRua0nLRa7eiR3sD_lOlLHiEOyhue4KKW66uX_EfycBYrHsJ29z25XnEVX5Y4fuFMF9x8YxWlcMHPUQ1Rv51zfMgt/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-08-23+at+11.14.41+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
If you haven't already seen it, I am really excited to finally be able to share the website for the ERC-funded Trafficking Culture study at the University of Glasgow!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://traffickingculture.org/">traffickingculture.org</a></div>
<br />
Even if I wasn't involved in this study (I'm in the<a href="http://traffickingculture.org/people/"> People</a> section and feeling like such a rock star), I would think this website is super beautiful and well-designed and incredibly exciting to explore. As a student, having so much access (for free!) to so much information that has been parsed and organized already is immensely exciting. This is the kind of thing that I wished I'd had when I first began studying these issues. The <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/">Encyclopedia</a> (with <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/case-studies/biletung-shipwreck/">one entry so far </a>by yours truly and more on their way) is a goldmine of information on terms, looted sites, looted objects; the <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/publications/">Publications</a> page has a ton of free PDFs of articles and chapters written by the researchers and other related scholars (I've downloaded them all); and the<a href="http://traffickingculture.org/links/"> Links</a> section points you in the best possible directions for other sources and organizations to be aware of or get involved in. Bookmark it and explore! And if you're looking to do your PhD with a team this cool, you can <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/contact/">shoot off a message</a> and get that conversation started.<br />
<br />
And don't forget to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TraffickingCulture">"Like" the Trafficking Culture Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CultureTraffic">follow on Twitter</a>.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-11046833078648073032012-08-18T11:23:00.000-04:002012-08-18T11:24:37.787-04:00What to read when you're too busy to eat: My preferred cultural heritage news sources<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXijfZbALgcNA0rIzcBgP_Roe2HC2e5AaxxWx1_4pOceuYaWbNeS6KWv2Jn81MGN2XEl6u44mZBLEtNa6dFW3p5fMjDVT8QoBzoHLJu14CJ9BsH3-N_FW24aMuF00Ta-qxr-hdTObC1c6w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-08-06+at+9.13.44+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXijfZbALgcNA0rIzcBgP_Roe2HC2e5AaxxWx1_4pOceuYaWbNeS6KWv2Jn81MGN2XEl6u44mZBLEtNa6dFW3p5fMjDVT8QoBzoHLJu14CJ9BsH3-N_FW24aMuF00Ta-qxr-hdTObC1c6w/s200/Screen+Shot+2012-08-06+at+9.13.44+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It seems that
every time I go away to have some kind of vacation (and by “vacation” I mean
scrambling around and doing a lot of paperwork, preparation, and packing for my
impending move to Glasgow) there is a some kind of scandal that I should be
covering but can’t. Over the last two years of writing here, I’ve always had
grand aspirations about being able to update daily and be on top of every bit
of news. But if I’m being honest with myself, that only happens for like two
weeks during the summer when I have the time and the inclination. The rest of
the academic year, this blog is just one of many things in life that sits on
the sliding scale of priorities. Coming to grips with that as I move into
unknown grad-school-schedule territory has required reconsidering how
I want to approach the issues here and how often. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But until I’m
able to hold myself to a more regular blogging schedule, I want to share the
sources that I rely on to stay in touch with these issues when I’m not able to
write about them. I’ve divided them up roughly by how many places on the
internet you can find them so you, too, know where to turn when Facebook or
Twitter is all you have time for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Found just about
everywhere:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Chasing
Aphrodite</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m not just a
big fan of the award-winning book of the same name, but also of the<a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/"> blog</a>,
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChasingAphrodite?ref=ts">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ChasingAphrodit">Twitter</a> pages that journalist/author Jason Felch keeps active on
a weekly basis. This is my top news resource in this area.
All of Jason’s commentary, whether it’s a Facebook update or a blog post, has a
really great mix of information and analysis, making for very informative as
well as educational reading. It also helps that Jason doesn’t just share blog
updates, but news articles from other sources as well, making it so handy to
stay in touch when Facebook is the only social media I have time to browse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Cultural
Security</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cultural
Security, a team effort by Erik Nemeth, Joshua Mix, and Yasmeen Hussain, is an
interdisciplinary initiative that uses the social sciences, technology, and
life sciences to explore cultural heritage issues. The team runs a <a href="http://culturalsecurity.net/index.htm">website</a>, <a href="http://artworldintelligence.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CultureCollage">Twitter</a>, and <a href="http://culturalsecurity.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>, all of which serves a slightly different purpose and
is informative in different ways. I’m a big fan of the news articles they
provide on their Tumblr, which makes it very easy to stay up to date when I’m
scrolling through my own gif-dominated feed. I also turn to their blog quite
often, which offers a weekly break-down of the issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Found some
places:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Archaeological
News</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This <a href="http://archaeologicalnews.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>/<a href="https://twitter.com/archaeologybuzz">Twitter</a> combo features all kinds of archaeology-related news, even headlines that fall
more on the cultural heritage issue side of things. It’s updated super
frequently, making it impossible to miss anything too important if you’re on
one of the two platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The Archaeology
News Network</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a
non-profit daily online newspaper featuring news related to archaeology,
anthropology, and paleontology. They’re required reading on<a href="https://twitter.com/ArchaeoNewsNet"> Twitter</a>, and have a <a href="http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/">fancy website</a> too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Found mostly just the
one place:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Looting Matters</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Prof. David Gill
is one of the lead archaeologists and researchers covering cultural heritage
issues online. He <a href="http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/">blogs very frequently </a>and generally keeps things succinct,
outlining the important facts of cases and asking (but often not answering) big
questions about the process of the case or how it will affect other issues.
Required reading and a great way to get the gist of everything that’s going on
when you’ve been away from it for a while.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Cultural
Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rick St. Hilaire
is one of the best known cultural heritage lawyers, and <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/">his blog </a>is one of the
first I turn to when I’m ready for more than a summary understanding of the
current issues. His posts offer very in-depth coverage of current cases and are
fantastic for catching up when everyone’s like “OMG Cleveland Museum!” and
you’re like “What about it?”</span></div>
Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-40846632672657834722012-08-17T15:09:00.000-04:002012-08-17T15:13:53.498-04:00Need an internship this fall? Apply to the Sustainable Preservation Initiative!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sustainablepreservation.org/wp-content/themes/spi/images/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sustainablepreservation.org/wp-content/themes/spi/images/logo.png" /></a></div>
Great news for undergrads looking for something other than coursework to get some experience this fall: the <a href="http://sustainablepreservation.org/">Sustainable Preservation Initiative</a> is looking for interns! This is a really fabulous opportunity for any students looking to get their toes wet in the cultural heritage field. I'm personally a big fan of SPI not just because they have great principles, but because the work they do has a discernible impact. In this field, discernible impacts that help communities and preserve cultural heritage are too few and far between. This is an excellent opportunity for students to get experience with an organization employing simple methods with positive results. Also, those are some real nice people they have at SPI, you want to be a part of that.<br />
<br />
From my friend at SPI, Rebekah Junkermeier:<br />
<br />
"<span style="background-color: white;">Interested in saving the world’s
cultural heritage? Want to transform local communities while doing it? So do
we. The Sustainable Preservation Initiative (SPI) is a new non-profit whose
mission is to save cultural heritage sites around the globe, but in an entirely
new way: through local economic development.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Traditionally,
preservation organizations will throw a bunch of money at a site, building
large and expensive museums or visitor centers in an attempt to attract tourism
and protect the site from looting and decay. Time and time again, however, this
paradigm fails. The museums close, the visitor centers are empty, and the site
isn't preserved and continues to be looted, often by the impoverished local
community. We think the problem with this model is the point of focus: the
people actually living in the area tend to be an afterthought, if that. To
provide themselves and their families with the essentials, it's not uncommon
for local residents to take stones and artifacts, grow crops, or graze
livestock on the sites. To prevent these destructive practices, SPI creates
jobs by investing in locally-created and -run businesses whose success is
tied to the preservation of the site. Not only are lives in the community
transformed, but the endangered archaeological sites are preserved in a </span><span style="background-color: white;">completely </span><span style="background-color: white;">sustainable</span><span style="background-color: white;"> way.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">We
currently have two projects in Peru, one at San Jose de Moro and one at Pampas
Gramalote, and are hoping to expand to three more sites by the end of the year.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">We are
looking for smart, self-motivated individuals passionate about cultural
heritage and economic development to assist with the following this fall:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Organizing
traditional and online fundraising programs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Writing
and reviewing grant applications and reports<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Administrative
work<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
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Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-66619172393946528802012-07-19T19:33:00.000-04:002012-07-19T19:33:39.861-04:00The MFA's new acquisition of Benin artifacts proving to be a tricky bitch already<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-07-10-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-07-10-01.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If I was the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which<a href="http://www.mfa.org/give/gifts-art/Lehman-Collection"> just received a gift of 34 rare Kingdom of Benin objects from the Robert Owen Lehman Collection</a>, I would not have
responded to <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201207150161.html">the official request by Nigeria to have 32 of these artifacts repatriated</a> with the <a href="http://www.ligali.org/article.php?id=2306">veiled and tired excuse that they will reach a wider, more diverse audience in Boston than in Nigeria</a>. I would not have tried to pacify
them by describing how the collection will be installed in an exhibition that
will discuss both the history of the individual objects as well as the history
and culture of the Benin Kingdom. And I wouldn’t have capped it all off by
throwing in the bonus of presenting the objects on the museum website and the
hope that keeping the objects will “further opportunities for cultural
exchange”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once again, the
MFA is being, let’s just be frank, a tightfisted little bitch about the
obviously looted objects in their collection. Let me break it down for you: In
1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead
an expedition to capture the Benin king and destroy Benin City. Field
commanders were instructed to burn down all Benin kingdom’s towns and villages
and hang the king whenever and wherever he was captured. After the British
secured the city, looting began in the monuments and palaces of high-ranking
chiefs, as well as homes and religious buildings. 2,500 religious artifacts,
Benin visual history, and artworks were exported to England. These objects were
later auctioned off in Paris and held by the British Museum in London. The
objects now in the possession of the Boston MFA were privately owned by Mr.
Robert Owen Lehman. This donation is a big deal for the museum because until
this acquisition, it had only one Benin object in its 20-year-old African collection.
There are now plans to build a permanent gallery for the Lehman Collection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">That is, if the
Nigerian government fails in its effort to have the artifacts repatriated. The MFA
refusing to repatriate these Benin artifacts is disappointing for a number of reasons: 1) refusing Nigeria their cultural property that was
so heartlessly taken in the midst of the death and destruction of their people,
even if it was over 100 years ago, is not great for post-colonial PR; 2) you’d
think that after problems like the Weary Herakles debacle, the MFA would have
learned; and 3) every time a museum gets so tightfisted, it puts us
all two steps back from the ideal many hope to see one day: that instead of
these catty repatriation lawsuits, we will instead enjoy the generous and
willful exchange of collections between countries and museums, and spend less
time being concerned with ownership and economic value and more time educating,
preserving, and respecting. This ideal has been described by many in the
museum, archaeological, and cultural heritage communities, but it has been
frustratingly slow to manifest in real life. Conflicts such as the one between
Nigeria and the MFA only keep us in the mud of the mid-20<sup>th</sup> century
encyclopedic museum dream. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 328.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If the MFA was
at all interested in joining the rest of us here in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century, it might begin by repatriating the objects to Nigeria and hammering
out a deal for exchanges between our countries. Then it might consider taking
the initiative and acknowledging fishy or limited provenance in the history of
all its objects, not just the ones on trial, and make a whole-hearted effort to
discover their true origins. Then it might acknowledge that many of the objects
in their collection may still hold significance for living cultures and be less
stingy when those cultures come forward and ask for repatriations. Then it
might do a much better job of educating its public about art crime, the modern
commercial exploitation of archaeological sites, and the past and present war
time looting that scatters artifacts and attempts to destroy cultures and
ideologies. But instead, it will continue to drag its feet and deny a formerly
occupied country the right it has to its stolen heritage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don’t be that
guy, MFA. Be brave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-259614148474159682012-07-16T11:30:00.000-04:002012-07-16T11:33:00.367-04:00Holes: Looting in Photos<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiizw_Yr2TgzkTl02fG_fnvdcRRUoNGV5Afe6So39JmhtFZkZTRLosbVlbXZ86RxrhBBGaLMSsTAsrhc2NDb7gjR2RNNwzQd1DfwfYjGK3MXmXMm1bYVBN580uR7q8WPuADRLn1CHshlB/s1600/Iraq1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiizw_Yr2TgzkTl02fG_fnvdcRRUoNGV5Afe6So39JmhtFZkZTRLosbVlbXZ86RxrhBBGaLMSsTAsrhc2NDb7gjR2RNNwzQd1DfwfYjGK3MXmXMm1bYVBN580uR7q8WPuADRLn1CHshlB/s200/Iraq1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Holly Pickett for the NYT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Having created and maintained this blog for a while in an effort to expose more college students to the illicit antiquities trade/cultural heritage issues in general, I can confidently tell you one thing about the whole process: it's damn tricky getting people to care sometimes. There are only so many times a young white person can insert "bitches be trippin'" into a rant about Jim Cuno or Timbuktu to get people's attention. I think, frankly, people don't care enough when I tell them thousands of looters are tearing up archaeological sites for merchandise every day because they don't know what that actually looks like, what it really means, or what it has to do with them.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
So I decided to create an online photo collection of looting. <i>Holes: Looting in Photos</i> is an effort to bring together many images of looted archaeological sites and looted artifacts to more effectively present what our destroyed human past actually looks like. By displaying both the individual artifacts/sites alongside the repetition of countless holes, dug up bodies, and defaced stone, I hope to provide a different kind of resource for learning about looting, as well as a more meaningful comprehension of the overwhelming global scale. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The kicker in this whole project is that I would like it to be a sort of collaborative, crowd-sourced deal. There are many photographers, journalists, and archaeologists who document the looted sites they see; it would be amazing to bring them all together in one place as a kind of testimony to what is happening to our human past for a global market. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've created a<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/2054797@N22/"> Flickr group pool </a>for submissions, and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thingsyoucanttakeback/">a Flickr site </a>to house the collection. Additionally, there is <a href="http://lootinginphotos.tumblr.com/">a whole Tumblr </a> dedicated to showcasing the project, and photos will be pinned to <a href="http://pinterest.com/mouthyheritage/">Pinterest</a> as well. It's all pretty raw right now, but hopefully that will change with you! If you have any photos of looted sites or artifacts, submit them! Remember to have the name of the photographer, a caption including where it's from, and website or source from where the photo came.</div>Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-57769597220440909552012-07-14T11:47:00.000-04:002012-07-14T11:47:30.436-04:00Guest post on the ARCA blog!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RhsdRunwXe_e7PiF6_8bdLYmlqP6TaqZC6S94rCjVxsAItVxtHN3_aoCcipupNr26b9qCTJ6WttGDN2pCXo2_hbjQeveqMZ4MaRytd1LZe3unZTvWEMKfPZKoT-6irI5FP2pNotwM3A/s1600/lambert.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RhsdRunwXe_e7PiF6_8bdLYmlqP6TaqZC6S94rCjVxsAItVxtHN3_aoCcipupNr26b9qCTJ6WttGDN2pCXo2_hbjQeveqMZ4MaRytd1LZe3unZTvWEMKfPZKoT-6irI5FP2pNotwM3A/s200/lambert.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Scoot on over to <a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.com/2012/07/arcas-best-kept-secret-views-from-early.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arcablog+%28ARCAblog%29">the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art blog</a>, where you can read my newest post on my super dreamy experience at the very exciting annual ARCA conference last month.<br />
<br />
They are great peoples, and they want more excitable young people who are into this stuff. Cough cough. Do it.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-41789554945038313312012-07-12T14:03:00.000-04:002012-07-15T22:07:02.167-04:00The New York Times is asking all the wrong questions.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/07/15/arts/15COLLECTORS1/JPCOLLECTORS2-articleInline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/07/15/arts/15COLLECTORS1/JPCOLLECTORS2-articleInline.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Dewey with his<br />
unsellable Yuan dynasty<br />
artifacts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Today </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/arts/design/antiquity-market-grapples-with-stricter-guidelines-for-gifts.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&smid=fb-share&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1342112625-J25AgEAqzWcxzWa8K/9jmQ&pagewanted=all">the New York Times published a very telling article </a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">on the various problems that
collectors, museums, and auction houses are facing now that guidelines for
provenance are much stricter than in decades past. It does a fairly good job of
outlining the various sides of the argument and quoting some of the best known
voices for each (Kate Fitz Gibbon, Ricardo J. Elia, Neil Brodie, Arthur
Houghton, Lawrence Rothfield, and Julian Raby, among others), but as an article, it very solidly reflects the perspective of object-centric
collectors.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The big argument
going on is that there are a lot of artifacts in the hands of private
collectors that can’t be donated or sold because they don’t have a valid trail
of paperwork documenting their every owner. Recent scandals over museums
accepting donations of looted objects from collectors, whether they knew they
were looted or not, has encouraged museums to stand more firmly by the
no-objects-looted-after-1970 date set by the UNESCO convention, and discouraged
collectors from even trying to donate or sell objects they bought 15 or 20
years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This is indeed a
problem. No one can quite agree on what to do with all these artifacts that
have limited or no provenance, won’t be accepted by most academics or museums,
and can’t be sold through the major auction houses like Christie’s and
Sotheby’s. Exhibiting them is often seen as condoning the trade, or at least
demonstrating to looters and dealers that even though the deed is demonized,
the exhibition justifies their actions. Not exhibiting them or letting them be
sold, potentially to collectors that won’t share them with the public, also
leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the concerned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">But even though
this is a valid issue that does need to be considered, the better question that
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times </i>should be asking
is how the demand for the illicit antiquities trade should be approached and
reevaluated. How do we get collectors to divert their money from the big, often
illegal market to funding preservation, conservation, archaeology, and
education instead? How do we replace the economic incentive for looting at the ground
level with the economic incentive of building local museums, funding local
archaeology, and finding sustainable ways to capitalize on local and regional
heritage? How do we write and rewrite international and national policies so
that they more effectively convict, punish, and prevent the white-collar
criminals moving the trade in looted artifacts? This entire field is not so
much an issue as it is a conflict, and as such the journalism reporting on this
conflict has the responsibility to not just ask the post-war questions that
affect only the pampered Western party. In my view, there are more important
questions that need to be asked and answered before we begin to tackle the
post-conflict issue of what to do with the “victim” artifacts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/2012/07/owners-of-orphaned-objects-find.html">Derek Fincham also has a great commentary on this article</a> that points out the lack of
emphasis on the major tax deductions that collectors get for donating to
museums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-24920216496733112892012-07-11T18:12:00.000-04:002012-07-11T18:12:02.700-04:00Some updates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.memecreator.com/static/images/memes/63619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.memecreator.com/static/images/memes/63619.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
In the pages section of the blog, you'll notice some swank new updates to the information and resources offered that I finally got in today. First, there is now an "About the Issues" section which offers a really concise overview of the core issues of the illicit antiquities trade and a simple outline of its structure. Pretty easy to share with a friend who isn't in the know about this stuff and maybe wants to be. Second, there is finally an Internship Guide for cultural heritage/art crime internships. However, it's pretty rough so far, so if you know of any organizations or individuals that offer work experience with things related to art crime, cultural heritage issues, historic preservation/conservation, and museums studies that emphasize transparency, let me know! You can email me at meg.d.lambert@gmail.com.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-43080791423850385452012-07-08T21:49:00.002-04:002012-07-08T21:49:49.393-04:00Featured Blog(s): Property of an Anonymous Swiss Collector and Grotesque Stone Idols<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizINkgsXRekm1M4s1tlVYPbE-VjGetg0H4gqr5QJvtxHRTvXyyYj1dAVPNeCNkYAHLQ_qnJNCO0vOI3qdbIWvmEhOuy7oC6J8_nda4BsXlFacSXwWaTrJu76xpLnWCRAlVHItkqUjTcyJj/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-08+at+9.27.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizINkgsXRekm1M4s1tlVYPbE-VjGetg0H4gqr5QJvtxHRTvXyyYj1dAVPNeCNkYAHLQ_qnJNCO0vOI3qdbIWvmEhOuy7oC6J8_nda4BsXlFacSXwWaTrJu76xpLnWCRAlVHItkqUjTcyJj/s200/Screen+Shot+2012-07-08+at+9.27.48+PM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Two of my fave blogs lately are <a href="http://anonymousswisscollector.blogspot.com/">Property of an Anonymous Swiss Collector</a> and <a href="http://grotesquestoneidols.blogspot.com/">Grotesque Stone Idols</a>, both written by my friend and future colleague,<a href="http://grotesquestoneidols.com/index.html"> Dr. Donna Yates</a>. I am not just plugging Donna's blogs because she has been the number 1 diva in the club getting me through the super stressful process of flat hunting in a foreign country from across an ocean. Though that might be 20% of it. The other 80% has to do with how much I've been enjoying and learning from her blogs over the last few weeks. Donna recently got her PhD from Cambridge University in illicit antiquities research-related things, and is now one of the four happy souls leading the ERC-funded study on the trafficking of cultural property at the University of Glasgow. Her work is focused on South American antiquities and archaeology, and over the last few weeks her blogs have been published with exciting regularity on all manner of things from the origins of the word "huaquero" (the Spanish word for looter" to Peruvian-archaeology founder Julio C. Tello to the uh-oh search terms people are using when they stumble across her blog.<br />
<br />
Donna's perspective as an academic is really interesting (to me, anyway) because she trained in the archaeology side of things, but leans more toward the heritage/policy camp. The mix of the two results in presenting the historical and present social contexts of these issues in a cocktail of old and new that can't help but reframe your perspective on certain issues. What really makes these blogs fun for me is the fact that Donna uses them to share things she herself has been researching, as opposed to them being a news source with your typical re-hashing of opinion. Additionally, her approach to outreach and education is consciously non-preachy in the hopes of educating those interested in buying artifacts, instead of alienating them through the more aggressive rhetoric that others have adopted. (This attitude is hard to perfect when emotions run so high in this field.) And bonus, it's fun to read. It can often be easy for knowledgable bloggers to fall into a pit of didactic dryness when they're on a roll, but Donna's posts are always a great blend of excited gushing and genuinely interesting information that make them an easy read. Especially in sea of blogs that, though useful and well-written and super interesting, mostly report the major bummers currently going on. No bummers here, man. Just really great blogging.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-13789451989285333832012-07-07T17:50:00.000-04:002012-07-07T20:41:42.118-04:00This guy has licked every Anglican cathedral in England<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cathedrallicking.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/0501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://cathedrallicking.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/0501.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I feel a little guilty that I'm not blogging about <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/07/03/156180949/timbuktus-treasures-are-being-destroyed-as-world-watches-helplessly">Timbuktu</a> or <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/07/03/dodgy-drachmas-arnold-peter-weiss-prominent-rhode-island-surgeon-pleads-guilty-looted-coins-proved-forgeries/">looted-coin-collecting bad boy Dr. Arnold Peter Weiss</a>, but am instead clamoring to tell you all about this guy that licked every Anglican cathedral in England on a bet. AND HE'S NOT DONE. In January 2011, Lawrence Edmonds was challenged by his friend Adam to lick every Anglican cathedral in the United Kingdom. If he doesn't, he'll have to streak outside of York Minster. If he does, Adam will have to streak outside of York Minster. Initially, our cathedral licking hero was given five years to complete this task, which was then pared down to June 16th, 2012. Well. He has licked all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England and was given a six month extension to do the other 20 in the rest of the UK. He was even featured in <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4392312/Lawrence-Edmonds-cathedral-licking-tour-of-England.html">The Sun</a> and mentioned in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW2SeI2gp-M&feature=player_embedded">the House of Lords</a>. And you can read all about it and see all the licking glory <a href="http://cathedrallicking.wordpress.com/">on the official blog</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/255221431175197/">Facebook</a>, and on <a href="https://twitter.com/Cathedrallicker">Twitter</a>.<br />
<br />
Edmonds, 26, an English Heritage worker, is careful to mention in his <a href="http://cathedrallicking.wordpress.com/about/">About</a> page that he means no disrespect toward the Anglican Church and its followers, but hopes that his blog will help to promote the cathedrals of the UK, "many of which are currently suffering financially and need thousands of pounds a day just to keep their doors open." I don't think this is what any of us would have considered as a viable option in promoting some of the more expensive and endangered architecture of the UK, but I have to slow clap this guy and his friend for stumbling across it. Here's hoping that the spirit/form of it might catch on with other individuals and forms of architecture.<br />
<br />
Now hoping I'll run into this cathedral-licking renegade around some of Glasgow's Anglican structures this fall.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-49596799423907043532012-07-02T19:13:00.001-04:002012-07-02T19:13:55.036-04:00What a good study looks like<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/303547_400513056651119_231849192_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/303547_400513056651119_231849192_n.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
We all knew from the start that the<a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/research/features/crimeandjusticetradeinculturalartefacts/"> University of Glasgow study on the global trafficking of cultural property</a> was going to be a big deal. But these folks are really outdoing themselves by keeping the public updated (to a certain extent) through their new social media. You can now follow the study, which is being led by Neil Brodie, Simon Mackenzie, <a href="http://www.grotesquestoneidols.com/">Donna Yates</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/SuzieElizabethT">Suzie Thomas</a>, through their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TraffickingCulture">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/CultureTraffic">Twitter</a> pages. It seems a website will be following soon! It would be so interesting if more studies approached social media as a tool for educating the wider public and keeping people up to date in a sort of live-feed way on the process of their research.<br />
<br />
Beyond excited to get to work with these people this year.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-2306985047243349292012-06-29T17:40:00.000-04:002012-06-29T17:40:38.898-04:00Big news!Since my last post in March, life has been a whirlwind of thesis-writing, thesis-editing, unplanned grad school applications, social media neglect, undergraduate graduation, grad school rejection/acceptance, conference prep, and crazy weekend travel to Europe. Not coming back to blogging sooner partly has to do with temporarily forgetting how to write for non-thesis/presentation purposes, but mostly to do with the crazy number of events, landmarks, and decisions that have been packed into the last three months.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/imgres.jpg?w=500" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/imgres.jpg?w=500" width="200" /></a></div>
Per esempio, I am fairly ecstatic to tell people that this fall I will be pursuing my Master of Research in Criminology at the University of Glasgow. At the encouragement of <a href="http://www.grotesquestoneidols.com/">Donna Yates</a>, I applied for a PhD scholarship being offered in conjunction with <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/06/04/the-antiquities-trade-as-organized-crime-glasgow-team-digs-deep-into-the-market-for-ancient-art/">the now famous University of Glasgow trafficking culture study</a>. My humble expectation of being rejected wasn't entirely off; I didn't get the scholarship, but, to my honor and surprise, the selection committee thought my proposal was pretty cool and told me so. Simon Mackenzie sent me the best rejection letter of my life and invited me to do an MRes in Criminology with them before pursuing a PhD. 48 hours of feverish calculations later, I said yes. And not just because the opportunity was being handed to me/smacking me in the face and I realized that I could afford it.<br />
<br />
If this opportunity had not arisen, I would most likely have spent the next year working a crap job, saving money, and applying to cultural heritage grad programs with the uneasy suspicion that someday, I would have to choose sides between archaeologists and museums. Because my work has increasingly focused on how to bring the two sides of academia together, choosing between the two is the last thing I want to do. Going the criminology route had not occurred to me until Simon suggested it, and in retrospect it seems kind of dumb. After letting the duh-ness of it sink it, this feels like the most natural and obvious direction for my research interests. Through criminology, I can approach the multi-party conflict over the illegal trafficking and display of looted artifacts from a much more neutral position and with a great deal more information about how to approach a multi-party conflict in the first place. Not only that, but the people I'll be working with at Glasgow are already super welcoming and supportive. Coming from a really small school where it's not uncommon to cry in front of/with your advisor and students and faculty are all on a first-name basis, it was important to me to find a program that would offer the same kind of one-on-one support and possibility for really meaningful scholarship and collaboration. Glasgow seems to have a close-knit, small-town-vibe despite being a big city uni, and I could not be mored excited about joining them this September!<br />
<br />
But what does that mean for this blog? I have always intended Things You Can't Take Back to be primarily for college students finding their way into these issues, and me being a grad student won't change that goal. However, it will change how I approach that goal. Now that I'm graduated and have the benefit of hindsight as well as more sophisticated resources and connections, I hope to do a much better job of actually reaching college students and communicating the issues in a way that impassions them and encourages them to find a career in this field. Some changes and additions to the resources on this blog will be taking place over the next couple months, hopefully to find some equilibrium by the time I start going crazy again with school.<br />
<br />
Keep an eye out this week for my perspective on the amazing time I had at the <a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.com/2012/06/arcas-fourth-annual-conference-friday.html">ARCA conference</a> this past weekend!Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-81587947972908537812012-03-14T19:34:00.001-04:002012-03-14T19:34:36.167-04:00Chasing Aphrodite authors propose WikiLoot, a crowd-sourced initiative to address the illicit antiquities trade<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/apollo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/apollo1.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polaroid seized from Giacomo Medici's warehouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, authors of <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/">Chasing Aphrodite</a>, are two of the most tireless voices in the fight against the illicit antiquities trade right now. In addition to their fantastic book and their presence on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChasingAphrodit">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ChasingAphrodite?ref=ts">Facebook</a>, they have just proposed WikiLoot, an entirely new initiative that, if successful, could revolutionize how we approach the illicit antiquities trade. The idea behind WikiLoot is that it would be an open source web platform for "the publication and analysis of a unique archive of primary source records and photographs documenting the illicit trade in looted antiquities." The wiki would use social media "and other tools" to bring together YOU plus a big network of experts (journalists, researchers, dilettantes, etc.) to collaborate on the analysis of a collection of photos of unpublished and missing artifacts that do not come from a known collection. Right now, Jason and Ralph are applying for funding, specially from the Knight Foundation, from which they've requested $250,000 to contribute to their $350,000 goal.<br />
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My own first impression of this is HOLY CRAP THIS IS WHAT WE'VE NEEDED ALL ALONG. One of the biggest problem with addressing the illicit antiquities trade has been the question of how to involve the general population. For such a global issue, the problem-solving has so far been limited to a relatively small network of police, academics, and lawmakers. Opening the problem-solving up to EVERYONE could be the kick in the pants that this fight really needs. However, there are admittedly a lot of issues that accompany this kind of proposal, so Jason and Ralph have<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/254800707942016/"> created a Facebook group</a> for people to discuss their questions, work out kinks, and come up with some creative ideas to make WikiLoot more than just a concept. The conversation itself is already super interesting; I don't know anywhere else on the internet right now where you can watch the experts/major reporters in this field (so far featuring Jason Felch, Larry Rothfield, David Gill, James Grimaldi) discuss together the pros and cons of an initiative like this. Read more about Jason's proposal <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/03/12/introducing-wikiloot-your-chance-to-fight-the-illicit-antiquities-trade/#comments">on the Chasing Aphrodite blog</a>, definitely "like" or comment <a href="http://newschallenge.tumblr.com/post/19180035869/wikiloot-crowd-sourcing-an-analysis-of-the-black">on the proposal on the Knight Foundation Tumblr</a> to help WikiLoot to get funded, AND join in the conversation on the WikiLoot open Facebook group!Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-70437998839164507042012-03-01T12:41:00.001-05:002012-03-01T18:22:26.651-05:00Dig Ventures' outside-the-box method to archaeology could revolutionize the economics of excavation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58803000/jpg/_58803978_postsshowingthecausewaythroughthemerelake(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58803000/jpg/_58803978_postsshowingthecausewaythroughthemerelake(1).jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="http://digventures.com/">Dig Ventures,</a> a British organization that provides "seed capital for archaeology projects worldwide", just launched a whole new kind of funding initiative that promises to change the way we think about funding archaeology and I can succinctly describe as "kick ass". In order to excavate Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire, England, a Bronze Age site that is being threatened by extensive drainage and climate change, Dig Ventures is using <a href="http://www.sponsume.com/project/digventures-flag-fen-lives-1">Sponsume</a>, the European equivalent of Kickstarter, to reach out to the public for funding. The thing is, they're providing everyone with the incentive to back the project with the opportunity to be involved in the actual dig. £10 gets you "exclusive backstage access to daily content on our website in the 'Site Hut', a PDF of the final report, plus an invitation to our end of site party!" while contributing up to £1,300 or more gets you master classes and evening lectures.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17211285">The BBC just published an article today </a>about the venture, in which Lisa Westcott Wilkins, the managing director of Dig Ventures, was quoted:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Most of the archaeology outside of universities happens in advance of infrastructure or building, so when the market for that slows down, we don't get to dig very much," explained Mrs. Wilkins. "We've been thinking for a long time that things need to change, that there's not the kind of outreach that we feel really could be happening. There are lots of good people who are held back by the traditional way of doing things."</blockquote>
This crowd-sourced, crowd-funded approach to excavating important sites and engaging/educating the public in the process is, frankly, so brilliant that I think we all just want to shout, "DUH." This is an amazingly hands-on approach to a problem that all of us here in the States have been bitching about ever since we discovered that Spike TV and the National Geographic sold their souls for shows like "American Diggers" and "Diggers". Television programs like this are obviously very frustrating for archaeologists and individuals who love responsible archaeology. However, I think that on a quieter level, they have also sparked the realization that the archaeological community has not made the kind of aggressive motions they need to make in fixing a widespread misunderstanding of the ethical differences between responsible archaeology and treasure hunting. Pop culture and reality TV shows with "digger" in the title are just inflating this misunderstanding, and encouraging people to volunteer at professional digs is not proving to be enough incentive for the general public to support responsible archaeology. I see Dig Ventures project as a very clever way of addressing two big issues: first, it's a brilliant way of engaging and education people in archaeology. Second, it's a very creative way of getting funding in an economic environment that generally has little to no funding for archaeology. But I think there is a third, hidden advantage to this kind of initiative: it is a brilliant way of communicating the economic value of keeping heritage intact.<br />
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When people outside the archaeological community can see the cost of what it takes to excavate and preserve historical sites (versus what they might spend on a single artifact that was commercially exploited and illegally obtained), it might very effectively drive home the fact that it is cheaper, safer, and more productive to support archaeology and preservation than it is to engage in the illicit art market. The numbers of archaeology are not nearly so scary as the numbers behind the illegal sale of cultural property. £25,000 ($39,837.50) to excavate an entire Bronze Age site versus the $1 million paid by the Met for the Euphronius Krater? Not to mention all the jobs, training, and educational opportunities provided by a mere £25,000 excavation versus the asymmetrical distribution of money and incomplete information provided by a cool $1 mil for a single object without a reliable provenance? Bitch, please. These are the kinds of numbers that could mobilize people on the ground, not just in academia.<br />
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Good luck to Dig Ventures in achieving all they've set out to accomplish!Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-26299331166615239532012-02-27T11:07:00.002-05:002012-02-27T11:07:45.905-05:00It's Museums Advocacy Day!Today and tomorrow are Museums Advocacy Day, an event sponsored by the American Association of Museums and designed to advocate for policy and funding issues that affect museums in the United States. Today and tomorrow there will be events on Capitol Hill that you can <a href="http://www.speakupformuseums.org/video.htm">watch here</a>. However, if, like me, you're not able to make it out to D.C. to make an impact in person, there are other things you can do.<br />
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<a href="http://www.speakupformuseums.org/e-advocacy_for_museums.htm">AAM's E-Advocacy </a>page is mostly for museums, but no one's going to stop you from also <a href="http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/aam">writing to your representatives</a> and making a fuss about it via Twitter (#museumsadvocacy) or Facebook or whatever. The point is, do something. If you're reading this blog, you probably already know (either consciously or at least deep down) that museums are the safe guards and celebrations of our shared heritage, both material and intangible. As Americans, we have a particular responsibility to make the protection and preservation of our museums a priority because of the vast number of cultural memories and identities they serve. So jot off a quick letter to your state representatives! For reference, here's what I wrote to Senator John Kerry (with some help from the letter guides provided by AAM):<br />
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dear Senator
Kerry, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a
constituent, I know that you are pulled in many, many directions and must make
difficult decisions every day about how to meet the needs of people like me and
our community. I recently learned, through the American Association of Museums,
how important it is that I take a moment to express to you why museums are so
special to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
was recently <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17132141">an article in the BBC</a> about how lack of funding in Bosnia has
affected museums. During wartimes, the museum workers dodged bullets and bombs
to protect the material manifestations of their cultural heritage and shared
history. Now during hard economic times, Bosnian museum workers have not been
paid for six months and are taking on part-time jobs to support themselves
while they continue to work for their country’s museums. During World War II,
museum workers at the Hermitage in Russia barricaded themselves in the museum’s
basement tunnels and died of starvation and cold protecting their collections
from the violence of war. And just a few years ago in 2003, Donny George risked
his life during the American invasion of Iraq in an attempt to protect the Iraq
National Museum from looters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Museums
are the safe guards and celebrations of our shared heritage, both material and
intangible. When our way of life is threatened, we look to museums to remind us
who we are and to keep our identities alive. As Americans, our museums contain
a vast number of cultural stories and memories, giving us a great
responsibility to make the protection and preservation of our many cultural
identities a priority. We need to support our museums now so that we may not
have to sacrifice so much for the protection of our histories in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Essentially,
I grew up in museums. As an adult, I continue to grow up in museums as I
graduate from college this year and dedicate my life to museums; to figuring
out how they work, how to make them work better, and how to continue to protect
the world’s history in ethical and educational ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
a representative of our great state of Massachusetts, I hope you will remember
how important museums are to me and provide support for museums in your future
work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sincerely,
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meg
Lambert<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="mailto:meg.d.lambert@gmail.com">meg.d.lambert@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="mailto:mlambert@bennington.edu">mlambert@bennington.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.thingsyoucanttakeback.com/">www.thingsyoucanttakeback.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-16579184305120333202012-02-26T13:37:00.000-05:002012-02-26T13:37:44.901-05:00Spike TV's new show, American Diggers, promotes commercial exploitation of historical sitesThis spring, Spike TV intends to air a new show called American Diggers, which will follow a team "led by former professional wrestler-turned-modern-day relic hunter Ric Savage as they scour...battlefields and historic sites, in hopes of striking it rich by unearthing and selling rare pieces of American history."<br />
<br />
Let me break it down for you: THIS IS BAD because shows like this perpetuate the idea already put forth by pop culture icons like Indiana Jones that cultural property is "treasure": old things with great economic value. This is not responsible archaeology, and it needs to be shut down.<a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-spike-tv-from-looting-our-collective-past?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition#"> Sign this petition on Change.org to urge Spike TV to cancel the show </a>before they can continue to poison the minds of America with the idea that looting is fun and stuff.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-88898062145701968172012-02-23T11:16:00.002-05:002012-02-23T11:17:47.578-05:00Ancient Olympia Museum robbed and Geroulanos a coward for resigning?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://conflictantiquities.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/olympic-museum-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://conflictantiquities.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/olympic-museum-16.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Gold ring seal, Antheia, Messinia. Date: 14th or 13th century. </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's been all over the news: last week <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/ancient-olympia-antiquities-museum_n_1284130.html">two armed robbers broke into the Archaeological Museum of Olympia</a>, tied up on the only on-site guard, smashed and made off with 77 artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years. It was the second devastating blow to Greece's cultural heritage in the midst of their economic crisis after<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/thieves-steal-picasso-mondrian-from-greek-museum_n_1194996.html"> paintings from the National Museum were stolen last month</a>. Due to extreme budget cuts, funds for security have been halved in the last few years, leaving Greece's cultural institutions incredibly vulnerable to theft and looting. So, far the case at Olympia remains at a dead end, <a href="http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/olympic-museum-robbery-state-evidence/">made even more complicated by the fact that it appears the police and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are releasing differing information about their understanding of the heist. </a></div>
<br />
However, the most concerning aspect of this case for me is that due to the embarrassment of the break-in, culture minister Pavlos Geroulanos submitted his resignation to prime minister Lucas Papademos. Papademos rejected it yesterday, which could be both a good and bad thing. The entire situation is giving me flashbacks to around this time last year when <a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2011/03/zahi_hawass_resigns.html">Zahi Hawass resigned as from the antiquities department </a>in Egypt after the many cases of break-ins and looting through the revolution and limited resources to deal with it. At the time, <a href="http://www.drhawass.com/blog/why-dr-hawass-resigned">Hawass blamed the lack of resources and security for his inability to prevent chaos. </a>He said, "I cannot stay in Egypt and see antiquities being stolen when I cannot do anything to stop it! This situation is not for me!" The problem is that there very probably <i>were</i> things he could have done to better prevent mass looting of archaeological sites and the looting at the national museum, including reaching out to international organizations and mobilizing the kinds of youth who locked arms in front of the museum. With Greece currently in a similar situation, it might have been wise for Geroulanos to learn from Egypt's tragedies and mistakes and do what he could to deal more creative and proactively. For some perspective, this situation compared with<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17132141"> how Bosnia is dealing with their current funding issues</a> is particularly embarrassing: while museum workers in Bosnia have historically dodged bullets to save their artifacts, have not been paid for six months, and are taking on part-time jobs to support themselves while supporting their museums, Greece's culture minister has thrown up his hands after two high-profile (and therefore easier to track down) museum thefts.<br />
<br />
I personally see these resignations as cowardly and ineffective. (Though, in the case of Hawass, it was time to get rid of him anyway.) Maybe I'm just young and naive, but to me Geroulanos's resignation was essentially an admission that he was unwilling to support his country throughout this difficult time in any way his government position may allow. Geroulanos is still minister for now, but I hope that a much stronger replacement can be found as soon as it is financially or politically possible.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-58116965775452680432012-02-15T22:02:00.001-05:002012-02-15T22:02:39.219-05:00Glasgow University Team gets £1m grant to study illicit antiquities trade<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/2/13/1329132457394/A-looted-archaeological-s-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/2/13/1329132457394/A-looted-archaeological-s-007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="inline wide" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.858em; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 460px;">A looted archaeological site in Iraq from the air in 2003. Copyright: Italian Carabinieri</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In case you somehow haven't heard or just aren't paying attention,<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland-blog/2012/feb/13/glasgow-team-gets-1m-grant-to-study-illegal-trade-in-antiquities"> researchers at Glasgow University were recently awarded a £1 million grant from the European Research Council to study the illicit trade in antiquities.</a> For those of you who are new to studying these issues, this is what is what the more arcane academics like to call "a big freaking deal." Over the next four years, a team led by archaeologist Dr. Neil Brodie and criminologist Dr. Simon Mackenzie will gather and analyze data on the movements and motives of traffickers, the activities involved (such as illegal excavation/looting), and pricing structures. The goal of this grant, as described by the Guardian, is to "develop new approaches to regulate the international trade of cultural goods and help policymakers better define laws to fight criminal activities."<br />
<br />
This is incredible for a number of reasons. First, to my knowledge there has never been such a generous amount of funding directed towards the study of the illicit antiquities trade until now. So much of what we know about illegal artifact trafficking is cobbled together from various international busts and trials, some hard-won insider information, investigative journalism on very particular controversies, and years of accumulated blog posts chronicling the changing nature of collecting. It is often incredibly difficult to get solid statistics from those kinds of patchwork sources. This study will be the first of its kind on the illicit antiquities trade, and will undoubtedly be groundbreaking in deepening our understanding of how illegal artifact trafficking operates. Second, Dr. Brodie and Dr. Mackenzie are already well-known in this field for their groundbreaking research on the illicit antiquities trade. Considering what they have already achieved on what one can assume is a fairly average budget, it is astonishing to think what they will accomplish with such a large sum over a relatively short amount of time. Third, <i>can you imagine</i> the kind of research opportunities this one study will inevitably open up to our generation of academics? This is the perfect time for ambitious grad students and bold undergrads to make a good case for focusing on the illegal antiquities trade and demand funding for its study. The findings from this research will undoubtedly give us twice as many questions as they will answers, and here's hoping those questions will require more studies that young, lively bloggers like me may soon be a part of.<br />
<br />
For more information, <a href="http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4128514/Saviour-of-the-Lost-Ark.html">here's a rather brilliant piece on Prof. Mackenzie contrasting his work with Indiana Jones' tomb robbing.</a> (When will that stereotype die, already?)<br />
<br />
Congratulations to Dr. Brodie, Dr. Mackenzie and their team at Glasgow University!Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-90986670987187252342012-02-10T09:47:00.000-05:002012-02-10T09:47:00.737-05:00Robert Hecht, famous antiquities dealer, dead at age 92<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/hecht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://chasingaphrodite.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/hecht.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
On Wednesday, notorious antiquities dealer <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/02/08/robert-e-hecht-jr-leading-antiquities-dealer-over-five-decades-dead-at-92/">Robert E. Hecht, Jr. died at age 92 at his home in Paris</a>. Just a little less than three weeks ago, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/01/italian-antiquities-robert-hecht-case-ends.html">his criminal trial in Rome ended with no verdict</a> after judges found the time allotted for trial had expired. Hecht had been the focus of a long-term investigation into an international network of antiquities smugglers, dealers and private collectors, along with former Getty curator Marion True and Italian dealer Giacomo Medici. Hecht was a key player in the illicit trade and, after the scandal at the Getty and the discovery of Medici's warehouse in Switzerland, a legendary figure who boasted that he never knew the origins of the pieces he sold. A charming and likable man, even his enemies in law enforcement could not help respecting him as a worthy adversary.<br />
<br />
Which has made it that much more difficult to process his death. The few who have acknowledged his passing in the press or in social media seem to be struggling with how to remember or commemorate a man who, though charming and respected as a skilled criminal, made terrible contributions to the destruction of history through looting. <a href="http://culturalsecurity.tumblr.com/post/17330575129/2012-02-09-joshua-mix">Cultural Security</a> even went so far as to wonder whether Hecht's activities have had "an inadvertently positive effect on art and antiquities." They point out that the notoriety surrounding the trials of Hecht, True, and Medici have led museums around the world to alter their acquisitions policies and repatriate unprovenanced objects, while the media attention on Hecht brought the trade to the forefront for private collectors and galleries, not just the museum community. I'm reluctant to agree entirely, because Hecht's contribution to the publicity surrounding artifact trafficking was only one of many made by a number of individuals on both sides of the controversy. But his old-world glamour and enigmatic appeal certainly did not hurt the popularity of the case. There is something very bittersweet about Hecht's passing for the communities on either side the illicit antiquities trade, and I'm not sure we'll ever know how to definitively approach his legacy. Condolences to his wife and daughters.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-71432276057121207322012-02-09T13:52:00.002-05:002012-06-29T13:30:59.819-04:00Check me out on ARCA's blog!Recently, I was honored to be asked to guest blog for the Association for Research Into Crimes Against Art. Now, in addition to blogging here and for <a href="http://benningtonstudents.tumblr.com/">Bennington's admissions blog</a>, you can also find me writing occasionally for the ARCA blog! <a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.com/2012/02/sliding-scale-of-looting-some.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arcablog+%28ARCAblog%29">My first post (a real winner, in my opinion) is up now. </a><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmD1Zrdr69p4kYtsH3t8EJfNo5_QbxsbbYPPYE9_UBQu2Hf2HVtb_S_3Ig7fSkS7rnrXricEKPE7mOYiLDyK9CQU5PObQE10pz4ed8BOVayJjTlKcQ7eJBHfBPK3fbjznVDvODklqqxOQz/s1600/DSCN1885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmD1Zrdr69p4kYtsH3t8EJfNo5_QbxsbbYPPYE9_UBQu2Hf2HVtb_S_3Ig7fSkS7rnrXricEKPE7mOYiLDyK9CQU5PObQE10pz4ed8BOVayJjTlKcQ7eJBHfBPK3fbjznVDvODklqqxOQz/s320/DSCN1885.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Jason Felch, <br />
one half of the authors of Chasing Aphrodite</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to attend the panel discussion at the National Press Club for <i>Chasing Aphrodite</i> authors Jason Felch (who looks like Clark Kent up close) and Ralph Frammolino (who phoned in from Bangladesh), as well as former Getty curator Arthur Houghton and Walters Art Museum Director Gary Vikan. The event was moderated by Washington Post reporter James Grimaldi. To summarize, it was magical, in a way only these things can be. Tanya Lervik wrote<a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.com/2012/01/national-press-club-event-chasing.html"> a great summary of the event for the ARCA blog</a> and really captured all the best points (except for when Houghton and Vikan passed each other notes and nodded diligently as Jason looked on in mild befuddlement and amusement).<br />
<br />
However, I was particularly struck by a few aspects of the discussion that aren't super polite to mention in an official summary of an official event on a more official blog than this. First, it was apparent that although every single one of the men on the panel has the utmost respect for one another, there was a definite rift in opinion over the role that museums can and should play in addressing the ethics behind the objects in their collections. While Arthur Houghton played a huge role in providing much of the information in <i>Chasing Aphrodite</i> and was for all intensive purposes a lone, sorta ethical voice during his time there, much of his contribution to the panel discussion was a defense of museums, particularly the Getty, and their role in the legality versus the ethicality of the events that took place. Two particular statements by each Vikan and Houghton bookended the discussion with the museological perspective: at the beginning of the conversation, Vikan stated, "Do we own these things? No. We take care of them.", while near the end, Houghton expressed that the real question that needs to be asked is the degree to which Americans want to find themselves subject to foreign laws. Both seemed to agree that it is not museums or collectors that fuel the illicit art market, but the lack of stringent laws in source countries.<br />
<br />
With all due respect, haha.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Being a student mostly on the outside but increasingly on the inside of this field has really highlighted one issue in particular for me: because major American art museums are not directly affiliated with the U.S. government and attempt to represent the global community through an encyclopedic collection (as opposed to representing the colonial conquering mentality of the American past), they have a tendency to see themselves as neutral ground in the international community. As if they are all the Vatican City of art. James Cuno, current CEO of the Getty, does a good job of representing the generation of museum professionals who hold this perspective. He writes in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Who-Owns-Antiquity-Museums-Heritage/dp/0691137129">Who Owns Antiquity?</a></i>,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To include antiquities within the political construct of cultural property is to politicize them. It is to make them part of modern, national cultural politics. What is a national culture in this modern age, when the geographic extent of so many cultures does not coincide with national borders, and when national borders are often new and even artificial creations with sovereignty over the cultural artifacts of peoples no longer extant or no longer in political power?</blockquote>
Cuno and others like him see the museum as a thing not held within the state, but morally or institutionally outside of it. Cuno argues that museums "own antiquities (and all works of art in the collections) only insofar as they hold them in trust for the public they serve. They are not in the collections of the art museum <i>for</i> the art museum. They are there for the public." Houghton echoed this perspective when he reminded the audience that museums like the Getty don't do anything they do not think will benefit the ever ambiguous "public", while Vikan lamented that museums should be doing more to engage in a conversation that allows a more cooperative sharing of the world's heritage between institutions. From this perspective, the museum does not function as a part of or as an extension of the state in which it is situated, but as a neutral sanctuary for the cultures its collection represents.<br />
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I think that there are great aspects to this perspective. I, too, would love to see a world in which museums simply share objects with one another and no longer go head to head in drawn out repatriation cases. It would be incredible if museums could indeed be neutral ground for the world's cultural property and if there were no question of ownership. However, I think these are things to aspire to. Unlike the people who hold this opinion, I don't believe it's already a reality. I have found this perspective (which I fondly define as "delusional) is limited to American art museums. Most major European art museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, are national museums that operate under theirs government and consequently cannot lay claim to the concept of keeping cultural property for an ambiguous "public". They admit to owning their objects and serve a very specific national audience.<br />
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American art museums, however, have exhibited in recent events a strange disconnect between their actions and their words. By itself, this kind of belief is almost laughable to people like me who recognize that cultural property is and has always been highly political and who cannot see museums ever being truly nation-less sanctuaries. However, I believe that these inconsistencies stem from the difficult evolution of the modern museum. The desire to distance the modern museum from its colonialist beginnings and the inability/unwillingness to fully address or concede to its past has resulted in the re-dressing of colonialist tradition in the more modern garb of globalism. There are so many good intentions in this strange perspective, but they fall somewhere between guilt-ridden colonialism and 21st century "This land is your land, this land is my land" globalism. Which is exactly why this is a perspective that needs to be more fully articulated and explored. To most of us on the outside, the logic behind museum practices is and has been a big mystery. I think that in order for all of us to have a more productive dialogue on these issues, we need to understand more thoroughly what exactly the thought processes are behind what our museums do and who they think they're doing it for.<br />
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But first museum professionals need to get to a point where they're ok with admitting that their institutions have a past. Had that been the case with Gary Vikan and Arthur Houghton, we may have had a very different discussion at the National Press Club last week. It was all too obvious in the small conflicts that surfaced that Vikan and Houghton were not ready to make these kinds of admissions, while Jason Felch was eager to bring them to light. It seemed that half the battle present in the discussion was the unarticulated debate over whether or not museums really are or should be neutral ground for ancient art and artifacts.<br />
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(Special thanks to Jason Felch for recognizing me from this blog and so gracefully responding to my excited babbling.)Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-9794354124459856142012-01-21T22:10:00.000-05:002012-01-21T22:10:06.674-05:00My hero: George Clooney turning The Monuments Men into a film<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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According to the internet sources, George Clooney is allegedly working on writing, directing, and starring in a film based <a href="http://www.monumentsmen.com/">on Robert M. Edsel's book</a>. <i>The Monuments Men</i> chronicled the work done by the special forces of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and soldiers during WWII to prevent the destruction of Europe's cultural property at the hands of the Nazis. <div>
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<i>Swoon.</i></div>
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That kind of war time bad-assery is a natural fit for Hollywood glorification. I am stupid with delight that the actions of these WWII heroes will be brought so far into the mainstream consciousness. So stupid with delight that I promise right now not to complain (too much) about the historical inaccuracies or inconsistencies that are bound to be suffered for the sake of plot because this film could give the public a more immediate and relatable reference point for issues of art crime, provenance, and heritage. At least, more relatable and reliable than Indiana Jones.</div>
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I don't know about you, but I know I'll be spending the next few hours figuring out which big time celebrities should be cast based on Edsel's <a href="http://www.monumentsmen.com/cast_of_characters.php">cast of characters</a>. I vote for Michael Fassbender as James Rorimer and Isabelle Huppert as Rose Valland. </div>Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4439320666659696765.post-41114582661120971042012-01-21T18:56:00.000-05:002012-01-21T18:56:33.273-05:00Object Biographies at the Manchester Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Via <a href="http://egyptology.blogspot.com/">Egyptology News</a>, I stumbled across the<a href="http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/"> University of Manchester's museum</a> blog, <a href="http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/">Egypt at the Manchester Museum</a>, and their <a href="http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/object-biography-1-a-vessel-naming-nesi-khonsu-acc-no-6736/">first in a series </a>of biographies on objects in their collection. Funnily enough, I had the same idea to include biographies of looted objects on this blog, and I am legitimately excited to see that a museum is thinking the same. This isn't just a great way to highlight objects that are not usually on display, but it's an important method of emphasizing the fact that every single artifact is not just a part of history, but has it's own history. The first object featured (a small Egyptian cup from the burial of Nesi-khonsu, wife of ruler Pinedjem II) is given a brief but a thorough biography, including how it arrived in the museum's collection. Whoever at the Manchester Museum had that idea should definitely be assured their job security because it's freaking golden and something I hope to see being emulated by other museum blogs soon.Meg Lamberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10534877373907555299noreply@blogger.com2