Who owns ancient objects in museums? If you take at face value the headlines made by the Italian government in its highly publicized (and politicized) case against the Getty Museum -- they do. That is, at least when it comes to Italian, I mean Greek, antiquities. (Yes, most of the objects that Italians are suing the Getty over were made in antiquity not by Italians, but by Greeks and imported into Italy. The irony of modern-day Italians suing to reclaim patrimony that is not even original to their country is a topic for another day.)
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that cultural objects in museums belong to the country from which they originated, as the Italian government would like us to believe. If so, could citizens who have been wronged by that government lay claim to these objects as restitution?
That is the interesting legal question being tested now as five Americans from Detroit are attempting against the government of Iran. The five, all hurt in a 1977 Hamas terrorist bombing at a Jerusalem shopping plaza, are claiming that the bombing had Iranian sponsorship and as a result they are justified in reclaiming Iranian assets as restitution for their injuries.
Remarkably, the Iranian assets they are targeting are important antiquities currently in the collections of Harvard University, the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art and Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. According to court papers, among the objects sought are coins, pottery, sculptures and other ancient Iranian items.
The case, which appears to be a long shot for the plaintiffs, raises yet another potentially dangerous challenge for today’s museums.
Muata Ashby has the most excellent beuutifal books ever. Every time i do his Egyptian yoga series i wake up the next day and look at least a couple years younger, it is really something that can not be explained with modern science
Posted by: Paige | April 26, 2012 at 01:05 AM