On 22 March 2012, Palestine deposited with the Director-General its instrument of ratification of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This makes Palestine the 122nd State party to the Convention.
Late in 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization when the latter voted to give full membership to the Palestinians. This ratification represents that Palestine wishes to participate fully in the international discussion on the protection of cultural property.
The United States is the 50th signatory to the 1970 Convention and has implemented the convention via the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act.
Read related CPAL posts:
United States Cuts off Funding to UNESCO
State Department Seeks to Return Funding to UNESCO
Or the UNESCO Announcement
A personal view of this subject
It’s funny that in a moment that all boundaries fall and we feel that we live in a single world, the people and some countries are speaking about cultural property of one or other country as it doesn’t belong to the mankind .
Today, more than yesterday, we live in a globalized world where you rub your shoulders with other in the north, east, south or west.
All the people are worried and concerned in preserving the destroyed Buddha’s of Afghanistan or stooping the looting of the Egyptian or Tunisian archaeological patrimony and some people is still speaking about the return of the Nefertiti bust to Egypt .
Folks ! AWAKE!!!!
There is no better place to Nefertiti! It needs to stay in Berlin, as the Mesopotamian pieces need to stay in the British Museum or the Parthenon Marbles as well.
The Greece needs now some help to stop the looting of the cultural patrimony that is being stolen NOW. The same for Egypt, Peru, Italy and so many other countries . Who is more Inca, Memphite, Chancay, Corintian, Apulian or Gnathian comparing to a scholar or a passionate collector ?
UNESCO needs to update itself and see that preservation and conservation is due to what is there and needs to stay in the place of origin.
Egypt or Peru don’t have funds, personal or technical possibilities to take care all that patrimony and need to realize that if part of its cultural items go to other countries and give the beginning of other museums, they will be like representative or ambassadors of the countries and it will help to awake the interest of people travel to that countries and see its places and use its hotels, restaurants and spent the money there.
The Egyptian, Greek, Peruvian ancestors were generous enough to leave an immense legacy of archaeological items to us . They are in all places and need to be preserved as a legacy of all people, without frontiers.
Museum Without Frontiers ( MWF ) would be a great name for one update version of an entity that could manage the cultural patrimony of the humankind having some kind of CORPUS of fall the items worldwide spread in the innumerous countries of the globe. It could be part of the UNESCO since it works in the same field.
Yes! A CORPUS ANTIQUORUM for all items from all the places of the world, where all the museum and collections could be interlinked and all the researches and all the governments could have knowledge and in touch with scholars and other interested.
In a world where we have the INTERNET, this would be an appropriate and adequate response for a world of full communication, generosity and network .
We need to start in another way .
If someone agree with me, write back and lets start a movement in order to persuade the people of that .
pradodemello@hotmail.com is my email.