Who Owns Antiquity?

Who Owns Antiquity?
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 285
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781400839247
ISBN-13 : 1400839246
Rating : 4/5 (47 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Who Owns Antiquity? by : James Cuno

Download or read book Who Owns Antiquity? written by James Cuno and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-18 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether antiquities should be returned to the countries where they were found is one of the most urgent and controversial issues in the art world today, and it has pitted museums, private collectors, and dealers against source countries, archaeologists, and academics. Maintaining that the acquisition of undocumented antiquities by museums encourages the looting of archaeological sites, countries such as Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, and China have claimed ancient artifacts as state property, called for their return from museums around the world, and passed laws against their future export. But in Who Owns Antiquity?, one of the world's leading museum directors vigorously challenges this nationalistic position, arguing that it is damaging and often disingenuous. "Antiquities," James Cuno argues, "are the cultural property of all humankind," "evidence of the world's ancient past and not that of a particular modern nation. They comprise antiquity, and antiquity knows no borders." Cuno argues that nationalistic retention and reclamation policies impede common access to this common heritage and encourage a dubious and dangerous politicization of antiquities--and of culture itself. Antiquities need to be protected from looting but also from nationalistic identity politics. To do this, Cuno calls for measures to broaden rather than restrict international access to antiquities. He advocates restoration of the system under which source countries would share newly discovered artifacts in exchange for archaeological help, and he argues that museums should again be allowed reasonable ways to acquire undocumented antiquities. Cuno explains how partage broadened access to our ancient heritage and helped create national museums in Cairo, Baghdad, and Kabul. The first extended defense of the side of museums in the struggle over antiquities, Who Owns Antiquity? is sure to be as important as it is controversial. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.


Who Owns Antiquity? Related Books

Who Owns Antiquity?
Language: en
Pages: 285
Authors: James Cuno
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-10-18 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Whether antiquities should be returned to the countries where they were found is one of the most urgent and controversial issues in the art world today, and it
Whose Culture?
Language: en
Pages: 233
Authors: James Cuno
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-05-23 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The international controversy over who "owns" antiquities has pitted museums against archaeologists and source countries where ancient artifacts are found. In h
About Antiquities
Language: en
Pages: 283
Authors: Zeynep Çelik
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-11-15 - Publisher: University of Texas Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Antiquities have been pawns in empire-building and global rivalries; power struggles; assertions of national and cultural identities; and cross-cultural exchang
Museums Matter
Language: en
Pages: 166
Authors: James Cuno
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-12-15 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The concept of an encyclopedic museum was born of the Enlightenment, a manifestation of society’s growing belief that the spread of knowledge and the promotio
Who Owns Objects?
Language: en
Pages: 168
Authors: Eleanor Robson
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2006 - Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is the outcome of a series of lectures and workshops held at St. Cross College and All Souls College, Oxford in late 2004 on the ethics and politics o