press info - please contact cprinst@gmail.com
Upcoming! Upcoming! CPRI's Arthur Houghton and Kate Fitz Gibbon join a panel of distinguished experts for an important public program.
The Future of the Past – Collecting Ancient Art in the 21st Century SPONSORS: The Asia Society and The American Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc. a non-profit charitable organization VENUE: The Asia Society, 725 Park Ave, New York, NY 10021-5088 DATE: Sunday, March 18th, 2012 Doors open 10:00am -- Program 10:30 am – 12:00pm Free to the public Asia Week is a thriving annual celebration of Asian art in New York. We owe its existence to the forethought and devotion of past generations. Will events such as these be possible in the next decade, given the current inadequate policies restraining the global diffusion of art? Will future generations have the privilege of direct access to the vast cultural resources that we have today? A distinguished panel of museum professionals, collectors, and other major art experts will address these urgent questions in order to understand what needs to be done today to safeguard the accessibility of Asia’s cultural heritage tomorrow. Exploring the common ground between art collecting and cultural diplomacy, the panel will try to explain how current policies, in both the United States and internationally, will affect private and public collections in the future. More specifically, the panel will examine: — How new museum policies leave hundreds of thousands of orphaned works of art with an uncertain future — The consequences of U.S. import restrictions on Chinese art — The difficulties museums face in organizing exhibitions — How policies are affected when art source countries, such as India and China, develop an indigenous collectors’ market. Panelists: Naman Ahuja, Professor of Indian Art and Architecture, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India Kate Fitz Gibbon, CPRI Board, Attorney and author, former member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to the President Kurt A. Gitter, Co-founder Gitter-Yelen Art Study Center, New Orleans Arthur Houghton, CPRI President, Former diplomat, curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to the President James Lally, International art dealer, J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art James McAndrew, Forensic Specialist at Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz,, Silverman, Klestadt LLP, former Homeland Security, U.S. Customs expert Julian Raby, Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C. Marc Wilson, Sinologist and former director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art With Dr. Melissa Chiu, Director, Asia Society and Vice President, Global Art Programs and Dr. Vishakha Desai, President, Asia Society Information: 212-288-6400 · theaccp@gmail.com National
Press Club Event: Chasing Aphrodite January 24, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Investigative
journalists Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino from the Los Angeles Times reveal the inner workings of the J. Paul
Getty Museum’s quest to acquire the largest collection of Roman and Greek
antiques in the United States. Carefully, Jason and Ralph peel away the layers
of the sometimes ethically challenged world of antiquities following rare
objects from centuries past as they pass from the dark of night looters to the
sophisticated dealers in Paris or Switzerland to the lofty society collectors
or museum curators. In particular, they reveal the illicit journey of the
statue who was thought to be Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Gary Vikan, director
at the Walters Art Museum and Arthur Houghton, President of the Cultural Policy
Research Institute, a former curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum and a major
source for the book join to frame the "larger questions involving the
effect of evolving cultural property law and guidelines on museum policies and
deepening concern about the future of ancient objects in private hands. Good journalism,
greed and ethics are key themes in Chasing Aphrodite culminating with the
indictment and prosecution by a foreign country of a curator of the Getty
and the demand by that country (Italy) for the return of an extraordinary
volume of material from a broad array of US museums and private collections. NPC Contact: Keri Douglas, keridouglas@mac.com 202-276-1702
"Cultural
Heritage and African Art: Negotiating the Rise of Ethical and Legal Collecting Concerns." 9:30–10 am: Coffee and registration Speakers include specialists on issues of art and cultural patrimony: Kate Fitz Gibbon, J.D., Santa Fe, New Mexico Derek Fincham, J.D., Ph.D., Houston George Okello Abungu, Ph.D., Nairobi, Kenya Sylvester Okwunodo Ogbechie, Ph.D, UC Santa Barbara John Henry Merryman, Dept. of Art, Stanford University This program is made possible by the endowed Ruth K. Franklin Lecture and Symposium Fund.
October 29, 2011 Chasing Aphrodite: CPRI President Arthur Houghton joins Authors Jason
Felch and Ralph Frammolino and Walters Art Museum Director Gary Vikan
Authors Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino will field questions from local WYPR radio host Tom Hall and the audience, relating to their controversial new book Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum. This is the first-ever presentation of this topic in an art museum, and participants will also include Baltimorean Arthur Houghton, President of the Cultural Policy Research Institute, former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum and major source for the book, and Walters Director Gary Vikan, who will help frame the broader question of how new cultural property guidelines might affect encyclopedic museum collections.
The Walters Art Museum, Graham Auditorium 600 N Charles St, Baltimore, Maryland Saturday, October 29, 2 p.m. Admission Free May 21, 2011
The
Cultural Policy Research Institute recently requested information under the
Freedom of Information Act from the Department of State and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The
request was with reference to statements issued by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister
of State for Antiquities Affairs, regarding a pending agreement with the U.S.
government. The agreement appears to have been negotiated by a private U.S. coalition
calling itself the International
Coalition to Support Protection of Egyptian Antiquities. The coalition is comprised
of representatives from the Capitol
Archaeological Institute of George Washington University, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American School of
Oriental Research at Boston University, and the National Geographic Society. link to FOIA request CPRI EVENTS Monday, March 21, 2011 The Cultural Policy Research Institute PresentsThe Cultural Property Implementation Act: Is it Working? Monday, March 21, 2011 Russell Senate Office Building 485, Washington, D.C. 20002 Introduction: Why this Seminar? Speaker: Arthur Houghton (CPRI President; former Museum Representative CPAC)
Session One: Congressional Intent in Passing the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act Speakers: Mark Feldman (former
attorney, Department of State), James Fitzpatrick (Retired Partner, Arnold
& Porter, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University), Dr. Richard M.
Leventhal (Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania), Andrew Oliver (former Director, National Endowment for the Humanities Museum Program).
Session Two: How the Cultural Property Advisory Committee has Operated in Practice Speakers: Jay Kislak (Past CPAC
Chairman), James Fitzpatrick (Retired Partner, Arnold & Porter, Adjunct
Professor, Georgetown University), Kate Fitz Gibbon (former Trade
Representative CPAC, CPRI Executive Director), Dr. Richard M. Leventhal (Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania).
First Question & Answer Period – All Above. 10 Minutes
Session Three: Customs Enforcement - Fidelity to the Law? Speakers: Michael McCullough
(former Vice President, Sotheby’s, attorney in private practice), US Customs Representative (TBA).
Session
Four: Prescriptions for the Future - What More is Needed? Speakers: All
Final
Question & Answer Period – All Speakers.
Questions? Contact CPRI at cprinst@gmail.com
Why this Program? In 1983, Congress passed the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) to enact the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property into U.S. law. Broadly speaking, the 1970 UNESCO Convention contemplates that governments will enter into agreements to enforce each other's cultural property laws. The U.S. Senate ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention subject to reservations intended to preserve the “independent judgment” of the United States as to when and how to impose import restrictions on cultural artifacts when requested by State Parties to the Convention. The CPIA set up a panel of experts, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, to assist the President in his decision-making. The President has delegated his authority to the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). U.S. Customs and Border Protection has complementary authority to promulgate import restrictions. Over the years, the ECA’s administration of the CPIA and Customs’ implementation of restrictions has been much criticized.
Senators Moynihan and Dole were instrumental in securing passage of the CPIA. They worked hard to ensure that the CPIA was the product of compromise. To gain support of the museum and arts community, limitations were placed on the executive’s ability to enter into agreements with other countries to impose import restrictions. A provision requiring U.S. restrictions to be part of a “concerted international response” was added to ensure the effectiveness of restrictions.
Initially, import restrictions were imposed on behalf of poor, third world countries, and on narrow ranges of artifacts. After almost three decades, however, import restrictions are now in place on behalf of wealthy EU members like Italy and Cyprus, superpowers like China, and on ever increasing categories of artifacts like ancient coins. Archeologists and their supporters applaud these developments, but critics in the museum and art communities believe that the State Department has disregarded the criteria established by law and cloaked its operations in secrecy to hide an abuse of power. In this seminar, experts in the field will discuss whether the CPIA is working as intended.
What is the Cultural Policy Research Institute?
CPRI is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public education and understanding of the issues that underlie the ownership and disposition of cultural property.
CPRI conducts research into the legal, administrative, political and ethical issues that shape the continuing debate about the acquisition, display, conservation and publication of cultural artifacts.
CPRI strongly encourages cooperative means to preserve the world’s cultural heritage for future generations, including means to protect cultural sites of all types from damage or destruction by conflict, looting, development or neglect.
CPRI
disseminates information on cultural policy issues through its website,www.cprinst.org. February 10, 2011 CPRI Vice President Speaks at H.M. de Young Museum in San Francisco CPRI vice-president Kate Fitz Gibbon spoke at a San Francisco educational event, Questions of Provenance: A Mini-Symposium at the de Young Museum on Thursday, February 10, 2011. The M.H. De Young Museum event featured Fitz Gibbon, Barbara Hoffman, and Hermione Waterfield. The symposium presenters and their subjects were: The Law
and Ethics of Collecting the Arts of Africa and the South Pacific: The
Importance of Provenance
Art Laws
and Social Policy: A Swinging Pendulum
Provenance:
The People Behind the Lists, Ledgers, and Labels Fitz Gibbon posed the question of where current legal policies are taking us and as collectors, as scholars, as archaeologists and anthropologists, as citizens of a multi-ethnic country, and as global neighbors, do we really want to go there? Fitz Gibbon’s presentation began with an outline of current laws on cultural heritage, and then focused on the conflict between current implementation of laws affecting cultural heritage and public policy on the educational role of museums and the collectors that support them. She pointed out that the ethical boundaries in art collecting are far more complex today, in part because the fields of collecting became much more complex in the 20th century. It is no coincidence that there has been greater interest in global and ethnographic art at the very same time that laws governing the transfer of cultural heritage have become much more expansive, threatening to end the trade altogether. She noted the positive results of collecting global art: nontraditional art forms come with different histories and different meaning to the societies that produced them; art communicates this meaning and expands our understanding of the rest of the world. The current laws that govern the transfer of cultural property are a limited and usually unsuccessful means of balancing the goals of mutual understanding against other nations’ property or political interests. Fitz Gibbon discussed the raids against California museums and the questionable use of US laws designed to protect Native American artifacts in an international case. Fitz Gibbon also outlined key legal issues for museums in collecting Papua New Guinea art, a feature of the De Young collection. CPRI will provide a speaker on cultural heritage issues to museums and educational institutions on a variety of topics related to U.S. and international cultural heritage at a reduced or no fee. Please contact CPRI at 505-412-2209 or email cprinst@gmail.com to learn more about CPRI and our educational services. |
