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.