Art and Cultural Heritage Loss: A Worthy Priority for International Prevention and Enforcement

Abstract

Offered here is a brief introduction to art and cultural heritage loss. The focus is on ‘crime’ so that ‘loss’ in fact means someone's gain. Nevertheless as is common in characterising international enterpreneurial activity, there may be little common ground on definitions of art and of crime, or willingness to be signatory to existing international treaties. Consider, for example, the failure of Japan and Western European nations, as archaeological treasure consuming—displaying nations to sign the UNESCO Convention intended to protect cultural heritages. Currently American readers learn that Turkey is acting under US civil law to recover its treasures from US collections. One, the Lydian Hoard, has just been returned by the NY Metropolitan Museum. But many legal battles lie ahead for Turkey, and, the list here is but illustrative, for Greece, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Hungary, Germany, the USA and UK, as nations fight over what came from where and belongs to whom. Also contested, what is the public versus private interest to be protected?

Citation

Blum, R.H. (1995), "Art and Cultural Heritage Loss: A Worthy Priority for International Prevention and Enforcement", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 149-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025695