Patty Gerstenblith appointed CPAC Chair

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An announcement has just been made that Professor Patty Gerstenblith, founding president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation has just been chosen to be appointed to the chair of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC). She replaces Katharine L. Reid (Museums). This is particularly interesting in the light of claims being made by antiquity dealers' lobbyists that the CPAC has been involved in "extra-legal activities" under previous chairs. This is unlikely to problem in Gerstenblith's period of office, so the coineys will have to find something else to snipe about (we need have no doubt they will). Prof. Gerstenblith has particularly welcome views on the antiquities market, her most recent article was titled, “Controlling the International Market in Antiquities: Reducing the Harm, Preserving the Past” - which is surely what the CPAC is all about. Before studying law she obtained a BA in Art History and Anthropology [and a PhD in the subject from] from Harvard University.

Nancy C. Wilkie is to be reappointed a member of the CPAC. She is an interesting choice:

Nancy Wilkie has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota where she studied classics and prehistoric Greek archaeology. At Carleton College she is the William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology and the Liberal Arts, and her areas of specialization are prehistoric Greece, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and cultural property issues. Her main publications include “Governmental Agencies and the Protection of Cultural Property in Times of War” in “Antiquities Under Siege. Cultural Heritage Protection After the Iraq War” (Lawrence Rothfield (ed.), Lanham 2008). She is Past-President of the AIA, and the 2009/2010 Norton Lecturer.

It seems Robert Korver (who says he walked off in a huff when he found he could not use his membership to "serve" the commerce in dugup ancient coins as he had hoped), has not yet been replaced. Let us hope that when he is it is from another part of the arts and antiquities trade, one that does not have problems with accepting the idea of export licences.

President Obama said, “It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this Administration to serve the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

That is "serve" the American people not just the few thousand among them that collect dirty pieces of dugup history.

See also: SAFE congratulates newly appointed CPAC Chair Patty Gerstenblith