Cultural Racketeering and Why it Matters: Robbing the World of History

Deborah Lehr(Vice Chairman, Paulson Institute) has written an article worth reading ("Cultural Racketeering and Why it Matters: Robbing the World of History" Huffington Post 10/01/2013).  It starts off fairly conventionally:

The illegal trade in art and antiquities or cultural racketeering is one of the top five most profitable illegal global businesses. It ravages cultural icons and deprives local communities of their heritage. If we don't take a stand, we are not just allowing these criminals to steal our common history, but also the future economic potential of these communities. 

She defines "cultural racketeering" (though bearing in mind an earlier discussion here I wonder in what sense she uses the term "illicit"):

Cultural racketeering is a term that the Capitol Archaeological Institute coined to describe when organized criminal networks traffic in illicit art and antiquities. Looting sites for their riches [...]  has now become a global black market business facilitated by social media and global transportation networks It generates billions of dollars, and has a devastating impact on communities on a local and global scale.[...] organized distribution networks - many linked to organized criminal networks engaged in other types of black activities - act as middlemen to smuggle these artifacts out of the country to where demand exists.

Lehr admits that "credible numbers are tough to gleam for the illicit trade in antiquities. Unlike trafficking in cocaine or weapons, it is difficult to determine the legitimate--or illegitimate--nature of an item once it leaves its country of origin. An ancient statue is either "licit" or "illicit" based on its ownership and not by its nature, like a drug".

She argues that "countries with the most to lose are often hardest hit by cultural racketeers". A lot of it is coming from  developing countries in crisis, "whether economic, political or humanitarian, which leads to a break down in law and order".

Demand is high for these stolen objects. Artifacts from these ancient civilizations are highly prized by collectors and museums, particularly those in developed countries. Billions of dollars are at stake here. 

Note that, demand is high even for STOLEN artefacts. Shockingly, Lehr suggests that "in Egypt alone, based on initial research, we have a conservative estimate of $2 billion dollars in looted antiquities since the January 2011 Revolution. The Syrian Ministry of Antiquities has estimated losses of a similar amount, $2 billion, since the start of their civil war".

I am a bit sceptical about (a) these valuations (I'd love to see the basis for the figures), but also (b) this whole "lost tourist revenue" argument. Yes, shiny gold hoards in British museum showcases are nice for tourists to gawp at. Nobody however is going to say, "let's get on a bus to Royston Vasey to see the museum which has got the Ecclestone jug!" The archaeology is just the icing on the cake, the gawp-worthy artefacts also.

Lehr suggests that there is a lot we can do about the problem of looting and cultural racketeering. First is by raising public awareness about the issue. The Capitol Archaeological Institute is running an initiative to do this. This has a two-pronged approach, at ground level in the source countries encouraging people to think about what they can do to protect heritage in their own communities, and helps "build capacity to protect archaeological sites in countries under attack from cultural racketeering". In addition to the obvious need for security, emphasis is placed on other "simple steps such as creating national inventories of all items excavated". They also hope to influence people of the market countries, to persuade those of a more responsible attitude to stop purchasing artefacts with unclear collecting histories, and to support cultural entrepreneurship, which will help protect the sites in the source countries. She suggests three ways in which everybody can help:

1. Learn more about the global issue of cultural racketeering.
2. Support programs in your own local communities as there are many archaeological sites without adequate protection even in the United States.
3. Give your support to the ongoing efforts of organizations like the CAI and its partners to further the research of these important issues.

I'd like to draw attention to the subtlety of the notion: "we encourage people to think about what they can do to protect heritage in their own communities, to stop purchasing artifacts with unclear [collecting history]. This is about bridging the artificial gap between "theirs and ours". Collectors ("who passionately care about the past") thinking about the problem of looting in their own backyard, and the people that are involved in the looting, surely cannot fail to look at looted items from foreign countries with a new idea. Collecting would lose its pretended/assumed "innocence". This is of course exactly the idea behind this blog.