"The National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul has
been looted and is missing a great part of its collection,
much of which has found its way into the art market".
much of which has found its way into the art market".
Surely not? At the conference 'Uniting to Save World Cultures: Investigating the Attributes of Successful Emergency Cultural Heritage Protection Interventions', Fahim Rahimi (Chief Curator, National Museum of Afghanistan) showed some photos of some objects he apparently said had been "looted from Afghan museum". Coincidentally what looks awfully like one of them was sold at Sotheby's the previous day"
Arts of the Islamic World 07 October 2015
"Exhibited Islamic Calligraphy: Sacred and Secular Writings, Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva, 26 May-2 October 1988; The Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, 1 December 1988 - 8 January 1989; The Zamana Gallery, London, 26 January - 26 March 1989; Museum Rietberg (Haus zum Kiel), Zurich, 20 April - 31 August 1989; The Jordan National Gallery, Amman, 13 September - 11 November 1989".
In any case, what is the point of a "red list" if examples of the sort of objects which are on it appear in reputable London auction houses with no more traces of attempts to legitimise them than "exhibited"?
2 comments:
Disgraceful. And the authorities will do what if this can be proven? Thanks for the quotes.
Well, first of all, let us see the evidence Rahmini can marshal. If is quickly demonstrated that there is a case to answer, I assume that all parties would probably prefer to deal with this quietly, without the involvement of any authorities.
Post a Comment