Ethics of Acquiring Cultural Heritage Objects

“Conference participants will examine, from a multitude of perspectives,
ethical matters related to systems and networks of trade in conflict antiquities,
policies and practices of protection, rightful stewardship, repatriation, and
digitally and artistically re-imaged cultural heritage sites and objects.

The conference provides an opportunity to parse the many intertwined
layers related to cultural heritage and its ethical treatment.”  

Ethics of Acquiring Cultural Heritage Objects focus of W and L conference Published Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017,

Neil Brodie, senior research fellow in Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa at the University of Oxford, is the keynote speaker for the Mudd Center for Ethics’ interdisciplinary conference on “The Ethics of Acquiring Cultural Heritage Objects” at Washington and Lee University. Brodie’s lecture will kick off the conference on March 2 at 5 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons. He will speak on “Controlling the Globalized Market in Cultural Object: Closing the Gap Between Law and Ethics.” His talk is free and open to the public. [...]  “International regulatory policy aimed at protecting cultural heritage seems to be floundering,” said Brodie. “Whether taken remotely by satellites or close-up with cell phones, images of looted landscapes in Syria tell the same story – widespread destruction of cultural heritage is an ever-present accompaniment to conflict and is out of control. The carefully worked out systems of legal and normative regulation developed since the middle years of the 20th century seem unable to cope, overwhelmed by the liquid reality of the twenty-first century market.”[...] The March 3 conference on the “Ethics of Acquiring Cultural Heritage Objects” will look at the ethical and cultural heritage concerns surrounding the looting and trafficking of art objects in the Middle East, South Asia and the West.