Seeking Common Ground: Digging for Answers

Heritage experts from government, academia and NGOs came together in Washington on April 17 at a workshop and public seminar to explore possible solutions to the critical issues surrounding protection of heritage in times of conflict. The conference, titled “Cultural Heritage: Conflict and Reconciliation” was held at the Smithsonian Castle and the Freer Gallery of Art and co-hosted by the Smithsonian and University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center.

The speakers identified concerns related to how best to work with the role of the military and law enforcement during times of conflict, how best to define the scope of illicit trafficking, and how best to coordinate among the three pillars of government, academia and NGOs in order to promote cooperation, not competition. While many of issues surfaced, no clear path was decided upon for moving forward and encouraging greater cooperation.

In the public portion of the program, David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group and Regent of the Smithsonian, moderated a distinguished panel including the event’s host, Smithsonian Under Secretary Richard Kurin, Mounir Bouchenaki, Director of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, Emily Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and George Papagiannis, the U.S. Representative of UNESCO.

The panelists all agree that the field is facing a crisis with the destruction and looting of heritage sites in the Middle East by extremists. And while action needs to be taken, it is a challenge even for major global organizations to help during times of active conflict. The discussion can be viewed here.

The interview was followed by a moderated discussion of the day’s themes that included Gil Stein, Director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, Maria Kouroupas, State Department Director of the Cultural Heritage Center, Patty Gerstenblith, Distinguished Professor of Law at DePaul University, Bill Ivey, former head of the National Endowment of the Arts and China Liaison for the American Folklore Society and Deborah Lehr, Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition. The moderator was Rob Albro, a Research Associate Professor at American University and Washington DC representative of the University of Chicago Cultural Policy Center.

The discussions focused on two key questions: is there a growing awareness of the need to protect heritage and how can we establish a better policy mechanism in the US to promote greater interagency cooperation and international outreach to address this growing challenge?

Overall, the discussants agreed that with the advent of extremism in the Middle East and the subsequent attacks against cultural heritage, there was increased awareness among policy makers internationally and the general public about antiquities looting, trafficking and destruction. There is still a need for those in the heritage field to come together to develop strategies of how best to support countries during times of crisis, and certainly how to execute those strategies.

The Antiquities Coalition (AC) was honored to be part of the overall discussion. Its themes provide an excellent foundation for an upcoming event hosted by the AC in Cairo. In cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt, The Middle East Institute, and UNESCO, the Antiquities Coalition will be co-hosting a conference in Cairo addressing “Culture Under Threat” May 13-14, 2015. You can find more information about the conference HERE. The Antiquities Coalition is dedicated to finding solutions to the threats of looting, trafficking and destruction that are facing cultural heritage today.

More Than Collateral Damage: The Systematic Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Yemen’s Civil War

Yemen

The current fight for Yemen’s future comes at a very high price for its citizens. Yemenis are suffering loss of life, loss of their homes and possessions, and a systematic loss and destruction of their rich and unique heritage. The protection of human life takes first priority in times of conflict, but the loss of Yemen’s culture and history is far from collateral damage. It is an irreplaceable resource, integral to Yemenis and part of the story we all share. And the fate of Yemen’s sites, objects, landscapes, and folkways are under threat caused by all out civil war.

What is at Risk?

Yemen is a country with a rich heritage and background. Called Arabia Felix or Arabia Eudaimon by the Romans and Greeks, (that’s Happy Arabia in English), the flourishing cities of South Arabia are mentioned several times in the Bible Today the area is mainly known as the legendary land of the Queen of Sheba, known locally as Bilqis, and her capital at Marib. In the 1st millennium BCE, South Arabia became home to four major kingdoms (Saba, Ma’in, Hadramaut, and the Qataban). Most of these kingdoms were involved in the trade of incense and other spices, leading to legendary wealth. Archaeological fieldwork uncovered traces of much older civilizations as well.

The province of Marib northwest of Yemen’s capital Sanaa has a multitude of sites including the ancient city of Sirwah, but also other imposing temples, mosques and residential buildings. The great dam, al ‘Arem, is an engineering masterpiece, and is featured on local currency as a sign of construction and prosperity. Construction of the first Marib dam began around 750 BCE. In later times, the dam height was increased to 45 feet with walls of 25 feet. The dam was designed to divert water into channels, which allowed the irrigation of 25,000 acres. Yemeni heritage professionals, with contributions from German colleagues, have long collaborated in the preservation of sites in the Marib region.

Yemen’s magnificent cultural and natural patrimony includes entire villages, a large number of museums, mausoleums, castles, churches, mosques, libraries, parks, and both land and underwater heritage sites. Entire camel cemeteries from the first millennium BCE have been identified. There is an extremely wide array of sites and intangible and tangible heritage traditions in Yemen and the islands in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean (Socotra).

By 2014, Yemen had four UNESCO World Heritage sites, while ten more sites and regions have been on the tentative list since 2002. South Arabian architects and artists produced extraordinary temple architectures, bronze-work and alabaster statues. There are exceptional collections of manuscripts and Korans kept in museums and libraries, information on some of which has been compiled in the recent international collaborative Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative (YMDI), and by European colleagues working in collaboration with Yemeni colleagues.

What’s Been Lost

During civil unrest in 1994, entire museums were emptied, showcases were broken and materials looted from Lahej/Hawta, Habilayn and the Wadi Beihan. Thousands of inscriptions, alabaster statues from graveyards and cemeteries, and manuscripts were sold into the black market by cultural racketeers.

A new heritage crisis developed after the toppling of Ali Abdullah Saleh, during the Arab Spring. A transitional period began in 2011 when citizens, particularly young people, protested on the streets against corruption and traditional political parties. In April 2012, Abdullah Awbal, then Yemeni Minister for Culture reported on looting and the illegal sales of cultural materials. Concerned officials have repeatedly stated that the country’s heritage is at risk of looting from specialized and highly trained groups, focused particularly on manuscripts and antiquities that can be easily moved. Limited local and international support and funding leads to a lack of security in some of the regional museums, as well as key heritage sites.

Many archaeological sites, especially prehistoric cemeteries, remain undiscovered or improperly documented, and are thus vulnerable. Losing more of the ornate sculptures that once adorned the sanctuaries and tomb complexes to further looting and trafficking would do irreparable harm to the future of South Arabia and to the loss of our common heritage.

The Situation Today

Interest in Yemeni antiquities and materials is in part due to the association of sites or personalities with biblical stories and Islamic traditions. The devastation of Yemen’s cultural heritage caused by the illicit trade in antiquities is among the most severe in the Arab-speaking world. Citizens driven by poverty and the interests of rich collectors destroy Yemen’s most valuable non-renewable resource.

With the advent of new conflict, Yemen’s cultural heritage is in grave danger. The combined crisis of a lack of security for heritage, a crippling economic situation and a battle for control of the country puts this region’s rich and unique history at severe risk. It is unfortunately following in the footsteps of other regions in the Middle East, including Iraq and Syria, where their precious heritage is being sold to the highest bidders in international markets. It is time for leaders in the region — and the international community — to come together protect Yemeni heritage in this time of crisis.

Cultural Property: Current Problems Meet Established Law

A Conference jointly presented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center, University of Pennsylvania

Thursday 26 March 2015 – Friday 27 March 2015

As the looting and destruction of archaeological sites and museums reaches unprecedented levels in Iraq and Syria — a crisis that Egypt, UNESCO, the Middle East Institute, and the Antiquities Coalition will be tackling head on in Cairo next month — the role of law in mitigating these atrocities has never been more significant.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation (LCCHP) explored this topic at their 6th annual conference, “Cultural Property: Current Problems Meet Established Law,” last week in Philadelphia. This event, graciously hosted by the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania, sought to address a wide range of heritage issues — from treasure hunting and underwater looting, to collecting ethics among museums, to emergency responses in times of conflict. The conference assembled a group of highly regarded speakers including lawyers, curators, archaeologists, scholars, and Antiquities Coalition Executive Director Tess Davis.

The first keynote address was given by Dr. Patty Gerstenblith, Distinguished Research Professor of Law at DePaul University, on the adequacy of US law, policy, and practice in preventing the looting and trafficking of antiquities. Dr. Gerstenblith surveyed the current state of the field, highlighting key cases in the courts, and illustrating the top legal tools for combatting cultural racketeering. The second keynote address was delivered by Dr. Mariano J. Aznar-Gomez of the University of Jaume I in Castellon, Spain and is legal expert on the protection of underwater cultural heritage for the Spanish Government. Dr. Aznar-Gomez investigated the compatibility of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) and the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001, demonstrating how policymakers can prevent underwater looting in accordance with both Conventions.

The other panels included topics such as archaeological site looting and the legal response from Cambodia to Iraq to Spain and beyond, both terrestrial and underwater. This was followed by a lunchtime discussion on collecting ethics and the museum response to the legal environment by three museum directors and senior curators. The discussion then turned to methods and responsibilities to due diligence in provenance research and finally to how the law may enable international support in the case of Syria.

The conference concluded on the note that criminal litigation, public awareness, and communication among those working in the heritage field are paramount in devising strategies to protect the world’s cultural heritage. It was also clear from the day's proceedings that such strategies are needed more now than ever, as the world's cultural heritage falls under increased attack from crime and conflict. Numerous speakers warned that the situation has reached crisis levels in the Middle East, with ISIS and other terrorist networks trafficking countless antiquities to fund their campaign, and destroying countless others for propaganda.

In response to this ongoing plunder, the Antiquities Coalition is partnering with the Arab Republic of Egypt, UNESCO, and the Middle East Institute to shut down ISIS funding from antiquities looting and trafficking. We will launch this initiative with an emergency conference in Cairo from May 13-14, 2015. Please stay tuned for more information about this 2015 Cairo Conference.

In the meantime, the Antiquities Coalition thanks the LCCHP and PCHC for last week's informative event, and looks forward to their future collaborations!