Keynote Speech｜Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, 2009 – 2017
Date：2022-05-30
Keynote Speech by Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, 2009 – 2017
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Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, let me say how happy I am to be again with you to continue, after the very successful launch last year of the China-Europe-America Museums Cooperation Initiative, the debate about the role of museums in society, just a day after the International Day of Museums celebrated for the last 40 years every day on the 18th of May.
Let me congratulate all the partners from all over the world for supporting this auspicious initiative that holds the key to many of the challenges today.
This year, the International Council of Museums invited us to explore the potential museums to bring about positive change through three lenses: the power to achieve sustainability as museums are strategic partners in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals until 2030, the power of community building through education and lifelong learning for all, and the power of innovating on digitalization and accessibility.
These are all important goals, and they all go along with the first ever recommendation specifically related to the world of museums that was adopted in 2015 by UNESCO - the Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society.
Last year, at the launch of this initiative, I spoke about the main functions of a museum, namely preservation, research, communication, and education. I did mention also an important aspect of museums standing at the crossroads of several social challenges today as a source of jobs and revenues at the heart of the creative economy, fostering a sense of belonging and social cohesion, and as key drivers of international cooperation.
Today, I would like to emphasize another critical aspect of museums. They are also on the front line of the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property, and sometimes are primary targets in times of conflict. As stated by ICOM, every day, somewhere in the world, an object is either stolen or looted in order to be illegally sold on the market. Illicit trafficking in art and cultural property has become a serious issue over the last 30 years. Trafficking in cultural goods can take different forms ranging from theft from cultural heritage institutions or private collections, through looting of archaeological sites, to the displacement of artifacts due to conflict and war.
But the result is always the impoverishment of the countries of origin of these treasures and irreparable damage to the common cultural heritage of humanity. This strait is often linked to organized crime, money laundering and terrorism.
There is another important UNESCO legally binding document that I would like to invoke whose implementation needs to be strengthened - the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, whose Article 3 is very clear - "The import, export or transfer of ownership of cultural property effected contrary to the provisions adopted under this Convention by the States Parties thereto, shall be illicit."
There are many aspects that need to be discussed, the developing of public campaign platforms, the establishing of study and training programs, sometimes to introduce school curricula, to establish a public provenance systematically, to digitize and make available art market publications. Transparency over the register of archaeological objects is also a key to the implementation of the Convention.
I'm sure that you will take up many of these issues, because illicit trade in cultural goods is international in nature and requires an international response. International cooperation is, therefore, the most efficient means of protecting world's cultural property. Theft, looting, smuggling is a denial of the history of peoples. They hurt societies over the long term, weakening collective memories, transforming cultural goods into mere commodities. We should not let this happen.
I wish you a great success in today's conference and looking forward to your recommendation. Thank you for your attention.
