Guest Speech｜Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition
Date：2022-06-07
Speech by Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition
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Hello. My name is Tess Davis. I am the Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition. Our organization is dedicated to combating the illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts, while promoting responsible cultural exchange. We are business leaders, former government officials, archaeologists, lawyers, and others who are committed to preserving our shared heritage. In this mission, we have joined forces with a wide range of partners, including governments, law enforcement, intergovernmental organizations, museums, and art market leaders.
We thank one of these partners—the China-Europe-America Museums Cooperation Initiative—for convening this important dialogue on protecting cultural heritage in the world’s largest art markets. Yet, as we’ve heard from the distinguished speakers so far, despite ground-breaking successes across our continents, looting and trafficking continue to threaten cultural heritage while funding crime, conflict, and even terrorism. It is easier than ever to hawk stolen artifacts due to technological advances like global express shipping, instantaneous money transfers, and social media. And while no corner of the world is spared by these tomb raiders and art smugglers, as we’ve seen from recent law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, the Asia and the Pacific region is under particular attack.
The world’s museums have a unique opportunity—and also responsibility—to fight back. And, as this event demonstrates, many are meeting this challenge head on. Museums across China, Europe, and America are stepping up and using their platforms to safeguard our past for future generations.
The Asia Pacific’s art market—as the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing—also has an unparalleled opportunity to set the global ethical standard for the 21st century. There is no need to limit guidelines to those created for Western fine art fifty or even twenty years ago. And the region is in a unique position to reach beyond the art world to the wider private sector—to appraisers, conservators, shippers, free ports, attorneys, and, of course, the tech industry—in developing cross-sector and international best practices.
In recent years, there have been countless positive examples from the region to which we can point, demonstrating how museums and the art market are assuming leadership roles.
Given time is short, I will provide with just two, both from the Kingdom of Cambodia, where I have had the honor of working over the last two decades. In Cambodia, which is rightfully celebrated for its temple of Angkor Wat, fighting erupted in 1970 and was followed by decades of civil war. As we are seeing now in hotspots around the world, this conflict triggered organized antiquities looting and trafficking, which then bankrolled further violence. However, Cambodia survived these dark years, with its rich culture and its history battered but unbroken, and today is coming back stronger than ever. It has launched an international—and ongoing—effort to bring home its plundered past through public appeals and legal action. And it has had great success, as others are discussing in today’s program, realizing some of the largest recoveries of stolen art since the Second World War.
In a testament to Cambodia’s leadership, it has treated this campaign not as a clash, but as an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with museums and the wider art world. The first example.
Many joining us today may remember when the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts repatriated a statue fragment to the Cleveland Museum of Art in the United States. Yes, you heard me right. Cleveland had first sent the piece (a larger than life hand) to Cambodia believing it was part of a statue then being restored by the National Museum in Phnom Penh. Subsequent analysis showed it was actually part of another statue still in Cleveland. The National Museum sent the hand back to Cleveland to make the statue whole and share this great work of Khmer art with the American people.
Another example involves the art market. Following a voluntary repatriation from Christie’s Auction House to Cambodia, of a masterpiece that had been looted in the chaos leading up to the Killing Fields, Christie’s organized an auction in Phnom Penh that showcased contemporary pieces. It then donated proceeds to local arts organizations. So instead of further encouraging a market for looted antiquities, it encouraged a new generation of Cambodian artists. Obviously, Christie’s is not a charity, but while it may not have financially profited from that sale, it did position itself well to become a leading seller of modern Khmer art. A market that is exploding internationally due to the great talent of the country’s artists. This is an example not just of international cooperation but the fact that good ethics can be good business.
Again, these are just two examples of what is possible, but I think they shine the light on a way forward, that will help to protect our shared cultural heritage, while increasing responsible cultural exchange between China, Europe, and the United States. I look forward to hearing many other examples from the other speakers today. Thank you all for your time, the opportunity to share our thoughts, and for all the important work that everyone involved in this program is doing.
