Harnessing the Power of Cultural Heritage: Museums’ Responsibility in Combating the Illicit trade in Antiquities
Date：2023-05-31
Deborah Lehr, Chairman and Founder of the Antiquities Coalition, commended the China-Europe-America Museums Cooperation Initiative in the opening ceremony of its third dialogue for addressing the illicit trade in antiquities. She emphasized the power of cultural heritage to unite people and called upon museums to promote responsible cultural exchange, lawful collecting and trade, and repatriation. Lehr acknowledged the need for museums to regain public trust and provided five recommendations, including understanding the problem, launching awareness campaigns, strengthening best practices, capacity building, and committing to ongoing action. She concluded by highlighting the importance of international collaboration in safeguarding cultural heritage.
Debora Lehr is an accomplished global business strategist who has supported leading global firms and organizations to grow their presence in the world’s most complex markets. Deborah has applied her business acumen and policy knowledge to launch the Antiquities Coalition, which works with governments across the world to fight against antiquities trafficking and its use in funding terrorism and organized crime. She is on the Board of the World Monuments Fund, the Middle East Institute, the International Advisory Board of the London School of Economics, and the Sesame Workshop Global Advisory Board. Deborah is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. UNESCO has nominated Deborah as one of its inaugural list of accomplished global women. She also received the prestigious Hadrian Award from the World Monument Fund for her work in fighting the illicit trade in antiquities.
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Full text of the speech
Hello, it is a pleasure again to join this important international event and stand alongside such globally recognized leaders in business, culture, and government. My deep appreciation goes out to David Gosset for convening this important group together, and ensuring that the focus remains on a very pressing cultural, financial, and national security issue—the illicit trade in antiquities.
My name is Deborah Lehr. I am Chairman and Founder of the Antiquities Coalition, an organization dedicated to fighting the illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts, while promoting responsible cultural exchange.
Given our mission, we are delighted that the China-Europe-America Museums Cooperation Initiative is focusing this year’s program on how museums can foster dialogue between civilizations.
Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has recognized that cultural, historic, and religious treasures have a special significance. For this reason, over millennia of conquests, countless marauding armies have targeted art and sacred relics as spoils of war, while the greatest rulers have safeguarded them for future generations. Even in our modern times, few tragedies have united the world in grief and resolve like the Taliban’s dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas, or as we’ve watched, as Notre Dame burned.
This potential to bring people together across borders, faiths, and languages can make cultural heritage a noble means for the greater good. And in today’s increasingly polarized world, it is needed more than ever.
Museums have a unique ability—and I would say responsibility—to harness the power of cultural heritage. Responsible cultural exchange can foster mutual understanding, appreciation, and—much needed in today’s world—respect. The lawful and ethical collecting and trade in antiquities can do the same, so long as it does not harm local communities, disrupt the historical record, or fund crime, conflict, or violent extremism. Finally, repatriation can serve as a bridge between cultures, and moreover, an opportunity to right past wrongs. We’ve seen that here in the United States, as we’ve been over the past 3 to 4 years repatriating numerous looted antiquities back to the Middle East. This is served as an opportunity for the United States to show how it respects the culture of those ancient civilizations.
Today we mark International Museum Day. Every year on this date since 1977, the global community has come together to raise awareness that “museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.” In recent years, ICOM has shared this message with nearly 100 million people around the world—a number that the China-Europe-America Global Initiative is proud to add to today.
The China-Europe-American Global Initiative is in an unparalleled position to further this conversation. Taken together, these three regions include an overwhelming majority of the world’s museums. It is crucial that we stand together not only to promote our cultural institutions—but also to support their work to protect our shared cultural heritage.
The Antiquities Coalition is grateful for the role museums have played—and continued to play—in global efforts to combat the illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts. The museum’s leadership, particularly through ICOM, has been instrumental in strengthening international law. We see just one example in the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property—still the foremost treaty on the trade and cultural products today. And we see many other examples in the expansion of museum ethical standards and guidelines for the acquisition, collection, display, and repatriation of stolen art and looted antiquities. These have been critical in raising the bar for the entire art market.
We must, however, likewise acknowledge that much work still remains to be done on this front. Museums are facing increased scrutiny from varied sources, such as law enforcement, journalists, activists, and sometimes even comedians like our talk show hosts here in the United States, Trevor Noah and John Oliver, who had produced very meaningful and insightful pieces on the illicit trade in antiquities. In recent years, police probes spanning numerous countries have seized dozens of suspect antiquities, alleging they were products of looting, trafficking, and even fraud. Even worse, some museum officials have been implicated in these investigations, for negligent behavior at best, and what may be criminal behavior at worst.
These bad examples are by far the exception. But, unfortunately, so long as they continue to make headlines, they will continue to harm the museum community, and more importantly, the essential work that museums are doing to foster international dialogue and safeguard cultural heritage. It is critical that museums take steps to regain public trust.
Thankfully there is much that can be done. Here are just five recommendations, drawing from best practices from some of our organization’s very important museum partners, as well as steps that we have seen that have succeeded in other sectors. We believe that any one of these could have a significant impact and all of them are reasonable and viable.
l First, it’s important to understand the problem. The museum community, due both to its unmatched expertise, as well as its unique situation, can help answer questions that no others can. There is a real need to report suspicious activity to relevant authorities when permitted by law. Your museums see a lot in the trade and no one else sees.
l Second, consider launching an awareness campaign. As educational institutions, museums have a very powerful platform to help policymakers, the art market, and the general public better understand the threats that come from cultural racketeering and how we can work together to fight against it. We share the same goal. We want a legitimate trade through exhibitions, lectures, and other programming. This outreach could reach a very wide audience.
l Third, consider strengthening best practices. Many of the ethical guidelines, national laws, and international treaties that we rely upon to combat the illicit trade are decades old. They don’t reflect the modern world, particularly the digital world. It is time to upgrade our strategies, just as criminals have updated theirs so that we can protect our cultural heritage and the legitimate art market. Museums are very well positioned to be on the forefront of this effort.
l Fourth, we all need capacity building. Training in provenance research and authentication, as well as having dedicated museum staff to research acquisitions and object history, can make a significant difference. The digital world opens up so many possibilities for this research now. And as current cases demonstrate, such steps are also needed to protect institutions not only from unethical behavior, but increasingly, from criminal liability.
l Fifth, commit to continuing action. Today’s gathering sends another strong signal that the international community is prepared to come together in continuing to develop the political will that we have seen exhibited through the G7, through the G20, through other leading heads of state organizations to safeguard our shared heritage from criminals.
Together, we can do amazing things. The Antiquities Coalition—and the diverse group of experts that it brings together—are at your service as you continue to do this important work. Thanks to all of you for your continued leadership, for your interest in how to resolve this really pressing issue and this opportunity to participate in today’s very important event. I wish you all the best of luck and hope that many good things come out of it. Thank you.
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