No subject

originating in Italy were stolen, and only a third have been recovered. He
said his team of experts had also recouped nearly 700,000 illegally
excavated archaeological objects and had no reliable way of knowing how many
more had been looted.

During the same period, he said, nearly 10,000 books and manuscripts were
stolen, more than four times the amount that had been reported missing.
"Libraries didn't even know they were missing," he said. "It's a serious
problem." 

Clarice Pecori-Giraldi, the director general of Christie's Italian
operation, argued that the export law also inhibited the modern Italian art
market, "forcing us to sell and buy only among ourselves."

The difficulties some museums face in securing long-term loans from some
art-rich countries has also stirred resentment over such export laws. 

Add the concept of the universal museum and the debate becomes even more
complicated. Does a country that produced cultural property have the right
to it, or museum visitors around the world who get to appreciate it?

Despite the proliferation of national and international laws, policies and
ethical guidelines, some disputes remain intractable, some participants
noted, like the long standoff between Britain and Greece over the Parthenon
statues that Lord Elgin removed from the Acropolis two centuries ago.

Meanwhile, the looting of unpoliced sites remains a major problem. 

With the adoption of ethical acquisition guidelines, "I don't understand why
the sacking continues," said Abdoulaye Camara, director of the Museum of
African Art in Dakar, Senegal, and a member of the ethics committee of the
International Council of Museums. 

Still, he said, the museums' ethical guidelines were better than nothing.
"People criticize the codes as being too idealistic," he said, "but we have
to continue fighting for our patrimony." 

http://www.nytimes.com/