Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T18:41:20.580Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Photography in the Protection, Identification, and Recovery of Cultural Heritage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2012

Eleanor Mattern
Eleanor Mattern
Affiliation:
School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Email: emm100@pitt.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the study surrounding documentation and the illicit trade in cultural property by examining the uses of photography by the international community. Popular and academic literature, news reports, and online databases reveal three primary and interconnected relationships that exist between photography and the trade of cultural heritage. This article presents photography as, first, an aid for the protection and identification of cultural heritage and, second, as a form of evidence to support an ownership claim by a country calling for repatriation.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , May 2012 , pp. 133 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alderman, Kimberly L. “The Ethical Trade in Cultural Property: Ethics and Law in the Antiquity Auction Industry.” ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law 14, no. 3, (2008): 2–22.Google Scholar
Askerud, Pernille, and Clément, Etienne. Preventing the Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property: A Resource Handbook for the Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Paris: UNESCO, 1997. ⟨http://unesdoc.unesco.org/Ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=118783&set=4E14806F_3_46&gp=0&lin=1&ll=1⟩ accessed 20 June 2011.Google Scholar
Atwood, Roger. Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Berger, John. “The Ambiguity of the Photograph.” In The Anthropology of Media: A Reader, edited by Askew, Kelly and Wilk, Richard R., 47–55. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.Google Scholar
Borodkin, Lisa J. “The Economics of Antiquities Looting and a Proposed Legal Alternative.” Columbia Law Review 95, no. 2 (1995): 377–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brodie, Neil, Doole, Jenny, and Watson, Peter. Stealing History: The Illicit Trade in Cultural Material. Cambridge: The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2000. ⟨www.stanford.edu/group/chr/stealinghistory.pdf⟩ accessed 20 January 2012.Google Scholar
Buckland, Michael K. “Information as Thing.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 42, no. 5 (1991): 351–360.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckland, Michael K. “What Is a ‘Document’?” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 48, no. 9 (1997): 804–809.3.0.CO;2-V>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, Rodney G. S. “‘Ocular Proof’: Photographs as Legal Evidence.” Archivaria 69 (2010): 23–47.Google Scholar
Durney, Mark. “How an Art Theft's Publicity and Documentation Can Impact the Stolen Object's Recovery Rate.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 27, no. 4 (2011): 438–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durrani, Anayat. “What Happened to Object ID, Part II: Examining the Use of Object ID Since its Inception.” Fine Arts Registry web site: ⟨http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/durrani_anayat/art-history-object-id2.php⟩ (2 May 2007) accessed 28 January 2012.Google Scholar
Eyo, Ekpo Okpo. “A Threat to National Art Treasures.” In Preventing the Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property: A Resource Handbook for the Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, Section 2, edited by Askerud, Pernille and Clément, Etienne, 15–20. Paris: UNESCO, 1997.Google Scholar
Felch, David, and Frammolino, Ralph. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.Google Scholar
Gill, David, and Chippendale, Christopher. “From Malibu to Rome: Further Developments on the Return of Antiquities.” International Journal of Cultural Property 14 (2005): 205–240.Google Scholar
Gill, David. “From Boston to Rome: Reflections on Returning Antiquities.” International Journal of Cultural Property 13 (2006): 311–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, John B. “The UNESCO Convention on the Illicit Movement of Art Treasures.” Harvard International Law Journal 12 (1971): 537–556.Google Scholar
Green, Christine L. “Antiquities Trafficking in Modern Times: How Italian Skullduggery will Affect United States Museums.” Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal 14 (2007): 35–76.Google Scholar
Hoving, Thomas. False Impressions: The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.Google Scholar
J. Paul Getty Museum. “Policy Statement: Acquisitions by the J. Paul Getty Museum.” ⟨www.getty.edu/about/governance/pdfs/acquisitions_policy.pdf⟩ (October 23, 2006) accessed 23 January 2012.Google Scholar
J. Paul Getty Trust. “Italian Ministry of Culture and the J. Paul Getty Museum Sign Agreement in Rome.” ⟨http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/italy_getty_joint_statement_080107.html⟩ (1 August 2007) accessed 22 July 2011.Google Scholar
Kaye, Lawrence M. “Avoidance and Resolution of Cultural Heritage Disputes: Recovery of Art Looted During the Holocaust.” Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution 14 (2006): 243–268.Google Scholar
Kind, Karl-Heinz. “The Role of INTERPOL in the Fight against the Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property.” In Crime in the Art and Antiquities World, edited by Manacorda, Stefano and Chappell, Duncan, 175–81. New York: Springer, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowenthal, Constance. “The Role of IFAR and the Art Loss Register in the Repatriation of Cultural Property.” University of British Columbia Law Review: 1995 Special Edition (1995): 309–314.Google Scholar
Malaro, Marie C.A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1998.Google Scholar
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, “Acquisitions and Provenance Policy.” ⟨http://www.mfa.org/collections/art-past/acquisitions-and-provenance-policy⟩ accessed 23 January 2012.Google Scholar
Park, Sue. “The Cultural Property Regime in Italy: An Industrialized Source Nation's Difficulties in Retaining and Recovering Its Antiquities.” University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law 23 (2002): 931–954.Google Scholar
Phuong, Catherine. “The Protection of Iraqi Cultural Property.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 53, no. 4 (2004): 985–998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rapley, Vernon. “The Metropolitan Police's Art and Antiques Unit.” In The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq, edited by Stone, Peter G. and Bajjal, Joanne Farchakh, 55–64. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Robertson, Craig. The Passport in America: The History of a Document. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Joan M. “‘We Make Our Tools and Our Tools Make Us’: Lessons from Photographs for the Practice, Politics, and Poetics of Diplomatics.” Archivaria 40 (1995): 40–74.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Joan M. “‘Records of Simple Truth and Precision’: Photography, Archives, and the Illusion of Control.” Archivaria 50 (2000): 1–40.Google Scholar
Silver, Vernon. The Lost Chalice: The Epic Hunt for a Priceless Masterpiece. New York: HarperCollins, 2009.Google Scholar
Slayman, Andrew. “Recent Cases of Repatriation of Antiquities to Italy from the United States.” International Journal of Cultural Property 7, no. 2 (1998): 456–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Helena. “Greece Expands Antiquities Pursuit.” ART News, February 2007: 66.Google Scholar
Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973.Google Scholar
Thornes, Robin. Protecting Cultural Objects in the Global Information Society: The Making of Object ID. 1997. ⟨http://archives.icom.museum/object-id/final/index.html⟩ accessed 1 July 2011.Google Scholar
Thornes, Robin. Introduction to Object ID: Guidelines for Making Records that Describe Art, Antiques, and Antiquities. Los Angeles: Getty Information Institute, 1999.Google Scholar
Truslow, Frederic J. “Putting the IFAR Cuzco Inventory to Work.” In Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice, edited by Hoffman, Barbara T., 109–113. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
UNESCO. “Proposals for the Implementation of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,” General Conference, 22nd Session, 1983. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html#MONITORING accessed 21 January 2012.Google Scholar
UNESCO. “Implementation of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970): Reports by Member States and other States Parties on the Action they have Taken to Implement the Convention.” General Conference, 32nd Session, 2003. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html#MONITORING accessed 21 January 2011.Google Scholar
UNESCO International Standards Section Division of Cultural Heritage. “Legal and Practical Measures Against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property,” 2006. ⟨http://archives.icom.museum/object-id/publications.html⟩ accessed 17 July 2011.Google Scholar
Watson, Peter, and Todeschini, Cecilia. The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities—From Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museums. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006.Google Scholar
Waxman, Sharon. Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World. New York: Times Books, 2008.Google Scholar
“Who Owns Culture? Cultural Property and Patrimony Disputes in an Age Without Borders.” In Proceedings Held at Columbia University from April 15 to April 17, 1999, edited by Michael Janeway and András Szántó. New York: National Arts Journalism Program, 2001.Google Scholar