UN Official Discusses Restitution of Cultural Property
Guido Carducci, Chief of the International Standards Section of UNESCO,
addressed the role of law and ethics in the return of stolen or "discovered"
art and heritage objects at a luncheon March 9 sponsored by the Global
Leadership and Ethics Program of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Carducci, a lawyer, works with the Division of Cultural Heritage at UNESCO.
He covered:
- The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event
of Armed Conflict: Adopted at The Hague in 1954 in the wake of the massive
destruction of cultural heritage during the Second World War, this was
the first international agreement focusing exclusively on the protection
of cultural heritage.
- Recent legal conventions increasingly requiring the return of stolen
art.
- Underwater Cultural Heritage: Historical wrecks—including vessels,
aircraft, other vehicles and their cargo—make up the greater part
of underwater cultural heritage.
- Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage including oral tradition,
music, lost history, know-how, etc. Globalization is one of the causes
for the loss of intangible cultural heritage.
- Threat to tangible heritage including environmental deterioration,
tourists, theft, illicit usage, smuggling.
For more information on these organizations, visit the
UNESCO website.
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