RETHINKING ANTIQUITIES: COLLECTING IN THE AGE OF ISIS
March 1, 2016
Lawyers and law students gathered at Cardozo School of Law to discuss current issues in antiquities law and the looting and trafficking of antiquities. The conference was hosted by the law school’s center for Fashion, Arts, Media and Entertainment law, or FAME Center. The event was one in a series of ongoing talks and conferences about the intersection of business and law in the creative industries of fashion, arts, media and entertainment. A panel of antiquities experts addressed concerns about the extent of looted objects entering the market from the Near East, the international response, and the status of current laws and policies.
Adjunct Professor Barbara Kolsun, a co-director of the FAME Center, welcomed the audience and introduced Samantha Anderson ’16, who organized the event along with Professor Jeanne Schroeder. Anderson, the managing and business editor of the Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, pointed out that reports of widespread looting and trafficking of antiquities from Iraq and Syria by ISIS have reached fever pitch, raising questions about the state of the relevant laws.
Panelists included Randall Hixenbaugh, owner of Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, New York-based antiquities dealer, and member of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art; James McAndrew, forensic specialist, Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP, and former head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, International Art and Antiquity Theft Investigations Program; William Pearlstein of Pearlstein & McCullough LLP, a New York-based art law firm and author of "White Paper: A Proposal to Reform U.S. Law and Policy Relating to the International Exchange of Cultural Property"; and
Gary Vikan, former director of The Walters Art Museum; Clinton appointee to the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee; and former Senior Associate for Byzantine Art, Dumbarton Oaks.
Moderator Judith Dobrzynski, a veteran arts journalist, started the discussion by observing that since ISIS’s rise, antiquity collecting has become deplored as a source of funding for the extremist group. Press reports put trafficking of looted antiquities at $6 billion dollars.
The panelists unanimously debunked these reports. McAndrew labeled the $6 billion figure “absurd,” a result of “paranoia” that simply served to “inflame” any rational discussion. He pointed out that any increase in imports of art objects over the past five years should not be equated to an increase in looted antiquities.
Hixenbaugh also proclaimed himself “astounded by the media’s outlandish claims.” The antiquities trade is one of the most heavily regulated, he stated, never topping more than $200 million annually. Furthermore, in Syria, at least, “all the goodies are out already,” legitimately reposing in museums in Damascus and the West. “There is no market now in the West,” he asserted.
The requirement to document legitimate ownership for objects dating back to at least 1970 has led to a deep mistrust of objects lacking such provenance. With exaggerated press reports of looted antiquities entering the market, “These days most museums don’t want Near Eastern objects, even with provenance,” Hixenbaugh said. “It’s bad press for them.”
Vikan stressed transparency in handling objects that lack provenance. Under revised guidelines by the Association of Art Museum Directors, museums are permitted to accept items without documentation, acting as so-called safe havens, but the acquisition must be published, the items must be exhibited on the Internet, and contact made with the country of origin. The accepting institution must also agree that potential claims for the item’s return can be made at any time.
Pearlstein described the tension among cultural nationalists, cultural internationalists, archaeologists, and private owners as a question of context. The U.S. has inconsistent policies regarding “unprovenanced” objects, with court decisions often at cross purposes with legislation. “The principles of comity ought to inform U.S. courts’ decisions on whether to enforce foreign laws,” he argued.
The FAME Center, through a collaboration among Cardozo’s faculty, industry leaders, and other institutions focused on the creative arts and entertainment businesses, provides unique insights into the intersection of law and business in the fashion, performing, and visual arts, entertainment, sports, industrial design, media, and film industries.