France returned 26 cultural relics looted during the colonial era to Benin. Britain returned cultural relics to Nigeria twice a week. The United States returned more than 17,000 looted cultural relics to Iraq. Are they model students and poor students?
The return of cultural relics from various countries to their homeland is difficult and long
◎Wu Bingcong
Returning cultural relics is a recent hot topic in the international cultural circle: In November this year, France returned 26 cultural relics to Benin. Hundreds of local people sang and danced at the airport, welcoming these cultural relics plundered by the French 129 years ago to their hometowns. .
Prior to this, the United States returned more than 17,000 looted cultural relics to Iraq.
Germany will also return a batch of cultural relics to Nigeria next year.
The return of cultural relics to their hometown made the local people rejoice, but for the former powers, it was a ideological change over and over again. Some people strongly supported it, and some Wang Gu even ignored it.
Behind the displacement of cultural relics, in addition to the historical reasons of war and colonization, there are also the real challenges of illegally stealing cultural relics and underground circulation, and urging these cultural relics to return to their homeland has always been the direction of the United Nations.
Countries are striving for the permanent return of cultural relics, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Even if they resort to legal means, they still need to go through a long wait and negotiation.
Moreover, the remains of ancient humans were once plundered and it was difficult to return home for many years. Therefore, letting human ancestors return home has become an important topic in the field of cultural relics return.
The cultural relics return boom is active and some people are entangled
Returning cultural relics is a hot topic recently, and the former powers such as France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany have all made the return list.
In this wave of cultural relics returning to the world, new trends in historical development and some countries’ reflections on war and colonial history have made returning cultural relics the mainstream. Governments and museums in various countries have a high degree of exposure, but they are embarrassed and hesitant. The sound followed.
CNN mentioned in a report on October 31 this year that the United Kingdom held two ceremonies within a week to return previously looted cultural relics to Nigeria: at Cambridge University, a bronze rooster statue was officially returned to the Nigerian National Museum and Monument Committee. The University of Aberdeen also sent back a sculpture depicting the head of the King of Benin.
The successive return actions have put pressure on large academic and cultural institutions such as the British Museum. Public opinion is calling on the British Museum to return more than 900 bronzes in their collection.
In a statement sent to CNN, the museum stated that the museum “understands and recognizes the importance of the return of cultural relics” and will continue to work to “share our collection as widely as possible”.
This statement is impeccable in terms of political correctness, but the words and sentences in it are worthy of consideration.
CNN believes that requesting the return of cultural relics in batches is disturbing for the museum. After all, the British Museum also houses other world-famous stolen cultural relics, such as a series of ancient sculptures looted from Athens-Parthenon marble. Relief.
In this regard, the "Voice of Germany" stated in the report that the collections of European museums are facing a major reshuffle. It is a difficult process for the former European powers to face history and initiate dialogue.
CNN reporter Luke McGee stated in the report that the British government believes that the British Museum is the best home for bronzes. Only here can more people appreciate these cultural relics and place the collection in large advanced museums in developed cities. Let them have the best maintenance conditions.
This argument was also refuted by some people, who thought it was extremely insulting, and they were completely immersed in the original British imperial thinking model.
"This logic shows that Nigeria is a poorer country and cannot properly keep the cultural relics stolen by the colonialists, even though Nigeria has a state-of-the-art museum waiting for them. This is a typical racist argument, that is, the United Kingdom It is an exquisite and most knowledgeable place." said Kirsinde Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University.
It is worth noting that in November this year, the 26 cultural relics returned by France to Benin were widely reported by the media from various countries. The return of the cultural relics was warmly welcomed by the people of Benin. A model student in the cultural circle.
French President Macron called for "the creation of conditions for the temporary or permanent return of African heritage to Africa" in a speech in November 2017.
On the official website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the policy advocacy article clearly pointed out the necessity of returning cultural relics.
"French public collections reflect French history, including colonial history. This has resulted in some cultural heritage in Africa being located outside of Africa, depriving African citizens of the opportunity to learn about its traditional culture."
After being aware of this problem, the French government hopes to return the cultural heritage belonging to Africa to its homeland, and take this opportunity to strengthen cultural heritage cooperation with all African countries, such as investing in heritage protection and formulating Short-term training plan, etc.
Helping cultural relics to return to their homeland and assisting in the cultural reconstruction of the former colony aroused public discussion.
Did the great powers sincerely repent and face history, or did they do face-saving projects to build the image of a powerful country?
For the mother country of cultural relics, the big countries do not simply return cultural relics to cover up the "dark history" of the past, but face up to the social problems derived from colonial history, which is more worthy of attention.
Promoting the return of cultural relics to their hometown, the United Nations has been in action
UNESCO has been committed to promoting the return of colonial cultural relics to their homeland for a long time. Therefore, it has issued three important conventions on the return and protection of cultural heritage.
As early as 1954, the "Convention for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Event of Armed Conflict" was published. The convention faced up to the looting of museums by the invading army during World War II and was committed to promoting the restoration of cultural relics stolen during the war.
In 1970, facing the international situation where more colonial countries gained independence, the "Convention on Methods for Prohibiting and Preventing the Illegal Import and Export of Cultural Heritage and the Illegal Transfer of Their Ownership" was promulgated, urging States parties to take measures to prohibit and prevent illegal trafficking in cultural heritage. .
This convention has far-reaching impact. So far, 141 countries have become parties, and the convention is considered to be fully in line with the UN's sustainable development goals.
In 1995, the "Convention on Stolen or Illegal Export of Cultural Relics" came out. On the basis of the previous convention, further detailed regulations were made for the return of stolen cultural relics and the return of illegally exported cultural relics.
So far, the laws and regulations against illegal trafficking in cultural heritage have been perfected.
The scope of this convention also includes unregistered and undeclared stolen cultural heritage, and stipulates that all stolen items must be returned.
On the road of promoting the return of cultural relics, if the United Nations is the "class teacher" who formulates conventions and coordinates the restitution affairs between countries, then the Netherlands is a model student in the final exam last year.
The report published on the official website of UNESCO praised the Dutch for actively reflecting on its colonial history and returning the dagger to Indonesia.
The report said that the Netherlands "dare to be the first in the world", among which the National Museum of World Culture has made the most outstanding contribution.
In 2014, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrew its funding for the Dutch Tropical Museum. It merged with the Museum of Ethnology and the African Museum to form the National Museum of World Culture.
At the moment when the museum is facing the whole group of changes, the cultural relics managers also began a deep reflection.
Steggin Schondwald, director of the National Museum of World Culture, said: “This crisis has sounded the alarm for all institutions, prompting us to question the colonial history of our country, and let us realize that there are differences in identity, control, power, We can ask many questions about inequality and decolonization."
Later in 2016, the English version of the doctoral dissertation "Entrusting Treasures to Trusted People: Negotiations to Determine the Future of Colonial Artifacts" published by researcher Jos Van Burden in English was an important part of the Dutch domestic issue of colonial art collection and retention. The discussion injected new momentum.
Driven by such academic trends, in 2017, the National Museum of World Culture in the Netherlands began to formulate the "Guidelines for the Return of Cultural Relics."
On March 7, 2019, the document titled "Returning Cultural Relics: Principles and Process" was made public.
The document stated that "the overall mission of the museum is to clarify the complicated, chaotic and long history that gave them the current collection."
At the same time, the document "commits to transparently handle and evaluate requirements for the return of cultural relics based on standards such as respect, cooperation, and timeliness."
The new policy of the National Museum of World Culture in the Netherlands on the return of cultural relics has received a positive response from the public, but the curator Schondwold still expressed concern that if the relevant policy for the return of cultural relics is formulated at the national level, it may trigger extreme right-wing groups. Dissatisfaction, and took the opportunity to incite nationalism.
Illegal traffic in cultural relics is the main cause of the displacement of cultural logistics in the new era
For decades, the UN’s initiatives and persuasion were not only to bring cultural relics home, but also to combat the rampant tomb robbery and the illegal sale of cultural relics.
On the table, government agencies and museums of various countries have begun to reflect on the history of colonization and war, and promote the return of cultural relics. However, the displacement of cultural logistics in the new era is a large number of underground transactions and illegal excavations.
In its propaganda article, UNESCO stated that since the 1970 Convention was published 51 years ago, UNESCO has been committed to making the public more aware of the risks inherent in illegal trafficking in cultural relics, and has assisted States parties in formulating laws and preventive measures to encourage Return the cultural heritage that has been illegally transferred.
In the autumn of 2019, two transnational pursuits of smuggled cultural relics were carried out under the cooperation of multiple parties. The World Customs Organization, the International Criminal Police Organization, Europol and the Spanish Special Police Team launched a coordinated attack.
The police seized coins, ancient weapons, ceramics, fossils and paintings from different historical periods in an international operation spanning more than 100 countries. In the Afghan customs at Kabul Airport alone, 971 Afghan cultural relics were intercepted.
In Madrid, Spain, some precious artifacts from the pre-Columbian period (before 1492) were seized, including a unique Tumaco golden mask.
The two transnational pursuits intercepted more than 19,000 archaeological cultural relics and other works of art. The large number of seized items allowed the public to understand that the illegal flow of cultural relics has been rampant in recent decades.
The lucrative art market has attracted unscrupulous participants. Mafia and terrorist organizations are increasingly involved in the illegal trafficking of cultural relics to launder money or raise funds for terrorist activities.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has also worsened the theft and smuggling of cultural relics. The team engaged in antique trafficking and heritage anthropology has noticed that the sale of stolen cultural relics on social media will make a comeback when the epidemic is at its worst in 2020. Among them are cultural relics from the Middle East and North Africa.
As a partner of UNESCO, research conducted by the research team prompted the Facebook platform to prohibit users from trading historical relics online.
Pursuing and suppressing cultural relic dealers and sending cultural relics home has always been a joint plan.
In August of this year, the United States returned more than 17,000 previously looted cultural relics to Iraq. CNN reported that this was the largest return of cultural relics to Iraq in history.
After all, “since the US invasion in 2003, a large amount of Iraq’s cultural heritage has been looted and sold.”
CNN concluded that in the past 20 years, wars and turmoil have caused thousands of cultural relics to be moved from Iraqi temples, archaeological sites and even museums and enter the international art market.
During the Iraqi Civil War from 2014 to 2017, relevant forces stole and smuggled many ancient cultural relics to finance their war operations.
In this way, the cultural heritage on the Mesopotamian plains unknowingly flowed to all parts of the world, some of which entered online trading sites, or tossed around several times, and finally appeared in some art auctions.
A cuneiform writing board engraved with "Epic of Gilgamesh" has a history of 3,500 years. It was imported into the United States through an antique dealer in 2003, but it was not declared in accordance with the law at that time.
Over the past ten years, this cultural relic changed hands many times and was eventually seized by the Judiciary from the Biblical Museum in Washington, DC. The Federal Court of New York ordered confiscation and included it in the list of cultural relics returned to Iraq.
"Institutional arrogance" has a long way for "ancestors to go home"
The "Archaeology and Contemporary Society" popular science website in the United Kingdom summarizes several possible ways to return cultural relics, including reclaiming the ownership of cultural relics through friendly negotiations, resorting to legal means to prevent the distribution of cultural relics, borrowing cultural relics to return to the country for exhibition, and purchasing through personal behavior Donate.
But no matter which path one looks at, it is a protracted battle for the home country of cultural relics.
"Los Angeles Times" recorded an influential cultural relics return event in 1993-when Greece used legal means for the first time to recover a batch of ancient jewellery relics from cultural relics dealers in New York.
This koan of cultural relics returning home has become a typical example of the earlier legal requirements for the return of cultural relics. However, whether Greece's request for the return of cultural relics has been extended, and whether cultural relic dealers can be attacked, the koan does not seem to give a clear answer.
In the village of Adonia in southern Greece, a 3500-year-old tomb was spotted by robbers. The gold jewellery, crowns and jewels in the tomb were transported out, and the nearby villages were used as circulation stations to gradually enter the markets of Munich and New York. .
After several rounds, this batch of documents was sold by a gallery merchant who was a scholar. Coincidentally, the scholar was working for the government's investigation team to prevent the smuggling of artworks.
In 1993, these treasures will be auctioned at the Michael Ward Gallery in Manhattan. After the news was reported by the local media, American experts familiar with Greek archaeology found out through the news that they must be lost Aidonia jewelry , Because its patterns are highly consistent with the collections in the museum.
Athens couldn't sit still after learning the news. The Greek government issued a notice to the gallery through a lawyer, stating that these cultural relics belong to Greece and please stop selling them and return them as soon as possible.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Greece is far from the first to make such a request from a country with a rich cultural heritage but an underdeveloped economy.
Prior to this, Thailand, Turkey and other countries had requested the United States to return cultural relics through the government, scholars, and public opinion.
However, in such disputes, it is very difficult to get cultural relics home.
Although the anti-smuggling laws of the home country of cultural relics have played a significant role in protecting the heritage of cultural relics, the relevant laws of wealthy collecting countries usually emphasize the protection of the free market and purchasers.
The Los Angeles Times report quoted Boston University scholar Elia as saying: "These smuggled cultural relics were illegal at the beginning of circulation in the country of origin (such as Greece), but they were eventually legalized through money laundering procedures."
In the Adonia jewelry case, Michael Ward Gallery initially denied the allegations and refused to return the jewelry, and Greece immediately filed a lawsuit.
As the pre-trial investigation proceeded, the gallery proposed a new reconciliation method: donate the jewelry to the non-profit charitable organization "Hellenic Heritage Protection Association", and then the charity will freely return the jewelry to Greece.
However, even if the cultural relics were returned, the gallery still told the media that those jewels were not stolen.
For galleries, social donations are a good way to preserve their reputation and avoid economic losses. Galleries can avoid the potential embarrassment of returning jewellery directly to Greece, and they can also get about $150,000 in tax deductions through donations, thereby offsetting them. The purchase price of this batch of jewellery.
For Greece, the out-of-court settlement is mixed.
Greek officials said they were happy to get the jewelry back, but because there was no formal trial in court, they lost the only opportunity to understand how Adonia's jewelry flowed into New York.
The "Archaeology and Contemporary Society" website believes that the strict requirements of various countries for the return of their own cultural relics are related to four levels: First, after the end of war and colonial history, cultural relics are the core part of the formation of a new sovereign state identity.
Second, countries use their cultural heritage to tell their own wonderful stories and build a national cultural image.
In addition, having cultural treasures can support the tourism industry and promote the sustainable development of the economy.
Finally, it is a matter of dignity to get back what belongs to you.
Among the various cultural relics recovered, the remains of human ancestors are more unique.
For the early colonists and scientists, the remains were "artificial relics" for textual research on ancient society and culture, but for some people, they were just ancestors far away from their homeland.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said in a 2020 report that "returning the human body" is still an important issue in 2020, and people around the world are still fighting for the return of ancestral remains.
In 2020, the academic conference held by the University of British Columbia in Canada provides an opportunity for aboriginal people from all over the world. The main theme of the conference is to discuss the return of their cultural relics and ancestral remains.
Indigenous peoples from Canada, the United States, Nicaragua and New Zealand participated in the meeting.
In the meeting, the New Zealand team leader Hriwini said: "Unfortunately, cultural relics and human remains were taken from the sacred treasure house by the invaders, and value enhancement and circulation transactions were carried out through colonial museums around the world." In New Zealand, plundering The incident of ancestral remains and cultural relics occurred in the 1860s, but more than 150 years later, due to "institutional arrogance", this is still a legacy problem.
"Institutions and museums around the world do not recognize the right of indigenous people to retrieve their own cultural heritage and ancestral remains. These institutions still believe that they are the owners of these ancestral remains."
With all efforts, the long journey of "ancestors going home" finally ushered in a turning point.
In the Anthropology Museum of the University of British Columbia, the organizer of this conference, the remains of the aboriginal ancestors are collected. After the formalities, the cultural relics of the residents and the remains of ancestors will be restored reasonably.