26/10/2001
by Dorian Cara

The state of the world’s cultural heritage sites over the last 40 years was published in April 2001 by UNESCO. In its publication "Stop the art thieves!" UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage director Lyndel Prott, gives a detailed picture of the black market for stolen works of art and the millions of dollars spent on them. According to the report there has been an increase in the number of stolen works of art illegally introduced onto the international markets, with 199,377 cases reported last year. This figure is all the more serious when one considers that there were 909 reports in 1960. The money spent on illicit acquisitions has also risen. $ 3.8 million spent in 1960 rose to $ 4.56 million in 1990 and while the art market recession in the early 1990’s brought that figure down to $ 1.57, it increased to $ 2.87 million at the end of 2000.

A closer look at the history of this phenomenon also reveals that the theft of artworks has become increasingly widespread and indiscriminate, affecting historical, artistic and cultural heritage sites worldwide. Wars around the world have greatly exacerbated the problem with the dispersion of artistic treasures. Examples include Cambodia, with the loss of ruins and unearthing of sculptures dating from the 6^th century Khmer empire, much of it dug-up, destroyed or seriously damaged during the Cambodian-Vietnam war, 1979-1990. Similarly in Iraq, the empires of Accadi, Sumeri, Arsacidi and Sassanidi first plundered by the Ottoman Empire and more recently seized by local merchants during the war with Iran (1980-1989), lost further art treasures as a result of the Gulf War (1991).

There is no limit to the ends smugglers will go to find their treasures. Mechanical diggers have been used in Southern Italy, metal detectors at the archaeological area of Icklingham (UK), circular saws in Mexico to cut down Maya sculptures, and explosives on the Xisha islands in China to plunder heritage sites there. Other disturbing incidents include the destruction of the ancient Assyrian palace of Sennacherib in Ninive, ancient cemeteries in Jordan, and mutilations and subsequent sale on the art market of religious idols taken from Nepal and Buddhist chapels in Pakistan. A large part of the blame lies with collectors and a voracious art market that UNESCO is working hard to monitor and control. Police organisations around the world have pointed to the large number of criminal gangs using the illicit sale of works of art to fund drugs trafficking or to recycle or "launder" ill-gotten gains from art sales.

The UNESCO Convention of 1970, in cooperation with ICOM (International Council of Museums, www.icom.org) and the UNIDROIT (www.unidroit.org) set itself the goal of battling for the restitution and protection of world heritage sites. This is carried out through the cataloguing of listed sites and objects, regular monitoring of heritage zones under threat and the drafting of legal norms and regulations to control and regulate the art market.