pr: Experts meet in Athens to discuss the return of cultural property

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Date: 	Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:50:55 +0530
From: 	ndllibrary <nd.library@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: 	ndllibrary <nd.library@xxxxxxxxxx>
Organization: 	UNESCO, New Delhi
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Please find attached Press Release no. 07/08.

Press Release no.  07/08
Experts meet in Athens to discuss the return of cultural property
Lawyers, museum professionals, archaeologists, academics and cultural 
property experts will meet in Athens, Greece*, on 17 and 18 March for an 
international conference on the “Return of Cultural Property to its 
Country of Origin.”
The conference, which is organised by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 
in cooperation with UNESCO, will be opened in the presence of H.E. 
Karolos Papoulias, President of the Hellenic Republic, by the Greek 
Minister of Culture, Michalis Liapis, the President of the General 
Conference of UNESCO, George Anastassopoulos and UNESCO’s Assistant 
Director-General for Culture, Françoise Rivière.

The conference participants will reflect upon and exchange experiences 
on the issue of the return of cultural property, examining several 
successful return cases, including: the Axum Obelisk from Italy to 
Ethiopia, the return of the Stone Birds of Great Zimbabwe from Germany 
to Zimbabwe, the return of human remains to the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal 
tribe of South Australia, the “Utimut” cooperation project for the 
return of cultural objects from Denmark to Greenland, the reunification 
of a Neo-Sumerian alabaster figure (cooperation project between the 
Louvre Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of New York) and the case of 
the ceremonial mask of the Kwakwaka'wakw people of Vancouver Island 
between the British Museum and Canada.

On the second day, four thematic workshops will debate:
• Ethical and Legal Aspects,
 • Mediation and Cultural Diplomacy,
 • Museums, Sites and Cultural Context
 • International Cooperation and Research.

Discussions will also take place on ways to strengthen the action of the 
Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural 
Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of 
Illicit Appropriation.

Established by UNESCO in 1978, the Intergovernmental Committee provides 
a framework for discussion and negotiation on the return or restitution 
of cultural property. The committee, composed of 22 elected member 
states, remains strictly advisory, establishing forums for debate and 
offering non-legally binding recommendations.

Proceedings will be published and made available for the 15th session of 
the Intergovernmental Committee, scheduled for June 2009. The return and 
restitution of cultural property will also be the theme of another 
meeting to be held in November this year in Seoul (Republic of Korea), 
where an extraordinary session of the Intergovernmental Committee will 
be held to mark its 30th anniversary.

* The New Acropolis Museum, 2-4 Makriyanni Str, 117 42, Athens Greece