The illicit antiquities trade

The illicit antiquities trade

Thought to be one of the largest illegal businesses in the world, the black-market antiquities trade stretches from local bands of thieves to larger gangs of looters and international networks to dealers and auction houses in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. Nearly impossible to quantify, the market is estimated to be as much as $4 billion a year, according to Interpol.

Looted goods typically are smuggled across borders and change hands many times, making their origins murky by the time they reach their ultimate destination: a museum or, far more often, the hands of a private collector. Along the way, an illicit item often acquires a fictitious ownership history, or provenance, provided by a dealer or middleman with some knowledge of art history or archaeology. Falsified documents, created to prove authenticity and provide assurance that the item has not been looted, are rarely questioned.

In spite of attempts at tighter control from law enforcement agencies around the globe, the illegal trade persists, fueled by ever developing technological and market advancements. For instance, Internet auction sites have provided a hard-to-control forum for the illicit trade. Advanced technology, such as ground-penetrating radar and metal detectors, has given looters better tools with which to locate. Exploitation of sites using high-tech methods, particularly in Asia and Africa, is booming.

To those who argue that the illicit trade brings economic benefit to hard-pressed local communities, the reality is quite different. According to Stealing History: The Illicit Trade in Cultural Material, “a fossil turtle bought from its finder in Brazil for $10 fetched $16,000 in Europe.…Once commodified on the Western market, objects continue to circulate for years, perhaps centuries, generating money in transaction after transaction. None of this money goes to the original finders or owners or their descendants.…if culture is regarded as an economic resource, then selling it abroad is a poor strategy of exploitation. Cultural heritage is, after all, a non-renewable resource.”

UNI New Delhi Sept 6: Terming trafficking in cultural property a “seamless trade” and pegging its value at US $6 billion annually, a high-profile United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation meet here today revealed that it was next only to narcotics trade worth $7 billion.“Trafficking in cultural property has assumed the dimensions of a seamless trade as drug cartels peddle art objects for ploughing the huge monetary gains in their narcotics trade and also for arms dealings,” Dr A Galla, vice-president of World Council of Museums, told the UNESCO’s workshop for the Asia-Pacific region on ‘illicit trafficking of cultural property’.

Dr Galla said the nefarious trade in art objects had transcended the national and regional boundaries to emerge as an international phenomenon, and could be effectively curbed only through collaborative international ventures.“The 1954 Hague convention on the subject is extremely euro-centric and does not address the concern of asian nations whose priceless cultural heritage continues to be trafficked in western markets,” he pointed out.

Arguing that the unbridled trafficking of art objects would be difficult to be curbed through archaic laws, Dr Galla, who teaches at the Canberra University, said India, being projected as an emerging superpower, should join hands with countries like Brazil and South Africa to counter the hegemonist trade of the western powers.

The four-day brainstorming meet is being attended by representatives from countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, France, Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Malaysia.

Legal experts and officials from Interpol, the Central Bureau of Investigation and customs are also attending the seminar, which is expected to chalk out a blueprint to better fight the reprehensible phenomenon of illicit trafficking of cultural objects.

The Culture Minister, Mr S Jaipal Reddy, who was to launch the meet, could not do so because of some pressing engagements.

The culture secretary, Ms Neena Ranjan said barring the UNIDROIT, India had signed most of the UN conventions on prevention of trafficking in cultural objects.

“We have also enacted the Antiquities Act, but experience has shown that it lacks adequate teeth,” she said, adding that the government was planning to amend the law.

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