National Museum of Afghanistan welcomes return of looted treasures

The National Museum of Afghanistan has seen the return of 843 heritage objects including items recovered in 3 separate seizures of smuggled artefacts by the UK Border Force and another group from other investigations by the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police.

A precious cargo

The precious cargo, weighing just over two tonnes, left RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire on the 12 July 2012 after the British Museum and the Royal Air Force worked together to make the historic repatriation possible.

Travelling onboard a C17 transport aircraft, the material was first transported to Camp Bastion, the main military base in Helmand. After a short stop, it took off again on the second leg of the journey, on a C130 Hercules aircraft, to Kabul.

These objects were identified as originating in Afghanistan by the British Museum and were stored there for safekeeping and recording until their return to Kabul.

Additional objects were saved by private individuals which included exquisite examples of the Begram Ivories, which were featured in the exhibition Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World in 2011 and an important sculpture of Buddha. Both these priceless treasures were stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan during the civil war (1992-1994) and found their way onto the black market.

Exquisite art

The Begram Ivories date to the first century AD and originally decorated Indian wooden furniture excavated in hidden store-rooms at the ancient city of Begram. Those in the consignment had been feared lost since the civil war until they were identified on the black market and acquired on behalf of the Kabul museum by an anonymous private donor in 2010. They were conserved at the British Museum through additional support from the exhibition sponsor Bank of America Merrill Lynch as part of its Art Conservation Project, and temporarily exhibited as part of the exhibition in 2011.

The Buddha dates to the second or third century AD and was found in 1965 at Sarai Khuja, north of Kabul, and was exhibited in the museum there until the civil war during which period it disappeared abroad into private hands. It was again identified and acquired on behalf of the National Museum of Afghanistan and is offered by the donor in memory of the late Carla Grissman (1928-2011), who did much to work with the Afghan museum staff and who was one of the founding members of SPACH (Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage).

5000 years of cultural heritage

The additional objects date from the late third millennium BC onwards and include Bactrian Bronze Age cosmetic flasks, stamp seals and statuettes of types known to have been buried as grave-goods; three decorated stone compartmented bowls of a type previously only known from excavations at the Greek city of Ai Khanum in northern Afghanistan; Greco-Bactrian, Kushan and medieval Islamic coins; Islamic metal and pottery vessels, and assorted other minor items of mixed date and materials. These items therefore cover almost all the great periods of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. The items were seized by UK Border Force and the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police as they passed through Britain, presumably for sale on the black market.

The opportunity has also been taken to send the National Museum a large number of copies of the exhibition catalogue including copies specially translated into Dari and Pashto.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said “I am delighted that these important artefacts have been safely returned to the National Museum in Kabul. This is the outcome of the ongoing dialogue between our cultural institutions as well as the support of the authorities to identify and preserve items from the national collection of Afghanistan that had been illegally removed during years of conflict.”

Returning a countries legacy

In 2011 the British Museum signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul and both parties agreed to continue collaborative efforts to identify and return objects to Kabul which had either been stolen from the National Museum during the civil war or otherwise illegally exported from Afghanistan. In 2009 UK Border Force in conjunction with the British Museum and the International Red Cross returned 1490 seized objects, thus bringing the total number of objects returned to over 2,330.
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References:

Past Horizons. 2012. "National Museum of Afghanistan welcomes return of looted treasures". Past Horizons. Posted: August 5, 2012. Available online: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/08/2012/national-museum-of-afghanistan-welcomes-return-of-looted-treasures

Museum and archaeological park for Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH) has unveiled its plans for two key projects in Al Ain. The Al Ain National Museum and Hili Archaeological Park were both publicly announced by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council last week.

The AANM forms part of the Al Ain Oasis Cultural Quarter Master Plan and is located within the centre of downtown Al Ain within an Eastern Cultural Campus that is a flagship cultural quarter for Al Ain. It will celebrate the heritage and culture of the city – at the point where the city and nature meet at the edge of the Al Ain Oasis.

Hili Archaeological Park is an internationally significant archaeological site, comprising unique Bronze Age, Iron Age and Islamic remains. The project will protect and preserve the site and its archaeology, and create a centre of learning and discovery where visitors will engage with the history of the site, the early roots of the UAE, the lives of the people who inhabited this landscape, and how Hili’s rich history was uncovered.

The Chairman of ADACH, His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan stated:

“These are two very significant projects, that are drawing on the resources of this country’s heritage and protecting them.The Al Ain National Museum will provide the intellectual foundation of a Cultural Quarter. Hili Archaeological Park will enclose some of the most important Bronze (Umm an Nar) and Iron Age tombs, settlements and falaj systems found in the United Arab Emirates.

“The World Heritage Site status that was awarded to Al Ain recently is further testament to Abu Dhabi continuing to be developed as one of the main international centres of culture by embracing and valuing its cultural diversity and making it an attractive visitors destination.

Dr Sami el Masri, Deputy Director-General for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Director of Strategic Planning and Development at ADACH, said:

“The Al Ain National Museum project will revitalise this institution in ADACH’s Museum Department and be the anchor for the Eastern Cultural Campus. It will be an exemplary modern, urban, archaeology and cultural history museum. The museum will be the centre of the cultural life of the city – and a gateway to its many treasures and stories.

“The strategy of ADACH is to protect and maintain Abu Dhabi’s resources and ensure and reinforce the role of culture and heritage as both an important educational and cultural tool. ADACH is as much about the present and the future as it is about the past.
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References:

Past Horizons. 2012. "Museum and archaeological park for Abu Dhabi". Past Horizons. Posted: February 1, 2012. Available online: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/02/2012/museum-and-archaeological-park-for-abu-dhabi

Museums and national identities

How museums are used and can be used to create a sense of community and identity is the theme for an event as part of the EuNaMus project. The event takes place in Brussels on 25 January.

Creating new national museums is a growing trend, both globally and within Europe. The challenge is to create unity and a common understanding of the history in evolving multi-ethnic and multicultural countries. However the challenge is not new, says Peter Aronsson, professor in Cultural Heritage and the Uses of History at Linköping University and coordinator of the European research project EuNaMus on Europe's national museums.

EuNaMus is a three-year project funded by the EU's Seventh Framework Programme. Eight European universities are involved and the project is coordinated from Sweden.

"The issue of assembling many different ethnic groups within one nation is not a new concept, just think about the great multicultural states Germany's and Italy's unification during the 1800s. National museums have long been used to create a binding element, a sense that "we belong together" in a national community, this despite their differences."

Aronsson claims that the current challenge for multicultural Europe can be addressed in two ways: either that diversity is affirmed, rendered harmless and culturally useful, or that it is seen as a threat that must be encountered by stronger integration.

Parallel to the issue of a national community is the one what Europeans actually have in common. Several other initiatives are also underway to create European museums.

These initiatives and trends will be discussed at an outreach event of the EuNaMus project in Brussels on 25 January. This will be followed by a more scientific conference on 26 and 27 January that will address how a conflict-ridden history is to be handled at national museums. One example that will be brought to the fore is Europe's dark colonial history.
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References:

EurekAlert. 2012. "Museums and national identities". EurekAlert. Posted: January 18, 2012. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/lu-man011812.php

Community pressure saves micropalaeontology group

A highly respected palaeontology group based at London’s Natural History Museum may escape the chop after an international campaign to ensure its future.

Huge outcry greeted the announcement that the museum was to axe its micropalaeontology group as part of a wider cost saving effort. Scientists from across the world warned that expertise vital for understanding subjects from climate change to evolution would be lost (see: ‘Axe hovers over UK museum jobs’ and ‘Researchers unite behind museum’s threatened department’).

Now the museum says that while three positions will be eliminated two new positions will be created “to meet the expressed needs of the micropalaeontology research community”. With the two new jobs earmarked for current staff this means only one job in the four-person department will go and it can continue to operate.

Richard Lane, director of science at the museum, says the new-look section will focus on four areas: the development of the museum’s collections; doing research; training the wider community; and scientific consultancy work.

“We changed because of the very large response we had externally,” says Lane.

This response highlighted a number of opportunities, he says, a point that has wider relevance as UK scientists brace for spending cuts expected in the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October. Advocacy has the most impact, he says, when it identifies opportunities rather than just saying “please maintain the status quo”.

The new jobs will mean savings will have to be made elsewhere in the museum, although Lane says these savings are not currently planned to include redundancies. Whether that will still be the case after 20 October is currently unclear.
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References:

Cressey, Daniel. 2010. "Community pressure saves micropalaeontology group". The Great Beyond. Posted: October 11, 2010. Available online: http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/10/community_pressure_saves_micro.html