STOP the Illicit Trafficking in Heritage
Red List of Latin-American Cultural Objects at Risk

                                EUROPEAN LAUNCH



The International Council of Museums (ICOM) announces the European launch of
the Red List of Latin-American Cultural Objects at Risk. This List has been
drawn up in response to the illicit trafficking in Latin-American objects,
which is steadily increasing in spite of national and international
legislation strictly prohibiting the export and sale of this type of
cultural property. The Red List contains 25 examples of specific
pre-Columbian and Colonial heritage categories that are systematically
looted throughout Latin America and that are also in great demand on the
illegal antiquities market in Europe and America.

The Red List has been presented to the public during a conference organised
in The Netherlands on Monday 19 January 2004 at the National Museum of
Ethnology in Leiden.  A same type of event will be held on Friday 23 January
at the Museum of America in Madrid (Spain). These conferences, which
international experts of Latin-American heritage will attend, will be the
starting point of a European awareness raising campaign on the fight against
illicit traffic of cultural property.

The Red List is an appeal to museums, auction houses, art dealers and
collectors not to buy these objects. It is also intended to help customs
officials, police officers and art dealers to identify them.

For the American continent, this campaign for the protection of the heritage
started in Chile in November 2003 and should continue in February 2004 in
Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador and the United States.
The Red List of Latin-American Cultural Objects at Risk will be distributed
to the concerned professionals, custom officials and police officers all
over the world via Interpol and the World Customs Organization (WCO). The
English, Spanish and French versions of the Red List are also available on
ICOM's Web site (http://icom.museum/redlist <http://icom.museum/redlist> ).

In Latin America, looting of archaeological sites and thefts in museums and
religious edifices are causing irreparable damage to the heritage of the
continent and of mankind as a whole. This phenomenon, which has lasted for
years, has provoked an outcry from the international community of heritage
professionals. The Red list, as an answer to this emergency situation, was
drawn up in April 2002 by a group of 60 museum and heritage professionals
from Latin America and Europe at a workshop that was held in Bogotá and that
was jointly organized by ICOM and the Colombian Ministry of Culture.

The Red List is not exhaustive. Due to the tremendous variety of objects,
styles, and periods, the legal status of any antiquity from Latin America
should be carefully ascertained, in order to make sure that it has not been
stolen or looted.

It is based on ICOM's Red List concept, and follows on from previous work on
Africa and Iraq.

ICOM wishes to extend its gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Netherlands, the Prinz Klaus Fund and the Danish Center for Culture and
Development, for bestowing their trust on ICOM once again in providing
financial support for this project. ICOM is also very grateful to the
National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden and the Spanish Ministry of
Education, Culture and Sport for their cooperation and support.


More information at : http://icom.museum/redlist
<http://icom.museum/redlist>

http://icom.museum/press/am_lat_more_eng.html
<http://icom.museum/press/am_lat_more_eng.html>



Contact:
        ICOM International: Valérie Jullien, Email: [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
        Tel + 33 (0) 1.44.10.40.07 -    http://icom.museum/redlist
<http://icom.museum/redlist>


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at:  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html