>I agree with Alan Hawk, for his and for additional reasons.  The
>distribution of the works of other cultures has served and will continue to
>serve as the foundations needed to establish cultural bridges and to
>promote mutual understanding and appreciation of other cultures.  Although,
 
And *I* agree with both, with this additional point:
 
The past of any one section of humanity is part of the heritage of ALL
humanity.  When someone shoots the face off a carving at Angkor Wat, he is
destroying MY heritage as well, not just Cambodia's -- just as much as when
someone lobs a bomb into an Italian art museum or slashes a razor across
Rembrand's Night Watch or takes a hammer to the Pieta or steals artifacts
from an Aztec tomb or ... We are ALL diminished by these damages and
destructions, whether or not we are all aware of it.
 
Deliberately stealing material, taking it by force or stealth, is, of
course, unconscionable -- but the attitude of keeping treasures inside
the geographical boundaries of where they were made because they are the
heritage ONLY of those who dwell there strikes me as a bit Toby in the
mangerish.
 
Keep things within their country, certainly -- if possible.  However, if
getting the stuff out of the country is the only way to save it ... I'd
rather ship my treasures out to someone who can take proper care of them
than keep them and see them lost to everyone forever, if those are the only
two choices I have.  A painful decision, I agree -- but one familiar to
Solomon, I think.
 
>Robert A. Baron
 
Mario Rups
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