Now that we have had our flurry of emotion, it is time to move on to more constructive things.

For those of us in the U.S., we need to let our elected and appointed officials know that we are not pleased with their ignoring the Geneva Convention as it relates to protecting cultural property in times of war.  It does seem from news reports that the coalition forces did not take steps this time that they did during the first Gulf War to protect cultural property.

Then, we need to find a way to convey to our colleagues in Iraq that we share in their sorrow and loss and that we are behind their efforts to get back the parts of the collection that they can and rebuild their institutions.  Perhaps UNESCO or ICOM could be of help in this.  As a former curator, I know how personally invested I was in my collections--and contemplating the loss of any of them brought me to tears.  I cannot even begin to imagine the emotions they must have felt as they beheld the distruction of their institutions.

And then, is there anything that we can do--some of us at far remove--that is concrete, and may be of help to the staffs of the museums and libraries that have suffered?

Then, we need to look at our institutional disaster plans.  The ones that I have seen have been created with the assumption that the disaster was limited to our own institutions, and not happening on a wider scale in our communities.  This certainly needs to be addressed, and different scenarios for staff work in the event of insitutional disaster need to be devised for instances in which the disaster is widespread.

And finally, we need to examine our own personal commitment to the collections in our care.  I am not entirely sure that I am willing to face down a mob intent on destruction, just to save my collection.  But now, at least, I have to think about that.  Although it is impossible to know how any of us would behave under similar circumstances, the state of the world today seems to suggest that we should at least think through the unthinkable.

The discussion, while a tad acrimonious at times, was terribly useful to me.

Peace,

Claudia Nicholson
Current human being, and former curator
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