It might help to appeal  to your congressional folks, to the American 
cultural attache in Kenya,  and to the Kenyan cultural attache in 
Washington.

As chair of a scholarly prize committee for American Assoc of History 
of Medicine, I ran into a similar problem last year with 
UPS/Brazilian customs.  We give the winner a facsimile page from a 
medieval manuscript--worth about $200. We ended paying close to that 
much (on top of UPS charges) to get it out UPS abandoned property and 
to the prizewinner--never mind the cost of all the time/emails/calls. 
The only good outcome is that I'm on first-name terms with our local 
UPS store staff.

Karen Reeds


>Date:    Sat, 20 Aug 2005 00:09:12 -0700
>From:    Shari Davis Benny Ferdman <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Help with Customs Problem
>
>Dear List,
>I'm hoping someone might have some insight to help us over an art  
>shipping obstacle. At the conclusion of an exhibit we curated we had 
>a painting shipped UPS back to the artist in Kenya. We insured the 
>painting for $4000--the amount the artist valued the work at.  A few 
>weeks ago the artist e-mails us telling us that the painting has has 
>been stuck in customs since May and that the customs office in 
>Nairobi is asking $1500 for its release (due to the high value) as 
>well as daily storage fees. i e-mailed the UPS customs partner in
>Kenya explaining the painting belonged to the artist, was on loan for 
>an international exhibit, no money was exchanged, and it  is now 
>being returned to the artist. I told her I can fax loan agreement,  
>more information about the exhibit etc. She replied asking me to send 
>a more detailed letter she can submit to customs.
>The artist cannot pay this amount, the only other recourse is to have 
>it shipped back to the send--hundreds of dollars!  Or it will be 
>auctioned off.
>Des anyone on the list have experience with this? Is there certain 
>information or wordage to put on the letter to make it more likely 
>the customs office will release it to the artist? What recourse do I 
>have? Any help would be appreciated.
>Shari Davis
>Creative Ways
>Interactive Exhibits & Educational Resources.


-- 
Karen Reeds, Ph.D.
Guest Curator, Linnaeus & America
American Swedish Historical Museum, Philadelphia
http://www.americanswedish.org/linnaeus.html

Read about our first Linnaeus Day Talk & Walk (CityPaper 5/19/05) and 
find out why the Philadelphia Inquirer (6/28/05) called Linnaeus "One 
Significant Swede" 
http://citypaper.net/articles/2005-05-19/mixpicks2.shtml
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/12000394.htm
==============
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Princeton NJ 08540
609--279-9420
fax: 609--279-9446
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