Illegal movement and transfer of large amounts of cultural objects from the place of origin to a foreign abode

Transcription

1 Workshop on the Prevention and Fight Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Goods, Namibia (Windhoek) 14 th - 15 th September Illegal movement and transfer of large amounts of cultural objects from the place of origin to a foreign abode Through the illicit export and import of such ownership, and done by individuals, companies, states etc A situation which has occurred in Botswana over a long period of time and was aggravated during the colonial period This has given birth to the migrated Museum However, nowadays only small amounts at a time are exported due to border restrictions. A rapidly evolving problem, has attracted the attention of both the heritage, legal, political, media and diplomatic fraternity. Botswana like many other countries, as a state party and having lost a fundamental part of its cultural goods through trafficking, has also started on the restitution path of its cultural property. 2

2 The 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting the Illicit Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. - UNESCO s legal tool to combat the problem The Inter-Governmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to countries of origin set up in 1978, a special wing, which also Promotes the Return of Cultural Property to Countries of Origin. 3 Both conventions not ratified by Botswana Have been inadvertently implemented through the return and existing requests for restitution of some of the country s heritage in foreign institutions. At some point in the past it was thought that both conventions were not priority. An assessment of the amount of cultural heritage on Botswana currently found in foreign museums makes the two conventions very critical and calls for a change of approach. Recent adoption of the heritage concept makes it even more crucial and worth while to ratify the two conventions because a lot of heritage in its different forms is being trafficked every day, more especially in Botswana where even poaching is prevalent. 4

3 The understanding of the trafficking is still low for communities and general public To them, for as long as there is money given in return for what is taken, they regard it as a legal transaction. Most of the looting and trafficking is done in the rural areas where most of the prized objects are and the locals are convinced or bribed into selling, sometimes for a very small fee. The experts regard that which is in the museum collection or is protected as heritage(most of the experts here would be from the museums and other heritage practitioners from craft shops and the Department of Arts and Culture). Professionals only get worried when something from the collection is stolen, or when a site is vandalized or looted. This creates an unbalanced situation in as far as illicit trafficking is concerned. 5 The Monument and Relics Act of 10 th June 1970(revised in 2001) and the 1967 Act by which the National Museum was established have been the key legislative tools dealing with cultural property. 6

4 This Act provides for the better preservation and protection of ancient monuments, ancient workings, relics and other objects of aesthetic, archaeological, historical or scientific value or interest and for other matter connected therewith. - section 18:1(b) says no person shall without permission remove or be allowed to remove any ancient working or relic from its original site, export or import any part thereof. However, the act has shown a lot of limitations in its coverage of the wider heritage and its problem areas. Recently that there has been a significant shift in government policy towards the mainstreaming of heritage issues in all development sections and strategic plans. This brought with it the development of the National Policy on Culture and a legislative framework for Environmental Impact Assessment by the Department of Environmental Affairs. There are however, other acts, and legislation aimed at other areas of heritage i.e. poaching for wildlife - but none specifically for the illicit trafficking of cultural goods. 7 Botswana therefore, does not have specific penalty code. All cases related are dealt with under the penal code theft common Not many cases are reported, hence, the local inter-pol database on stolen works of art has very little information - and not frequently accessed or utilized. Botswana as a country is obviously prone to cultural goods smuggling. However, not all reported cases are dealt with under this penal code, some are not reported at all. No statistics reflecting the impact or amount of cultural trafficking from Botswana. This has prompted the Botswana government to accede to other conventions such as the 1972 one in 1998 and the 2003 convention in

5 Botswana has a visible trend of cooperation between the heritage institutions and law enforcement(police, customs and immigration at borders) example : they append a signature to export and re-importation permits by National Museum. Local Interpol/police for one is readily available to receive issues concerning heritage, reported missing objects should contain full information or identifiable marks, weight, size and the manufacturer s trademark. Interpol has a desk for stolen works of art which handles such cases. Few or no regulations barring tourists and individuals from buying cultural items from the streets apart from animal skins and other animal products. However, section 18 of the Monument and Relics Act makes provision for taking care of the illegal export of cultural artifacts so defined by law. 9 Disappearance of the Gerald Sekoto painting from the permanent exhibition in 1995 The theft of 17 sets of postal stamps and 6 see through plastic cubes each containing a stamp in 2011 The tracking and possible repatriation of 12 meteorites in a German University (which are the largest in the world in size) back to Botswana

6 The disappearance of the Mpule Kwelagobe (Ms Universe 2008)portrait from the Museum collection 11 The remains of a Motswana (of Sarwa descent), popularly known as El Negro from a museum in Spain for proper burial in home country(botswana) in October The return of the Van Rensburg collection from Motsweding Radio Station in Mafikeng S.A. - The collection was moved to S.A between the 1960 s and 70 s by Patrick Van Rensburg (a pioneer for brigades in Botswana, born is South Africa). - Collection was used as teaching aids in Schools. - return was facilitated by the Mafikeng Museum in South Africa. 12

7 Cultural collections with the Iziko Museums Collections at Mafikeng Museum Collections in Zimbabwe i.e. Natural History Museum in Bulawayo Collections at the British Museum And many other unknown cases 13 Almost all the collections at the Botswana National Museum have been documented manually ( both archaeological, Ethno- historic, Natural History collections,zoology, Botany, Herbarium, Entomology, and Geology) Electronic documentation component is still in process, even though the Data -ease program used is problematic. Another key challenge is the availability of computers and trained staff. 14

8 The markings and tags put on the objects during documentation constitute the basic information used when objects are lost or stolen. This is the basic knowledge or information that we need to share with other stakeholders under law enforcement. 15 To help them differentiate between items belonging to the museum collection, those belonging to the communities, which are passed on from generation to generation as heritage and those that are from the market and for sale and self-sustenance. The collections need to be properly documented and inventoried in order to be shared with the global heritage community. In case of theft, it is not easy or quick to pass on information or post it on inter-net for the international audience and for the law enforcement unit. There is also a challenge with the inventorying of collections in the Regional Museums lack of professional staff, who know how documentation/inventorying of collections is done. National Museum, (through the initiative of the Ethnology Division) to begin to send professional staff from different disciplines to assist the museums with their collections and to attach regional museum staff to the National Museum 16

9 To enlightened and empowered regional Museum staff Botswana National Museum has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ditsong Flagship of Museums in South Africa, to work together in the inventorying and documentation of collections. An effort to re-engineer the documentation/inventorying process for both countries. Botswana National Museum has not done an overall inventory of all the collections in its custodianship (archaeology, Ethnology, History, Natural History) - for an overall figure of all the collections. - Available inventory s is disjointed, done according to discipline and category ie. Monuments, Geological sites. 17 There is an urgent need and call for more public education aimed at communities as well as key stakeholders. There is need for constant orientation for customs and immigration officials, on the official marks or registration found on museum objects. There is need for all stakeholders to know which cultural goods are for the open market and which ones are from heritage. Urgent need for proper consultations and regular orientation for all stakeholders so that they are well versed with what protected heritage entails. Without a proper a documentation and inventorying system, the collections cannot be well appreciated and shared with the global heritage community. Urgent need for heritage institutions and professionals to push for the ratification of the 1970 and Uniddroit Conventions. 18

10 THE END THANK YOU 19