Blood Antiquities

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Seeing all of the older artworks at the Ringling Museum and talking about preservation made my mind go off on a tangent to the social responsibility of preserving artworks in places like Iraq and Syria. I read an academic journal about blood antiquities where collectors around the world purchase these historic pieces often without official papers. ISIS and other organizations have started stealing pieces from war torn area’s museums and digging up protected archaeological sites to sell the work for funding. The dilemma that presents itself is do collectors buy these artifacts with the goal of preserving the heritage, or do they leave them where they have a high chance of being destroyed? 

What I found is Art Association for Museum Directors (AAMD) created the AAMD Protocols for Safe Havens for Works of Cultural Significance from Countries in Crisis. Owners can request a participating museum to hold the material until it can be returned to the institutions or governments they came from. The objects are treated basically as loans. I just found that really awesome!

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