Strategies and Efforts to Protect and Preserve Cultural Property Worldwide

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The Protection and Preservation of Cultural Property

Cultural property is a wide range of heritage items that includes architecture, monuments, artifacts, valuable to our understanding of past civilizations and essential for safeguarding knowledge for future generations. The illicit international trade in significant objects has escalated dramatically over recent years. This market for stolen cultural treasures has led to the destruction of museums and historical sites and caused irreversible loss to archaeological remns. International efforts are intensifying to halt this degradation, with countries adopting regulations, laws, and ethical standards that underscore the prohibition on removing valuable items from their original locations without official permission.

The Smithsonian Institution has implemented a comprehensive policy, The Smithsonian Institution Policy on Acquisition of Art, Antiquities, Archaeological and Ethnographic Material and Historic Objects revised April 13, 2015, to prevent acquisition or exhibition of any item that was unethically acquired, improperly excavated, removed without permission from its country of origin in defiance of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The Smithsonian actively contributes to strengthening laws worldwide that protect cultural property.

The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative SCRI, a program involving Smithsonian experts like archaeologists and collection managers, is dedicated to safeguarding culturally threatened heritage from disasters by collaborating with federal agencies, foreign governments, domestic organizations, and international entities already engaged in this field. SCRI undertakes research into the root causes of damage to cultural assets during catastrophes to provide techniques for stabilizing angered cultural resources. It fosters learning opportunities through its outreach events and materials to keep heritage protection at the forefront.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

Collecting is vital to the museum’s vibrancy. The provenancedocumented ownership historyfor all potential acquisitions undergoes thorough research to ensure ethical sourcing and legal compliance under applicable local, national, and international laws, treaties, and conventions.

Important Documents Relating to Cultural Property:

• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amed in 2006

• International Council of Museums Red Lists Database

• American Antiquities Act of 1906 16 U.S.C. 431-433

• UNESCO Convention of 1970

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Smuggling

• Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act

• Guidelines on the Acquisition of Archaeological Material and Ancient Art Revised 2013, Association of Art Museum Directors

Organizations Advocating for Preservation:

• Advisory Council on Historic Conservation

• American Alliance of Museums

• Association of Art Museum Directors

• International Council of Museums

• UNESCO World Heritage Centre

• Department of State, Cultural Heritage Center

Provenance Research at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

For information on the provenance or history of objects in our collection, please contact us via eml at [email protected].

Joanna M. Gohmann, PhD

Provenance Researcher Object Historian

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

The content on this website may be updated and revised as new research unfolds or when deemed necessary. Until such changes are made, the information might not reflect complete accuracy, completeness, timeliness or the most recent data. The Smithsonian Institution neither makes representations about nor guarantees the information presented here nor accepts responsibility for any inaccuracies or errors.

Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

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