International Exchange and Trade in Cultural Objects
A. F. Vrdoljak, International Exchange and Trade in Cultural Objects, in V. Vadi and B. de Witt (eds), Culture and International Economic Law, (London: Routledge, 2015).
36 Pages Posted: 4 Nov 2014
Date Written: November 1, 2014
Abstract
The legal protection of movable cultural heritage at the international level has been defined by a perennial tug-of-war between forces promoting international exchange and those seeking regulation of the transfer of the cultural objects. Shifts over the last century in how the balance between these twin aims is achieved reflect changes in the composition of Member States of intergovernmental organizations and their corresponding changing priorities. In the early twentieth century, the balance fostered under the League of Nations favored a cosmopolitan view promoting the circulation and interchange of cultural material to further knowledge and mutual understanding between peoples. The balance sought in the late twentieth century emphasized the importance of states being able to host representative national collections on their own territory. More recently, this position appears to be tempered by moves to make cultural objects exhibited in international exhibitions immune from seizure or suit while on temporary loan. These moves are justified on the grounds reminiscent of those articulated a hundred years before. The evolving recalibration of these dual priorities is the central focus of this chapter.
Keywords: International Cultural Heritage Law, Human Rights Law, International Economic Law, International Exchange, Trade, Cultural Objects
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation