ART 100 NVCC Art Crime Looting Antiquities & Human Heritage Worksheet Problem: How to preserve objects of human heritage in an environment of chaos and des

ART 100 NVCC Art Crime Looting Antiquities & Human Heritage Worksheet Problem: How to preserve objects of human heritage in an environment of chaos and destruction.

Context: Some of the world’s oldest and most culturally significant works of art and architecture are found in museums and archaeological sites throughout the middle east. These include the National Museum of Iraq and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.

These artworks are material evidence from a “Cradle of Civilization”, a wide swath of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from northern Syria through Iraq to the Persian Gulf.

Violence and war throughout the middle east over the last twenty years has resulted in the looting of, and, in some instances, the destruction of scores of antiquities. Those stolen from museums can be lost forever or sold illegally on the black market to corrupt or unsuspecting collectors.

The loss of these antiquities and the efforts to protect them create a moral issue for the international community: What structures are in place to protect museums and ancient sites from the destruction that threatens our collective heritage?

Process: Read Laurie W. Rush’s essay Looting Antiquities: Tearing the Fabric of Civil Society. You can access her essay here ART CRIME LAURIE W, RUSH.pdf

ACTIONS

. The essay is also available in the Our World module under the Write About It section. From what you gather, respond to the questions below.

1. Why should we protect antiquities?

2. How has the international community responded to the destruction and looting of antiquities? Include a specific example.

3. It’s difficult to protect antiquities at a time of crisis and violence. Is the effort worth the risks?

4. From the UNESCO World Heritage Site link provided in the Read About It / View It section of the Our World module, select one that you think could be threatened by political, religious or cultural upheaval. Include a picture of the site and the link you used to navigate to it. Why do you consider it threatened?