July 3rd || What most people and even I, as an intern, never understood was the policies and regulations that go on during museum operations. By regulations it is not maintenance duty of the equipment but the legal transaction of maintaining both the museum collection and the purpose of the museum building itself which we call collections management policies.
The management policies was made by UNESCO which stands for the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization in 1970 at Paris. UNESCO purpose of the management policies was to prevent illegal import, export and transport of the “cultural properties” (or object/specimen collection the museum preserves). The cultural properties in the museum are easily transferable–it has to go through some legal accession and documentation, especially verification by the curators, dealers and transporters that the object/specimen it of itself will not go anywhere else (or would at least prevent a theft). The three most important provisions established by UNESCO during 1970 convention was that there should be a cultural understanding/mutual respect between nations (and/or international) conventions, the cultural property should be authorized to be exported in/and out of the museum and it is prohibited to allow outsiders transport the cultural parties.
I wouldn’t say that properties were easily transferable. Remember that the accession process requires rigorous documentation as to the provenance or origin of the object. three most important provisions established by the convention were:
1. Preventive measures:
Inventories, export certificates, monitoring trade, imposition of penal or administrative sanctions, educational campaigns, etc.
2. Restitution provisions:
Per Article 7 (b) (ii) of the Convention, States Parties undertake, at the request of the State Party “of origin”, to take appropriate steps to recover and return any such cultural property imported after the entry into force of this Convention in both States concerned, provided, however, that the requesting State shall pay just compensation to an innocent purchaser or to a person who has valid title to that property. More indirectly and subject to domestic legislation, Article 13 of the Convention also provides provisions on restitution and cooperation.
3. International cooperation framework:
The idea of strengthening cooperation among and between States Parties is present throughout the Convention. In cases where cultural patrimony is in jeopardy from pillage, Article 9 provides a possibility for more specific undertakings such as a call for import and export controls.