Who Owns Antiquity?

April 28, 2008
Spoiler alert: the answer to the title's question is that “ntiquities are the cultural property of all humankind... and not that of a particular modern nation.” Cuno (Whose Muse?
) is the director of the Art Institute of Chicago, so his position, which favors museums over governments, is not a surprise. But it would be a mistake to see this deeply felt and carefully reasoned argument as self-serving. The crux of his argument is that modern nation-states have at best a tenuous connection with the ancient cultures in question, and their interests are political rather than scientific. China, for example, asserts ownership of ancient treasures of a wide range of ethnic minorities whose identity as “Chinese” is problematic at best. Cuno advocates instead a universal, humanistic approach to the world's shared cultural treasures. How could this be achieved? Cuno's proposals for enforcing such a policy are unlikely to make any national government shake in its boots. But however quixotic, Cuno's pleas for a more expansive approach to cultural artifacts must be taken seriously. Photos.