Who Owns Objects?: The Ethics and Politics of Collecting Cultural Artefacts - Softcover

Provides archaeologists, art enthusiasts and political pundits an understanding of the many points of view concerning the debate of who owns ancient objects.' -- Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 54 Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 54

Who owns cultural objects? and who has the right to own them? The contributors to this book have thought long and hard about the ethics and politics of collecting, from a variety of professional perspectives: archaeologist, museum curator, antiquities dealer, collector, legislator. The book is the outcome of a series of lectures and workshops held in Oxford in October-December 2004. It brings together some stimulating and provocative opinions, that would not usually be found together; archaeology and cultural heritage students rarely come into contact with antiquities dealers or collectors, for instance; museum curators rarely get to know the production processes and rationales behind the legislation and ethical codes they have to abide by. The aim is to provoke thought and debate on this topical and sensitive subject area.