Italian and Chinese museums are cracking down on organizations
involved in art theft and trafficking.
The bilateral agreement aimed at the prevention of illegal art
trade between China and Italy was signed yesterday by the chiefs of
the two countries' cultural heritage administrations as a kick-off
event of the "Year of Italy in China."
"The illicit flowing of antiquities from China or Italy into
each other's borders is expected to be blocked more effectively
under the agreement," said Shan Jixiang, chief of the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH).
"The agreement between the two countries will set an example for
the world, where art theft, being closely linked to drugs, arms,
and people trafficking and prostitution, should be given more
priority than it usually receives," he said.
Both the Chinese and Italian cultural heritage administrations
will set up offices specializing in information gathering and
exchanging, in accordance with the agreement.
China and Italy are both ancient civilizations that are the
victims of tomb raiders, museum thieves, smugglers and
international art dealers who have formed a complete and efficient
network, according to He Shuzhong, deputy director of SACH's Law
and Policy Department.
"In the markets of Hong Kong, Europe and the US, there are all
kinds of Chinese cultural relics that have been newly excavated,
and no one can give proof of their origin," he said.
Meanwhile, some major museums in the world are constantly
increasing their treasures by legal and illegal acquisitions,
according to Hugues de Varine, French museologist and former
director of the International Council of Museums in Paris.
Last month in Italy, prosecutors put a US art dealer and former
curator of the world famous J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles on
trial for conspiring to import illegally excavated Roman and
Etruscan antiquities for the Getty's collection.
(China Daily January 21, 2006)