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SAFE aims to help, curators, archaeologists, and historians increase public awareness about why the preservation of antiquities is important to everyone. Also, we aim to open the lines of communication between academia and the public. We want people to feel a collective kinship to ancient culture, regardless of patrimony. Our goal is to inform the public that the true importance of preserving remnants of early civilization lies far beyond their monetary value. We want to dispel the misconception that the theft or destruction of irreplaceable artifacts is a problem only for scholars, museums, and law enforcement.
Many people don’t fully understand what is at stake when antiquities are lost to random destruction or the illicit antiquities trade. The public needs to be made aware that antiquities provide a link to our collective heritage, without which we become cultural orphans.
Pillaging of cultural treasures did not begin nor will it end with Baghdad. Existing laws are inadequate mostly because they are ignored by the public and considered a low priority by law enforcement. Only when there is general public awareness can we effect real change. It is time that industry joins forces with academia to educate the public about why we need to preserve cultural antiquities, for everyone. As Professor Kenneth Polk of the Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, has said, “What is necessary is a moral climate where buyers will not purchase, and dealers will not sell, material that does not have a proper provenance.”
Public education is the first step towards creating this moral climate.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT IRAQ’S CULTURAL TREASURES ? WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTIQUITIES IN IRAQ ? |
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