The Rise of Safe Havens for Threatened Cultural Heritage. Issue 3 (20th December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paumgartner, Nikolaus Thaddäus; Zingg, Raphael
• Is Part Of: International journal of cultural property. Volume 25:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 323
• Page End: 346
• Publication Date: 2018-12-20
• Subjects: Safe havens, -- cultural heritage protection, -- comparative law; Cultural property -- Protection -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection (International law) -- Periodicals; Cultural policy -- Periodicals; 341.7677
• DOI: 10.1017/S0940739118000188
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0940-7391

Abstract

Abstract: In light of the recent rise of destruction and looting of cultural property, a need for formalized heritage protection has arisen. Increasingly popular in the debate has become the instrument of international assistance known as "safe havens." These temporary refuges for at-risk cultural goods in a third country have recently been implemented by Switzerland, France, the United States, and the Association of Art Museum Directors. We assess the contributions and shortcomings of these four regimes using a comparative approach. Mainly, we find that, despite variations in their scope and structure, none of the models accounts entirely for today's major difficulties in protecting endangered cultural properties. We draw recommendations for future safe haven states against the backdrop of the existing models and hope to see the instrument used in practice as a way to safely isolate cultural property from destructive conflicts.