World Leaders Address Culture as they Adopt the Rome Declaration at the 2021 G20 Summit

On October 30-31, world leaders met in Rome for the 2021 G20 Summit. At the conclusion of the summit, the G20 leaders adopted the Rome Declaration. The Declaration is a culmination of the work undertaken by the Italian G20 Presidency over the course of this year. 

Under Italy’s leadership, the G20 has prioritized making culture part of the post-COVID recovery, as well as incorporating it into the institution’s broader work to secure economic integrity and transparent markets. Protecting history and heritage from the illicit trade, as well as other major threats such as climate change, is an identified pillar of this broader mission. To that end, on 29-30 July in Rome, Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini brought together the G20 Member States for a cultural ministerial meeting, part of a series of high-level events on the illicit trade that led up to the G20 Summit. 

Culture remained in focus at the Summit, and was reflected in the Leaders’ Declaration: 

“56. Culture. Recalling that culture has intrinsic value, we underline the role of culture and of cultural and creative professionals and businesses as drivers for sustainable development and in fostering the resilience and the regeneration of our economies and societies, stressing the importance of international efforts to safeguard and promote culture, with a key role to be played by UNESCO, and the need to support workers, including in the cultural field, also by facilitating access to employment, social protection, digitalization and business support measures. We emphasize the importance of addressing threats to irreplaceable cultural resources and protecting and preserving cultural heritage damaged, trafficked or endangered by conflicts and disasters, recalling the objectives of UNSC Resolution 2347. We ask our relevant institutions to further pursue the G20 cooperation on culture.”

This statement is in line with the first recommendation from the AC’s new report, Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones: A Roadmap for the G20 to Combat the Illicit Trade in Cultural Objects. The report, co-authored with international experts, called for the G20 to Build Political Will through a statement in the final declaration: 

“Building on the July 2021 Rome Declaration of the G20 Ministers of Culture, leaders could issue a strong statement in the 2021 Rome Summit communiqué that recognizes looting and illicit trade of cultural objects as serious crimes, prioritizes disrupting and dismantling criminal networks, and advances a long-term strategy to combat the illicit trade’s root causes.”

Leadership at the highest levels is needed to make safeguarding cultural heritage an international priority. By demonstrating the political will to combat looting and trafficking from the top down, the G20 has laid the foundation for all its other work. The AC commends the Italian Republic and the G20 for making this issue part of its agenda and work this year. 

Read the Leaders’ Declaration 

Read our Report

Announce Statement of Cooperation at Public Convening of International Experts

The Antiquities Coalition, in close collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, was honored to host a virtual public event focused on strengthening international cooperation in the fight against the looting and trafficking of cultural property.

Moderated by Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large Dr. Richard Kurin of the Smithsonian Institution, the convening facilitated dialogue on critical topics, including emerging obstacles to combating the illicit art and antiquities trade as they are experienced by customs officials, museum institutions, and the private sector. 

This event was one part of a wider online forum to promote mutual understanding between the United States, still the heart of the global art and antiquities world, and Bahrain, which is quickly becoming one of its more important players. To this end, Bahraini and US representatives celebrated recent success in fighting cultural racketeering. 

President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), Her Excellency Shaikha Mai AlKhalifa, celebrated recent educational initiatives pursued by BACA as well as new collaborative projects between BACA and UNESCO, including awareness campaigns and the establishment of more UNESCO World Heritage sites in Bahrain. Bureau of Educational And Cultural Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary Matthew Lussenhop discussed how seizures and repatriation of illicit antiquities are key to raising awareness of art crime. Dr. Mounir Bouchenaki, Special Advisor to BACA and UNESCO, reviewed the relevant obstacles facing museum institutions and the private sector, highlighting how international cooperation is needed. 

Mr. Lussenhop declared, “The United States cannot do this alone…We feel that our efforts are multiplied when we can work in close partnerships with other interested states like Bahrain.”

In a triumphant conclusion to the event, Chargé d’Affaires to the Kingdom of Bahrain Maggie Nardi announced The 2021 Manama Statement of Cooperation between the US and Bahrain to combat criminal misuse of the art and antiquities market.

Making up 42% of the global art market, the United States is in a unique position to make a difference. Moreover, with its close global ties and effective regional diplomacy, the Kingdom of Bahrain is well positioned to become a leader in the global fight against the illicit trafficking of art and artifacts. In collaboration with countries like Bahrain, United States and international leaders in protecting cultural heritage concluded that— when we work together— meaningful change is possible.

The Antiquities Coalition commends the United States government and the Kingdom of Bahrain for their distinguished leadership in safeguarding our shared cultural heritage.  We thank Dr. Kurin for moderating the discussion, and our distinguished panelists Her Excellency Shaikha Mai AlKhalifa, Acting Assistant Secretary Matthew Lussenhop, and Dr. Mounir Bouchenaki for their participation in the session.

The global effort to identify and repatriate looted antiquities received a huge boost yesterday from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which made a decision reaffirming the legal right foreign governments have to contact U.S. art market participants and claim ownership of antiquities.

The case in question, Barnet et al. v. Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic, centered on a Greek bronze figure of a horse from the 8th century B.C. Its first appearance in the public record occurred in 1967, when it was sold at a public auction in Switzerland. At some point, the figure came into the possession of now-disgraced antiquities dealer Robin Symes (previously referenced in our “Like a Bull in an Art Museum” story map), who sold it to art collectors Howard and Saretta Barnett in 1973. Howard Barnet died in 1992, while Saretta Barnet died in 2017. Before her death, though, she created the 2012 Saretta Barnett Revocable Trust to transfer possession of this antiquity (among others) to her three children. These trustees partnered with Sotheby’s to auction the figure in 2018.

However, the auction proceedings were halted when Greek officials emailed a letter to Sotheby’s, claiming this antiquity in accordance with their national patrimony laws.

While Sotheby’s pulled the horse figure—which was expected to auction for $150,000 to $250,000—from auction, the auction house joined the trustees in suing the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic (i.e., Greece) through the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 5, 2018, demanding that Greece officially declare that the figure had reached the plaintiffs through lawful means. According to the Center for Art Law, this marked “the first time an auction house has sued a government.” 

The United States’s Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act often protects foreign sovereign governments from being sued in U.S. courts, but there are a variety of exemptions. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that by reaching out to claim ownership of the horse figure, Greece committed “an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity … that … causes a direct effect in the United States.” If the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York adopted this classification, the FSIA would not bar suit, allowing Sotheby’s and the trustees to obtain the jurisdiction necessary to proceed with suing Greece in U.S. courts.

Greece made a motion to dismiss the case, countering that the act of demanding the return of state property in accordance with patrimony laws in accordance with patrimony laws did not fulfill the FSIA exception for commercial activities. If the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York was in agreement, this argument would undercut the only FSIA exception the plaintiffs had been relying on to make their case.

Instead, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Greece’s motion on June 21, 2019, concluding that the act in question was indeed made in connection with a commercial activity.

Greece subsequently appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, leading the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to stay the proceedings of the original suit, pending the results of the appeal.

The Antiquities Coalition took interest in the case as an advocate for the proper enforcement of patrimony laws as a means of combating the illicit trade in cultural property while allowing for the continuation of the legal markets and trade practices. In conjunction with the Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Italy, Mexico, and Cyprus, the Antiquities Coalition submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Greece’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on account of Greece’s sovereign immunity. Agreeing that Greece, by sending the demand letter, was exercising its regulatory and police powers over its cultural heritage property, the above amici used their brief to emphasize and explain that the reason why Greece’s conduct did not qualify as commercial activity for the exception under the FSIA was because of the existence of Greece’s state patrimony laws, which make such cultural heritage property materially different from other property not subject to such laws. 

By declaring state ownership through an act of sovereignty (i.e. through legislation), rather than through traditional commercial means (e.g. transfer of title for a price), and by prohibiting, sometimes criminalizing, private ownership, exportation, or transfer without explicit permission, state patrimony laws make the subject property state assets and are enforceable through the state’s exercise of its sovereign police and regulatory powers. Therefore, Greece’s act of demanding the repatriation of a state asset pursuant to the ownership and regulations codified in its patrimony laws was a sovereign act, not simply a commercial activity. Furthermore, the amici wrote their brief to warn of the practical consequences of the District Court’s decision for the ability of foreign states to enforce their patrimony laws while still protecting their sovereign immunity. The District Court’s decision would leave foreign states with three undesirable options: to protect their sovereign immunity but forfeit their right to enforce their patrimony laws leaving their cultural heritage property outside of their country and in the hands of people potentially involved in the illicit trade; to write a demand letter but expose themselves to the possibility of being sued and dragged into a U.S. court; or to waive their sovereign immunity and file suit against the wrongful possessor in a U.S. court from the outset. 

Yesterday, the judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in Greece’s favor.

“We agree that the core challenged act in this case was Greece’s sending of the letter asserting ownership over the figurine,” wrote Judge Steven James Menashi in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s opinion. “We disagree, however, that the act was undertaken in connection with a commercial activity outside the United States. The connected activity was Greece’s enactment and enforcement of patrimony laws that declare the figurine to be the property of Greece. The enactment and enforcement of such patrimony laws are archetypal sovereign activities and therefore do not provide the requisite connection to commercial activity that would authorize suit under the FSIA. Because the commercial-activity exception was the only purported basis for jurisdiction, we reverse and remand with instructions to dismiss this action for lack of jurisdiction.”

Unfortunately, this ruling does not affirm Greece’s claims of ownership or require the plaintiffs to return the figure to Greece. It does, however, create a precedent of protection for any foreign governments who may be considering reaching out to U.S. antiquities dealers to make a claim of ownership.

The Antiquities Coalition commends the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and congratulates Greece on this decision.