Provenance Research as a Legal Imperative: AC Joins Experts to Discuss Restitution and Justice
March 5, 2025
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, Executive Director Tess Davis joined leading legal experts in a critical conversation on the role of provenance research in addressing the legal and ethical challenges of cultural restitution. Hosted online by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the event, The Legal Dimension of Provenance Research: International, Comparative, Indigenous, explored how provenance research serves as a foundation for enforcing cultural property laws and righting historical injustices.
The roundtable brought together experts in law, heritage, and restitution to provide critical insights into how provenance research is shaping today’s legal landscape. The discussion highlighted emerging legal frameworks and precedents and explored how institutions can proactively engage in responsible collecting and restitution efforts.
Provenance research—the investigation of an object’s ownership history—is more than just a scholarly endeavor. It is an essential tool in the legal framework that governs the return and restitution of cultural objects, particularly in cases of:
AC Executive Director Tess Davis spoke to the legal and reputational risks institutions face when acquiring or holding objects with unclear or suspect provenance. As recent high-profile cases have demonstrated, failure to conduct rigorous provenance research can entangle museums, auction houses, and collectors in lawsuits and international criminal investigations. Davis remarked,
“Proving authenticity, good title, and provenance or the chain of ownership are all critical to ensuring antiquities and other high-risk cultural objects are not just legally but ethically acquired. This safeguards cultural heritage, but it also protects the vast majority of legitimate collectors, dealers, and museums.”
Beyond institutional concerns, the discussion also highlighted how provenance research plays a crucial role in protecting American consumers and markets from criminal activity enabled by illicit antiquities flows.
The global trade in stolen and looted cultural property has been linked to terrorist financing, organized crime, and money laundering, posing significant security risks. By ensuring that artworks and antiquities enter the market through legal and ethical channels, provenance research helps disrupt illicit networks and safeguard the integrity of both cultural institutions and financial systems.