| Maggie Ronayne, Junior Representative,
Northern Europe (National University of
Ireland, Republic of Ireland)
maggie.ronayne@nuigalway.ie
Remit of the Task Force
Following several discussions during WAC
4 on the destruction of cultural property
in conflict situations and resolutions at
Council in Cape Town on 14th January 1999,
the Executive set up a task force to deal
with this issue and a co-ordinator was appointed.
The co-ordinator held a meeting with two
others whom he asked to serve as members
and it was decided to contact other WAC
members who had expertise in this area or
who would be likely to be interested in
committing time to such work. We have provided
the full list of task force members below.
However, we would welcome any further members
to the task force who wish to work with
us on this issue, particularly as some regions
and interests are not represented at all
(despite attempts to find such members who
would serve on the task force). In accordance
with Article 2 of the WAC statutes, it was
decided that this should be irrespective
of age, seniority within the archaeological
profession, or membership of the archaeological
or anthropological professions.
Interpreting broadly, we understand ‘conflict
situation’ to refer to war-torn areas, post-war
situations, pre-war aggression, tourism
(particularly when introduced to ravaged
national economies and disadvantaged areas),
acts of cultural, social and economic aggression
and discrimination by a powerful, sectarian
interest towards the cultural property of
an oppressed group within and between societies.
Each member of the task force will write
a report on the destruction of cultural
property in their area in relation to this
definition.
Points for Discussion
We have identified the following general
questions which, we suggest, should underlie
each investigation. We welcome comments,
discussion and possible additions on these
points. Obviously, each member of the task
force will develop more specific lines of
inquiry relating to their own region and
to particular cases.
· What happens
to cultural property in conflict situations
and to the relationships which people have
to it?
· What happens
to people’s histories and memories and to
relations between groups of people when
their cultural property is destroyed?
· What is
the viewpoint of the government of the country
where cultural property is being destroyed?
· What action
is being taken by that government in order
to end such destruction?
· How useful
have the various non-governmental organizations,
international agencies, supra-national formations
etc. been in addressing such issues? (This
refers to agencies and formations such as
the UN, UNESCO, ICOMOS, the European Union
and WAC itself.)
· If the
destruction of cultural property involves
a trade in illegally obtained objects, how
does this trade work and who is benefiting
from it?
· What can
be done to intervene in each situation and
what action should WAC take in each case?
Procedure and Timetable
Each member will attempt to outline the
full extent of the situation in their area
but, in order to complete a report within
the timetable, will concentrate on detailing
one or two major issues which need to be
prioritized. The task is seen as one of
information gathering in this first stage,
in order to make recommendations on future
action by WAC in different regions. The
form of submission will be a written report
to the co-ordinator and also to the CEO
of WAC, Peter Stone (Department of Archaeology,
University of Newcastle, UK). The reports
will then be on file with WAC. The reports
will offer an interpretation of the collated
information, with general recommendations
and recommendations for action on the part
of WAC. There is no restriction on length
but all correspondence entered into during
the compilation of the reports and any available
documentation or evidence of particular
problems outlined in the text is to be submitted
in appendices. The reports will be in English
where this is possible but reports in other
languages may be submitted. In the course
of compiling the reports, every member of
the task force will:
·
consult as widely as possible, by appropriate
means for their region and with sensitivity
to the situations being addressed
·
consult with the WAC membership of as many
countries and areas as possible in that
region
·
consult beyond that membership and beyond
the professional boundaries of archaeology/anthropology
·
keep the WAC representatives in the region
informed of their progress.
The reports are to be submitted by the
end of June 2000 to the co-ordinator and
the CEO of WAC. The task force coordinator
will summarize their implications for WAC
in a final report prepared before the next
WAC inter-congress. It is to be hoped that
as many members of the task force as possible
will stay in contact with each other and
maintain a dialogue on the issues being
addressed in order to explore possible connections
across regions.
All of the situations being addressed will
be serious and to some degree, urgent, but
it may be the case that a member of the
task force or another WAC member in the
region feels that immediate action is required
on a particular case. It is possible for
the members of this task force to request
further information from offending parties.
It should be possible for any member to
publish details of an urgent case and request
support from other WAC members through the
medium of the World Archaeological Bulletin
and other such WAC publications/communication
media as might then exist.
Contacts
Co-ordinator
Henry Mutoro
Post Department of History, University
of Nairobi, PO Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya.
Fax (254) 2 336 885.
Email Mutoro@net2000ke.com
Members
Ricardo Chirinos Portocarrero, Latin America
Email chricardo@hotmail.com
Gustavo Martinez, Latin America
Post Departamento de Arqueologia,
INCUAPA, Facultad de Ciencias Socialos,
Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia
de Buenos Aires, Del Valle 5737, Olavarria
(CP 7400), Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
Email gmartine@soc.unicen.edu.ar
Michael Blakey, North America
Email mblakey@fac.howard.edu
Krishna Mohan Shrimali, Southern Asia
Post A- 2/8, Maurice Nagar, University
of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India
Email shrimali@del3.vsnl.net.in
George Abungu, East and Southern Africa
Post Director’s Office, National
Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
Raymond Asombang, Central Africa
Post Department of Arts and Archaeology,
University of Yaounde 1, PO Box 6544, Yaounde,
Cameroon.
Fax (237) 22 18 73
Fathi Saleh, North Africa
Post Ambassadeur, Délégué Permanent
d’Egypte auprès de l’UNESCO, I, Rue Miollis,
75015, Paris, France.
Email dl.egypte@unesco.org
Bayo Folorunso, Western Africa
Post Department of Archaeology and
Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan,
Nigeria.
Email uicc@mail.skannet.com
(please type ‘C.A. Folorunso’ in the subject
box)
Maggie Ronayne, Northern Europe
Post Department of Archaeology,
National University of Ireland, Galway,
Republic of Ireland.
Tel. 353 91 524411 extension 3701
Fax +353 91 525700 (Please mark:
For the Attention of M. Ronayne, Archaeology)
Email maggie_ronayne@hotmail.com
or maggie.ronayne@nuigalway.ie
Yannis Hamilakis, South-Eastern Europe
Post Department of Archaeology,
University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion,
Wales.
(from September 2000: Department of Archaeology,
University Of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton,
Hants., UK)
Email yhamilakis@lampeter.ac.uk
Tsoni Tsonev, Eastern Europe
Post Institute of Archaeology and
Museums
2, Saborna str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Fax 003592 882405
Email tsts@bas.bg
|
World
Archaeological Bulletin