Committee for Cultural Policy Report on Destruction in Mosul

The Committee for Cultural Policy's report on the destruction of ancient statuary in Mosul again reminds us that decision makers should focus on preservation not repatriation and conservation and not control.

As the CCP observes,

The destruction at Nineveh is an excruciatingly painful example of the losses that could result from a policy that demands all art from source countries remain there. The notion that all art belongs in source countries is not only anti-humanist; recent events have made clear that it is also reckless in the extreme. Art – the tangible history of humankind – is at risk. No nation’s artistic heritage should be held in a single place. Yet international museums are being told not to collect or preserve at a time when art itself is most vulnerable.