Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Civilization Under Attack, what can we do?


I found a link on the ADCAEA website to this very interesting text by Tom Swope on the raghead destruction of our common human heritage: Civilization Under Attack, what can we do? He takes the bull by the horns and makes a good case for the role of collectors and collections in preserving and displaying history:
We need to rethink our attitude towards the market, as what we have been doing hasn't been working, and isn't achieving the oft stated goal of furthering the preservation of our heritage. Vilifying the market for antiquities does little or nothing to prevent the destruction of the archaeological sites and objects they contain. This a favorite thing for academics to do, blame the market for the problem of illicit looting. However the situation is different now, we are dealing with a new force of evil beyond our comprehension. We need a different approach. I would suggest that in this situation where objects and sites are being actively destroyed that perhaps the moral and right position to take is to purchase everything we can. There is little doubt in my mind that what is left in the Middle East will not be preserved, rather it is all at risk of destruction. [...] The market has an important part to play in all of this. By giving value to antiquities, it helps to preserve them. Now more than ever, everyone needs to work together, dealers, collectors and academics to counter the active destruction now taking place on a scale never before observed.
Who can argue with the logic of that? 

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