Information Duties imposed by Museums’ Codes of Ethics By Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

1. 4th International Conference on Information Law (ICIL) Museum Ethics Special Session (2011, May 21st- 22nd Thessaloniki, Greece) Information Duties imposed by Museums’ Codes of Ethics By Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

2. Scope of Presentation • to focus on the Museums’ Information Duties as described in the ICOM and other Associations’ Codes of Ethics (CoE) and the problems which arise deriving from the nature, the role and the practice of Museums Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

3. Setting of issues Museum’s Information Duties are only one aspect of Museums’ Ethics. Within the area of Museum’s Ethics several questions may arise. The answer or in depth examination of these issues, however, may be outside of the scope of this brief presentation. Such questions are, for example: Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

4. Question I • Should Art Dealers participate in the Museums’ Governing Bodies? (conflict of interest questions) [ICOM CoE provides special ethical duties for the Museum’s Head/Director and Governing Bodies] (Principles 1.12, 1.16 and 8.12 et seq.) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

5. Question II • Is it acceptable for a Museum to rent out prized e.g. Impressionist Paintings to a Las Vegas casino earning over 1 billion $ in only a few months? [This issue raises questions relating to the means of financing the museum’s activities] (ICOM CoE Principles 1.9, 1.10) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

6. Question III • Is it consistent with the public nature of a museum to host an exhibition only for profit, disregarding the opinion of the public or the professionals? [e.g. “Sensation”, a controversial exhibition of Saatchi Gallery which took place in London, New York and Berlin] Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

7. Question IV • Are stolen treasures better preserved in the Western Museums ? [This question raises issues that may contradict to the responsibility of a Museum to act as a so called “repository of last resort” for unprovenanced, illicitly collected or recovered objects] (ICOM CoE Principle 2.11) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

8. Museums’ Information Duties May relate to: • Institutional Information of each Museum • Information regarding financial resources And… Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

9. Museums’ Information duties May also relate to operating issues, i.e.: • Information relating to the appointment and status of Museums’ Curator/Director, personnel and volunteers (see press releases) • Information regarding acquisitions and exhibitions of the items constituting the museums’ collections. Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

10. Institutional Information of each Museum must be disclosed to the Public • From the establishment (“Written and public constitution, statute or other public document … which clearly state the Museum’s legal status, mission, permanence and non-profit nature”) • To the operation (“Museums should prepare, publicize and be guided by a statement of the mission of the museum, the policies and the role and composition of the governing body of the institution”) (ICOM CoE Principles 1.1 and 1.2) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

11. Information Duties regarding financial resources • Written policy regarding sources of income that may generate through its activities or through acceptance of income from outside sources • Control of the content and integrity of the museum’s programs, exhibitions and other activities • Income generating activities should not compromise the standards of the institution or the public (ICOM CoE Principles 1.9 and 1.10) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

12. Information on acquisitions and exhibitions of the Museums It is imperative to provide information regarding: • each and every exhibited item of the collections, and especially • the provenance of each item Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

13. This means that: • Museums should conduct a thorough investigation regarding the history of the object, i.e. • Legal information of the object (previous acquisitions and transactions, valid export, transfer and import according to applicable general and special protective legislation) • Special attention should be given to legislation concerning the item’s country of origin Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

14. Respect of legal information of the Country of origin • Compliance with UNESCO 1970 Convention and observation of protective legislations of the origin countries • Such compliance/observation of this legislation does not necessarily mean that museum has a valid title of any acquired item, since observation of legal standards is only a minimum. According to ICOM its CoE expects moral standards to exceed legal ones. Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

15. Therefore information regarding • Ownership of any acquired item is not necessarily a valid title (ICOM CoE Principle 2.2) And Museums are expected to • Respect other peoples’ moral or other (legitimate but not necessarily legal) rights • Report dubious circumstances to the police, other museums, colleagues and even reject acquisition or refrain from exhibition of such items. (CoE for UK Museums Principles 5.12 and 5.14, ICOM CoE Principles 4.5 and 5.1) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

16. Information Duties relating to Cultural Sensitive Material Cultural Sensitive Material could be : • remains of human bodies (e.g. mummies), • artifacts and works of art or • religious items that belong to existing ancestors of a specific tribe (e.g. Maori) or community (e.g. victims of the Nazi era) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

17. Museums’ Duties regarding to Cultural Sensitive Material • Should be acquired on exceptional basis, only if this material can be securely housed and cared with respect • The same applies to research and exhibition of such items • Such items should be treated with professional manner and with a way consistent to the beliefs and interests of the originating community • Museums should even be prepared to take into account requests for removal Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

18. Following the above duties Museums should be prepared to • Initiate dialogues for the return of cultural property to country or people of origin in an impartial manner, based on scientific, professional and humanitarian principles and following applicable local, national and international legislation, acting preferably in a political or governmental level (ICOM CoE Principle 6.2) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

19. As well as to • Cooperate to legally permitted return of cultural property, if shown by people or country of origin that a specific item has been : • exported or otherwise transferred in violation of the principles of national and international legislation and • part of such community’s cultural or national heritage Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

20. Scientific Information on Museums’ acquisitions and exhibitions • Museums are responsible for; • the care, accessibility and interpretation of collected items • promoting research in conformity with legal, ethical and professional standards and objectivity • scientific documentation for each item (identification, description, provenance, condition, treatment and present location) (ICOM CoE Principles 2.10, 3.5 and CoE for UK Museums 9.2, 9.3) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

21. Scientific Information on Museums’ acquisitions and exhibitions (cont’d) Means also that Museums should : • keep records as accurate and up to date as possible • not hesitate to record different experts’ opinions • make such information publicly accessible and widely available (CoE for UK Museums Principle 9.11) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

22. Cases of (Non-) Conformity • Institutional Information of each Museum must be disclosed to the Public: Information can be retrieved nowadays from Museum’s websites • Information duties regarding financial resources: e.g. the temporary rent of Impressionist Masters to a Las Vegas Casino (Question II) Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

23. Cases of (Non-) Conformity (cont’d) Information Duties regarding the ownership or legal provenance of the acquired item: • E.g. Return of a Maori warrior mummified head from a French Museum in Rouen to New Zealand following years of negotiations. [BBC reported that the French museum’s officials “had no idea how this item came to be in their possession”] Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

24. Cases of (Non-) Conformity (cont’d) Museums’ Duties regarding Cultural Sensitive Material (Return of items belonging to victims of Holocaust era) • A painting by Hans Baldung Grien that belonged to the German Gutmann family and was taken by the Nazis, has been returned to the descendants of its original owners. [Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum previous holder of the item returned the painting once alerted of the provenance of the painting] Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

25. Cases of (Non-) Conformity (cont’d) Scientific sensitive information, e.g. • archaeological artifacts from looted sites should not be obtained since they destroy valuable information of the context – This is not always the case: there are voices that do not disapprove museums to obtain such objects, since, otherwise, even such partial information could be lost. Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

26. Conclusions • Museums’ CoE impose a variety of Information Duties • Legal provenance and ownership of an item is of vital importance • Museums should not neglect cultural and scientific concerns for sensitive material Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

27. Conclusions (cont’d) • Conformity with the above-mentioned duties imposed by the CoE is not easy to be achieved in “hard cases” (e.g. looted items-Nazi victims) • Fear of a potential damage of the museum’s reputation or of public disapproval of its actions (e.g. a request for the return of Maori warrior head was initially rejected by the French gov.) proves to be far more effective Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis

28. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION Fore information: Espinellis@dsa/gr Museums' Information Duties by Dr. Evangelos D. Spinellis