Misplaced national and cultural pride

Time was, people read books about faraway lands, some with illustrations, and yearned to travel and explore the exotic sights for themselves. In the past centuries, the Grand Tour, as it was known, lured the few who could afford it to go to Roman, Egyptian and Grecian ruins and experience the art for themselves.

That left 99 percent of the population without a clue as to what a pyramid really was or what a Grecian urn looked like.

Then, in the middle of the 19th century, explorers and collectors brought back artifacts and put them on display. Some early exhibits of Egyptian mummies had hundreds of thousands of people wanting to have a look, lining streets, buying tickets.

People have always collected items of interest. You go to the beach, you find a beautiful shell and, months later, you see it on your shelf back home and it reminds you of the joy of the holiday. This is the real definition of a souvenir.

But take it further. On holiday in Mexico, in a licensed shop, you buy a small jade bead said to have been found at a Mayan ruin. Or perhaps visiting Arizona you buy an antique necklace made by Navaho artisans 50 years ago. These are souvenirs, yes, but they are also things of beauty to you, treasures you value.

Now, suddenly, years later, you receive a demand from authorities telling you to return them, as they are part of the culture of the place you visited and, as such, do not belong on your dresser or mantle. Are you guilty of raiding a foreign culture? Did you, in effect, pillage that culture by buying and treasuring something?

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In Berlin last week I had a chance, again after 16 years, to stand before one of the world’s greatest sculptures: the bust of Queen Nefertiti. A magnificent work of art from 3,500 years ago, it was the master sculptor’s model for all the busts he made of Pharaoh Akhenaton’s queen. This bust is considered to be one of the greatest Egyptian treasures anywhere in the world. Egypt wants it back.

It was excavated legally, with a then-government permit, fees all paid and proper, in 1912. The dig was a foreign one, the destiny of anything found to be sent to collections worldwide capable of looking after the finds and — here is the important part — capable of studying and promoting the magnificence of the culture of Egypt’s past. At the time, such digs were both of disinterest in Egypt and beyond any scientific study by local experts.

There were times, all over the world, when tombs were raided in the dead of night, when artworks were pillaged off sacred monuments, or when the vanquished watched in dismay as the conquerors took war trophies back home. There are museums right here in America that either have such dubious ownership pieces on display or that  have, in the past, pretended that stolen or looted items were above board (and shame-facedly had to send them back later). Criminal artwork that is traded globally is not what should be in question.

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However, artwork — treasure — that was properly and carefully handled for the betterment of the whole world, to open the vision of the masses of people who will never travel so far, should not be confused with “missing items of our civilization� as Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Antiquities Council, has claimed all museum displays of Egyptian antiquities to be.

It is understandable he wants Nefertiti back: It is unique. And it is understandable that Greece wants the Elgin Marbles back from the British Museum, and that Hawass also wants the bust of Ankhaf back from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Understandable from their point of view because they would be a solid attraction to the public there (and tourism) for centuries to come.

But they are missing a critical point here. For starters, these relics and treasures have been the spur, the genesis of all Western societies’ interest in those ancient cultures in both study and tourism. And, never least, the study of those ancient civilizations has been, up until recently, almost 100 percent a Western discipline. Where would Hawass’ knowledge be if the great museums of the West had not undertaken expensive study?

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And there is another problem with Hawass’ contention that all national art belongs in the country of origin. Picasso, Manet and Monet died French citizens. Does that mean every Picasso, Manet and Monet should be returned to France? They were bought and paid for legally, so why should recidivist law apply?

If Hawass has his way, in time all such paintings and art will have to flow back to the country of origin. And that would deprive France and art admirers worldwide the pleasure of broadening horizons, of accepting the common destiny of all mankind, the shared cultural heritage.

In the end, it does not matter if Nefertiti’s sculptor was Egyptian and worked on the banks of the Nile. His creation is testimony to all mankind’s ability and desire, no matter where the bust now rests, safe and sound, protected for almost a century after having been found in the dust where no one cared, viewed by thousands every day, many of whom will, one day, want to go and experience Egypt for themselves.

Peter Riva, formerly of Amenia Union, lives in New Mexico.