Event: WEDS TALKS: Ethical and Legal Obligations of Conservators to Stolen Cultural Heritage

ABSTRACT: Conservators have a responsibility to care for and protect cultural heritage materials. When it comes to the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage materials, there are many opinions throughout conservation about what to do in the case of treatment. As will be discussed, there are formal ethical guidelines for the profession of both conservators and museums. In order to fulfill these professional responsibilities, conservators may be tempted to knowingly treat illicitly trafficked cultural heritage property as a preventative measure. This is done with a genuine hope that one day this cultural heritage will be recovered, and by treating it now, the object has a better chance of surviving to that point. This is also grounded, in part, by the history of unethically but legally acquired cultural heritage in museums that conservators are responsible for caring for. In comparing these ethics with the legal framework within the United States, this talk will explore what, if any, are conservators’ ethical obligations to stolen artifacts and, in practice, what are the legal risks associated with treating a potentially stolen object.

BIO: Paige Hilman received her BA in Art History with a minor in Arts Administration from the University of Arizona and certificate in Field Archaeology from Pima Community College. Prior to starting her MA, she worked with the National Park Service as a Conservation Assistant, serving the Intermountain Region. Her research interests include archaeological ceramics from the American Southwest, provenance research, and conservation ethics.