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US museums have come under fire over the way they acquire antiquities after Greece, Italy and Peru have demanded the return of ancient pieces from American institutions.
European museums have usually been the ones needing to answer over their acquisitions of artifacts collected during colonial days, but American institutions have faced demands for the return of allegedly looted antiquities.
To improve the transparency of acquisitions, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) released new guidelines last month on loans of antiquities and ancient art.
The guidelines, among other things, say loans should conform to US laws, while lenders should provide evidence of a work of art's provenance history and museums must be prepared to undertake additional inquiries if appropriate.
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) applauded the effort but still saw "shortcomings" in the new guidelines, saying that they failed to require that acquisitions comply with the laws of the country of origin.
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, founded in 1954 by the finance and oil magnate Jean Paul Getty, has been hit by demands from Italy and Greece, both urging the return of antiquities that they believe were stolen.
Marion True, the museum's former curator, and art dealer Robert Hecht, are on trial in Rome accused of knowingly acquiring antiquities stolen in Italy.
Last month, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art signed with Italy a deal on the return of disputed antiquities, including a 2,500-year-old Greek vase that has been the centerpiece of the museum's holdings for decades.
In exchange for the return of the treasures, Italy will loan the Met objects of "similar importance and beauty," according to the accord.
Peru is the latest country to ask a US institution to return ancient objects.
The Andean nation's government has demanded that Yale University give back pieces brought to the United States by archaelogist Hiram Bingham between 1911-1915 after he found the Machu Picchu Inca citadel.
Unlike the Getty and Met cases, however, Peru is not accusing Yale of acquiring stolen artifacts. The dispute is to decide whether Peru had agreed to loan or permanently give the objects to Yale and Bingham.
Still, Jane Waldbaum, the president of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), said the Peru case was part of a trend.
"It seems to be part of the same wave of claims that countries are now making," Waldbaum said. "What Italy has done in making the claims ... is pave the way for other countries to do the same kind of thing."
Waldbaum denounced the acquisition policies of US museums.
"Most museums either don't have a public acquisitions policy or it's inadequate and it's very, very difficult to find what their policies are," she said.
Waldbaum said it is difficult for many countries to police archaelogical site, making them vulnerable to looting.
"Countries like Peru, or Guatemala or Belize, they have laws, but what they don't have is sufficient funds to enforce them properly," she said.
"And it's very difficult to police archeological sites all over your whole country when you don't even know where all of them are. The looters get there first."
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AFPEntertainment-US-museum
AFP 091129 GMT 03 06
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