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Showing posts with label underwater archaeology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label underwater archaeology. Show all posts
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The Untold Story of Cultural Heritage, World War II, and the PacificShipwreck Ethics
Edward Rodley, senior Exhibit Director at Boston's Museum of Science (MoS), has written an article titled "The Ethics of Exhibiting Salvaged Shipwrecks," published in October's issue of Curator: The Museum Journal. The article coincidentally appears as the MoS hosts a special exhibition sponsored by commercial maritime salvor Odyssey Marine Exploration called SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure.
Curator magazine describes Rodley's article as follows:
"The contentious relationship between cultural heritage professionals and commercial entities is nowhere more fraught than in underwater archeological sites. More and more often, museums are drawn into this conflict through hosting traveling exhibitions. This article explores the ethical issues in two shipwreck exhibitions, Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, and Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship, and the specific responses museums have made to address the ethical issues around commercial exploitation of cultural heritage. The article calls for museums to be more thoughtful and deliberate consumers, and embrace their potential as safe venues for exploring ethical dilemmas these sites embody."
Ed Rodley is a museum professional with a background in archaeology. I spoke with Rodley about why he wrote the article. He replied in an email excerpted below.
"Museum exhibitions are one of the main venues where the general public encounters archaeology, yet ethical issues get little to no acknowledgement or discussion in most exhibitions. In my experience, responses by the broader museum community to ethical issues tend to break down into either A) avoiding anything controversial, or B) pretending that there is no controversy by ignoring it. Both of these strategies deny the public the opportunity to explore these issues.
"I wanted to highlight the inadequacy of those responses and hopefully stimulate some discussion of other responses to controversy.
"I wrote the article to focus on museum responses to two underwater cultural heritage controversies; the Belitung wreck from Indonesia and the Whydah Galley. They are perfect examples of the dilemmas that face anyone working in cultural heritage. The different responses to these exhibitions are instructive for any museum thinking about hosting these kinds of exhibitions.
"Museums have the potential to be that ideal third space where people can engage with challenging ideas, and feel safe doing it. If the article encourages more conversation about ways museums can actually participate in the debate, then I'd consider it well worth the effort."
The article is worth a read. Those wishing to learn even more about underwater heritage issues may find last year's Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation conference of interest. The program may be viewed online here.
US Supreme Court Rules Against Odyssey Marine's Request for Stay
The US Supreme Court has denied Odyssey Marine Exploration's application for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari (i.e. a request to have the court review the case). Justice Clarence Thomas ruled on the matter today, docketed at 11A745.
Days ago the eleventh circuit court of appeals ruled in the case of Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Kingdom of Spain, et al. that Odyssey could not postpone the return of the so-called Black Swan treasure to Spain while the commercial salvor appealed the case to the nation's highest court. Odyssey took the items from a Spanish galleon--the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes--that sank in 1804 and was discovered in 2007. Spain has contended that the galleon is a Spanish warship subject to protection from salvage.
On February 3, attorneys for Odyssey Marine filed their application to stay the court of appeals' decision. The supreme court's denial followed on February 9.
CONTACT: http://www.culturalheritagelawyer.com/
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| Associate Justice Clarence Thomas |
Days ago the eleventh circuit court of appeals ruled in the case of Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Kingdom of Spain, et al. that Odyssey could not postpone the return of the so-called Black Swan treasure to Spain while the commercial salvor appealed the case to the nation's highest court. Odyssey took the items from a Spanish galleon--the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes--that sank in 1804 and was discovered in 2007. Spain has contended that the galleon is a Spanish warship subject to protection from salvage.
On February 3, attorneys for Odyssey Marine filed their application to stay the court of appeals' decision. The supreme court's denial followed on February 9.
CONTACT: http://www.culturalheritagelawyer.com/
Court Orders Odyssey Marine to Return Black Swan Treasure to Spain
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| A Spanish galleon. |
The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Odyssey Marine’s motion to stay a decision ordering the commercial salvor to return coins and objects to Spain. The so-called treasures of the "Black Swan" (the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes) were taken from the sunken 19th century Spanish galleon, discovered by Odyssey in 2007 “lying at a depth of approximately 1100 meters, beyond the territorial waters or contiguous zone of any sovereign nation approximately 100 miles west of the Straits of Gibraltar,” according to court records.
The case has persisted since April 9, 2007. That is when Odyssey Marine filed a complaint in federal district court in Tampa, Florida under admiralty and maritime law (known as an admiralty in rem action). The salvor argued that it should either own the shipwrecked vessel under the law of finds (a type of “finders keepers” claim) or it should be entitled to “a liberal salvage award” from the vessel under the law of salvage. Odyssey lost the case, and the case now captioned as Odyssey Marine Exploration v. Kingdom of Spain et al. continues.
Last September, the federal circuit court of appeals upheld the lower district court’s decision that ordered Odyssey “to release the recovered res [i.e. the shipwreck materials] to the custody of Spain.” Odyssey hoped to stay this decision as it appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The company argued in its December 2, 2011 petition to the circuit court that once it delivered materials to Spain the objects would not be returned to Odyssey if the salvor ultimately won the case in the highest court in the land. That is because it is "Spain's position that it is not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Courts ....," according to the motion. Odyssey also cited its belief that there are seven legal errors that remain to be challenged in the case. The appellate court was unpersuaded, writing by hand the word “denied” on its final order issued Tuesday.
At stake for Odyssey is a haul reportedly worth $500 million. For Spain, “[t]his sentence gives Spaniards back what was already theirs,” according to culture minister José Ignacio Wert who was quoted in The Daily Mail.
Hat tip to Gary Nurkin for forwarding The Daily Mail story.
CONTACT: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com
Keeping the Lid on Davy Jones' Locker: The Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage from Titanic to Today
[UPDATE Nov. 15, 2011: The conference was very successful.]
CONTACT INFORMATION: http://www.culturalheritagelawyer.com/.
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