The International Council of Museums (Icom) published Brazil Red List, a publication that names cultural objects most subject to illicit removal from the country and illegal commercialization in the international market. Brazil thus becomes the twentieth country or region to have its own Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk.
“This is one of the biggest challenges: fighting the illicit trafficking of our cultural goods,” said Minister of Culture Margareth Menezes at the Portuguese Language Museum, in São Paulo.
According to her, this type of trafficking is one of the most money-making activity in the world.
“Brazil ranks 26th in the list of countries with the highest number of stolen cultural objects and it has an extremely low recovery rate. The illicit trafficking of cultural goods represents a huge loss for Brazil because it interferes with the testimony of the civilizing process of our people. Caring for the memory and strengthening our history is a record of the map of our cultural evolution,” the minister said.
The database of the Brazilian Institute for National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) listed 974 Brazilian cultural assets that are wanted after having been stolen or robbed. Of this list, only 48 goods have been recovered.
Red Lists
The Red Lists have been published since 2000 by Icom. According to Emma Nardi, Icom’s global head, the objects featured in the Red List have not been stolen, but they are examples of the typologies of objects at risk of trafficking, and they are described and illustrated by photographs. These images help surveillance agents to identify possible illegal movements.
“To make the Red List it is important to know if the country has a strong legislation. You can only put on a Red List an object that is under protection. The Brazilian legislation is quite robust, but Brazil is a continental size country, and its borders are very porous. Then, it is necessary to understand if there is trafficking and interest in the market, and only then we start mapping what categories should be listed,” said Roberta Saraiva Coutinho, who helped draw up the Brazil Red List.
The Brazilian list took eight years to be put together. It includes five categories that are most targeted by traffickers: archaeology; sacred and religious art; ethnographic objects; paleontology; and books, documents, manuscripts, and photographs. Each of these categories contains images that illustrate objects that could attract traffickers such as indigenous headdresses and funerary urns, and the terracotta sculpture of Immaculate Conception.
“Brazil Red List is a recognition of the existing risks in our region, but also the recognition and visibility of the diversity and richness of Brazilian heritage,” said Renata Mota, executive director of the Portuguese Language Museum and head of Icom Brazil.
The list will be distributed to police and customs authorities around the world so that Brazilian objects most threatened by trafficking can be identified.
Source: Elaine Patricia Cruz – Agência Brasil – São Paulo