TY - JOUR
T1 - Between “colonial amnesia” and “victimization biases”. Double standards in Italian cultural heritage law
AU - Visconti, Arianna
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This article aims at offering a critical appraisal of the evolution of Italian cultural heritage law, with respect to issues of colonial and war restitutions and of controls over the import of potentially trafficked cultural property. As Italy is usually considered a “source country” and a victim of historical depredations, a form of “selective blindness” to its colonial past and to its role at the receiving end of both past and current misappropriations of cultural objects is discussed. Some recent restitutions of cultural property taken in times of colonial occupation are also analysed, as signals of a possible change in policy and practice, but highlighting, too, the features of political expediency which influenced them, as well as the many legal and practical obstacles still to be faced by restitution and repatriation claims. Finally, the potential effects of recent (mostly international) inputs on Italy’s cultural heritage policy are presented.
AB - This article aims at offering a critical appraisal of the evolution of Italian cultural heritage law, with respect to issues of colonial and war restitutions and of controls over the import of potentially trafficked cultural property. As Italy is usually considered a “source country” and a victim of historical depredations, a form of “selective blindness” to its colonial past and to its role at the receiving end of both past and current misappropriations of cultural objects is discussed. Some recent restitutions of cultural property taken in times of colonial occupation are also analysed, as signals of a possible change in policy and practice, but highlighting, too, the features of political expediency which influenced them, as well as the many legal and practical obstacles still to be faced by restitution and repatriation claims. Finally, the potential effects of recent (mostly international) inputs on Italy’s cultural heritage policy are presented.
KW - Italian colonialism
KW - Italian cultural heritage law
KW - colonial amnesia
KW - criminal law
KW - cultural objects acquired during colonial occupation
KW - cultural property trafficking
KW - export and import controls
KW - return and restitution claims
KW - victimization biases
KW - Italian colonialism
KW - Italian cultural heritage law
KW - colonial amnesia
KW - criminal law
KW - cultural objects acquired during colonial occupation
KW - cultural property trafficking
KW - export and import controls
KW - return and restitution claims
KW - victimization biases
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/193723
UR - https://www.doi.org/10.1017/s0940739121000345
UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-cultural-property/article/between-colonial-amnesia-and-victimization-biases-double-standards-in-italian-cultural-heritage-law/138d07a7cf070cc738d96bf98439b1de
U2 - 10.1017/S0940739121000345
DO - 10.1017/S0940739121000345
M3 - Article
SN - 0940-7391
VL - 2021
SP - 1
EP - 551
JO - International Journal of Cultural Property
JF - International Journal of Cultural Property
ER -