museum-security September 22, 1997

http://museum-security.org
securma@museum-security.org

september 15 - 22, 1997
- Committees Commend Ton Cremers
- Hearing set for antiques dealer
- World recognition raises hopes for ruined monastery
- Loch Lomond to be first Scots national park
- Re: (Fwd) Committees Commend Ton Cremers
- Blind man 'has key to Tsar's secret library' (800 missing manuscripts
and books)
- Don't reward criminals for returning stolen art
- Moderator's message
- Faker of the FO saves old masters for the nation (A strange report)
- Stolen Van Gogh recovered in Belgium (good news, but still: how
good this happen.....)
- Re: Dealing with Art Thieves (A "cop's" view on Isabella Stewart
Gardner negotiations)
-Forwarded UNESCO message

Committees Commend Ton Cremers
To subscribers of Museum Security Mailinglist:
Allow me to proudly forward the following message to you.
(Do not worry: I will stay as modest as ever, but I really do
appreciate this recognition!)
Ton Cremers

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: IntlArtCop@aol.com
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 21:34:14 -0400 (EDT)
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject: Committees Commend Ton Cremers
For Immediate Release
The two leading museum security committees in the U.S. met on Sunday
September 7, 1997 in St. Louis in conjunction with the American Society for
Industrial Security's Annual Seminars and Exhibits. A joint resolution was
passed commending Ton Cremers and the Museum Security Network for outstanding
service. The resolution, which will be mailed to Mr. Cremers in the form of
a certificate, reads as follows:
"The Museum, Library and Cultural Property Committee of the American Society
for Industrial Security and The Museum Association Security Committee of the
American Association of Museums wish to commend Ton Cremers and the Museum
Security Network for providing an outstanding service to the World's cultural
property community. Your hard work and dedication have provided an important
resource for museum and cultural property protection and the most important
means of international communication regarding museum security issues ever
developed. Proclaimed by your peers this date, September 7, 1997."
The certificate was signed by the Chairmen of both committees.
On behalf of the Committees, it is my pleasure to present this proclamation
electronically in the presence of those who rely on your almost-daily reports
to keep informed of what is happening with regard to cultural property
security issues. Keep up the good work!
Steve Keller, CPP
---------------------

Hearing set for antiques dealer
By Globe Staff, 09/13/97
On Oct. 29 hearing was set yesterday on state gun and drug charges
against William P. Youngworth III, the Randolph antiques dealer who
says he can broker the return of artwork stolen from the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum. Youngworth was in Norfolk Superior Court with
his lawyer Howard Lewis. Martin K. Leppo of Randolph, who represents
convicted art thief Myles J. Connor Jr., also reputed to have
information on the missing art, said he may join Youngworth's defense
team for his upcoming trial on charges of possessing a stolen van,
possession of ammunition, and being a habitual criminal.
This story ran on page B05 of the Boston Globe on 09/13/97. c
Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
--------------------------

World recognition raises hopes for ruined monastery
BY RUSSELL JENKINS
A VICTORIAN monastery stripped bare by vandals and left to crumble
in the elements has been declared one of the world's hundred most
important endangered buildings. The Monastery of St Francis, in
Gorton, Manchester, was the spiritual home for its inner-city flock
for more than 100 years after its consecration in 1872. But its
congregation disappeared with the slum clearances and, after the
Franciscan friars left in 1989, its redbrick and stone splendour fell
into ruin. The monastery is one of four British buildings put on the
"most endangered" list by the World Monuments Fund, based in New
York. The others are the Mussenden Temple, a rotunda built on the
Northern Ireland coast by the Earl of Bristol in 1783, the St Vincent
Street Church in Glasgow and the Hadlow Tower in Kent. They join more
imposing and better-known buildings, such as the Alexander Palace in
St Petersburg. The aim of the fund is to identify "eminent and
unsung" buildings in need and match them with sources of funding. So
far more than Ł2.5 million has been provided by American Express and
other donors to help those on last year's list. The Grade II listed
Gorton monastery was built by the leading neo-Gothic architect Edwin
Welby Pugin and was considered the most beautiful parish church in
the North of England. Now its statues have been stolen, the roof is
exposed and the interior has been damaged by fire. Last year it was
offered a new lease of life when a charitable trust was launched to
restore it. Elaine Griffiths, the chairman, said: "It is incredible
to think that the building will be included among some of the world's
greatest architectural landmarks. We can now apply for much-needed
cash to repair the monastery and, with a lottery bid, I don't see
what can stop Gorton's magnificent monument from being saved."
--------------------------

Loch Lomond to be first Scots national park
BY SHIRLEY ENGLISH
SCOTLAND'S first national park, covering Loch Lomond and The
Trossachs, is to be established by a newly formed Scottish parliament
early in the next millennium. The government pledge comes almost 50
years after national parks were introduced in England and Wales and
aims to close "a major gap" in the conservation of places of
outstanding natural beauty and importance north of the border. The
plans were announced by Donald Dewar, the Scottish Secretary, and
Labour's expected control of the new parliament makes it certain the
scheme will be approved. Mr Dewar said the Scottish version of the
national park would not be a direct import of the English and Welsh
models, but would be designed to meet the particular needs of
Scotland. "I see national parks here as integrating economic
development with the proper protection of the natural heritage," he
said. "We are looking for a sustainable approach where the
requirements of economic and social development are balanced with
those of conservation." Scottish Natural Heritage, the government
conservation body, will now identify other areas in Scotland that may
benefit from national park status and draw up proposals with local
authorities. The Cairngorms are likely to be added to the list.
Yesterday Malcolm Payne, of the Scottish Council for National Parks,
said: "This is what we have been awaiting for 60 years." Hannah
Stirling, from Tarbet, who founded Friends of Loch Lomond in 1978 to
stop a hydro-electric development there, also welcomed the plans, but
said they should be introduced immediately to reverse the area's
environmental decline. Unfettered growth of power boats,
unsympathetic commercial developments, and the litter dropped by five
million tourists each year were just some of the problems, she said.
The Scottish countryside is protected by a range of schemes, but
areas have been left vulnerable because none has planning powers,
which remain with the local authorities.
----------------------

From: Appraiserl@aol.com
Date sent: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 22:08:00 -0400 (EDT)
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Committees Commend Ton Cremers

Ton! (or should we call you Mr. Cremers!?)
Congratulations on the formal recoginition you deserve!
Most of us who are enlightened and informed by your diligent work on
our behalf know the hours you spend and we appreciate it more than you
could ever know.
It is nice to see that other organizations outside the SML community
also appreciate your endeavors.
Again, congratulations!
Pam Scoville
------------------------

Blind man 'has key to Tsar's secret library' (800 missing manuscripts
and books)
(Times of London)
AN ELDERLY and blind Moscow pensioner claims to have the key
to one of Russia's most enduring historical riddles: the whereabouts
of Ivan the Terrible's secret library, hidden beneath the Kremlin
for more than four centuries. At a meeting on Monday in his tiny flat
this week with Yuri Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, Apalos Ivanov, 87, said
that he had visited the maze of tunnels beneath Russia's seat of
power and established where the hundreds of unique books and
manuscripts must have been hidden. According to Tass, Mr Ivanov asked
Mr Luzhkov to help to secure the necessary permission and fund an
archaeological team to find the lost library. The fate of the
estimated 800 books and manuscripts has fascinated historians since
they were lost during the reign of Ivan IV, known as the Terrible
(1530-1584). Although the library carries the name of the most
notorious Tsar, he inherited most of the collection, assembled by his
grandfather, Ivan the Great. The library is thought to have contained
some of the earliest books written in Russian, but it is made up
mostly of Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Egyptian manuscripts transferred
to Russia by Sophia Palaeologa, niece of the last Byzantine Emperor,
who married Ivan the Great. Historians know about the existence of
the library because Ivan the Terrible instructed scribes to translate
the books into Russian, although none of the scholars was allowed
access to the entire collection. According to legend, the library
once filled three halls and was so valued by Ivan the Terrible that
he built a vault to protect them from the fires that regularly swept
Moscow. Historians are divided on what happened after Ivan's death.
Some believe that the literary treasure was destroyed by fire in
1547, 1571 or 1611. Another possibility is that the manuscripts and
books were removed from Moscow and taken to Sergeyev Posad, 50 miles
north of the capital, where Ivan moved his court in the latter part
of his reign. Historians, archaeologists, Peter the Great and even
the Vatican have searched fruitlessly for the missing library for
hundreds of years. One historian, who dedicated his professional life
to discovering the treasure, was blocked at every attempt by the
Kremlin's huge walls and foundations. After the murder of the
Bolshevik leader Sergei Kirov in Leningrad in 1934, which became
the pretext for Stalin's purges, the Soviet authorities tightened
security at the Kremlin and banned any further searches.
However, last year German Sterligov, a former businessman and
amateur historian, said that he was going to resume the hunt using
X-ray equipment. He planned to concentrate his efforts away from
the Kremlin because he was convinced that Stalin's secret police
had combed every inch of the fortification. Some unkind critics of Mr
Luzhkov have suggested that the latest hunt could simply be a
publicity stunt timed to coincide with the 850th anniversary
celebrations of Moscow's founding. Others are convinced that this
time the missing collection will be found, not least because Mr
Ivanov is blind. According to legend, anyone coming close to solving
the mystery of the library loses his sight.
---------------

Don't reward criminals for returning stolen art
By Liz Casey Dorchester, 09/16/97
It is so disgusting to me that any person of any ethics would even
entertain the possibility of a pardon for the likes of Myles Connor
and William Youngworth in exchange for stolen art. It seems whoever
robbed the Gardner museum hasn't been able to sell the art. Now
Connor and Youngworth will get the $5 million reward and Connor's
release! Does this make sense in any just society -especially in one
where brutality and theft are becoming acceptable daily modes of
behavior? Is it reasonable that the rules of crime and punishment and
respect for public laws and well-being should be subverted to benefit
these puny thugs? An endowed museum gets back its valuable art
pieces, and justice is left flailing. It's despicable. Don't do it.
This story ran on page A16 of the Boston Globe on
09/16/97.
-----------------------
Moderator's message:
This collection of reports also includes a forwarded UNESCO message.
For those of you who are on the UNESCO mailinglist this is a
duplicate message. The contents of the UNESCO message is too
important not to take the risk of duplication.
TC
---------------------------------

Faker of the FO saves old masters for the nation
by Jonathan Carr-Brown and Maurice Chittenden
OUR man in Havana took second place yesterday to our man with the
fake Vermeer. Hundreds of people queued from early morning to get a
tour of the Foreign Office as part of Robin Cook's commitment to open
government. Among them was Leo Stevenson, artist, "pasticheur" and
"replicator" who was dressed as if going to an exhibition in striped
blazer, black shirt and paisley bow-tie. In a sense he was:
Stevenson's job is to fake art treasures in government buildings so
that the originals are safe from thieves. All was not what it seemed
as thousands of people were guided through elegant state rooms and
down ornate staircases. The bust of Wellington inside the entrance to
the India Office? Sadly, it was not the original by the sculptor Sir
Peter Turnerelli done from live sittings circa 1815 to celebrate the
triumph of Waterloo. It is a Stevenson copy circa 1992 done in a
studio in Brixton, south London. Stevenson said: "It's in a heroic
style. It took me 150 hours and you'd never be able to tell it's not
marble." George Myers, 68, a retired civil servant visiting the
Foreign Office from his home in west London, was convinced: "It looks
180 years old and you can only tell it's not marble when you touch
it." The bronze of Sir Robert Montgomery, the administrator whose
great feat was to disarm four regiments of sepoys during the Indian
mutiny, is another Stevenson replica. "He got off the bus in the
late 1800s. I had to do it from a poor photograph and a photocopy
of the original bust," Stevenson said. When not sculpting, Stevenson,
39, from Brockley in southeast London, paints replicas of old masters
for National Trust properties and restores houses for English
Heritage. He has emulated artists from Vermeer to Monet to Magritte
but hates the word "faker". "I work in restoring and conservation. My
speciality is making copies of works of art, both paintings and
sculptures. Hopefully nobody can tell the difference between my work
and the original, but the final product depends on how much people
pay," he said. The Foreign Office, opening its doors to the public
this weekend after a multi-million-pound restoration program
lasting more than 10 years, admits that many of its works of art are
reproductions. Eighty yards of the period Guilloche moulding on the
ceiling were faithfully recreated by Stevenson. The real Turnerelli
bust of Wellington is in the British Library. "Many of the originals
are on display to the public all year round in museums," said a
Foreign Office spokesman. It is now planning to commission Stevenson
to recreate a lifesize statue of a Gurkha soldier sculpted by Richard
Goulden. The original is in the British Museum. After art school
Stevenson worked as a restorer for the British Museum for six years.
He can spend hundreds of hours reproducing every detail of a painting
or sculpture and has received five-figure sums for copies of
particularly complex 17th-century Dutch artists. Some of his clients
own the originals but are prevented from hanging the paintings by
insurance costs. Others do not want to admit they have had to sell
their original works of art to make ends meet. Painting has become
less technically challenging with time: impressionists are in turn
easier than old masters to copy while contemporary art is the next
easiest to imitate. One odd commission was from the Central
Intelligence Agency. It was trying to trap Pablo Escobar, the
Colombian drugs baron who was laundering millions through the art
market. Escobar was shot and Stevenson did not get paid.
His greatest labour was 800 hours on a Vermeer entitled The Art of
Painting which now hangs in his home. Stevenson protects his own work
from being mistaken for the genuine article with invisible sign-offs
that would be picked up by x-ray. He recently painted The Concert by
Vermeer and included the words "Elvis lives" underneath the lute.
--------------------------

Stolen Van Gogh recovered in Belgium
08:07 p.m Sep 19, 1997 Eastern
BRUSSELS, Sept 19 (Reuter) - Belgian police on Friday recovered a
painting by Vincent Van Gogh two weeks after it was stolen from
Antwerp's Fine Arts Museum, Belgian radio said. Two men were arrested
in Antwerp after police found the painting in the boot of a car they
were driving, but the radio said it was not clear whether they had
been involved in the theft. The oil-on-paper sketch entitled ``The
potato picker'' was not damaged. It has been valued at 30 million
francs ($800,000).
REUTER
-----------------------------

From: IntlArtCop@aol.com
Date sent: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 23:54:43 -0400 (EDT)
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject: Re: Dealing with Art Thieves

Regarding the Boston Globe article critical of the concept of
negotiating the return of the Gardner Museum art by dealing with the
unsavory alleged con men who claim to be able to arrange their
return, I must disagree with the Globe on this one. They claim that
while the art would be returned, justice would be the victim.
As any of my colleagues who were former law enforcement officers will
attest, deals are made every single day that do greater harm to
justice than this exchange would. I say, get the art back. These
thugs were, in my opinion, probably involved in some way in this or
similar unsavory acts and if so, they will not mend their ways now. As
a police detective in Washington, D.C. I often overlooked drug
possession and similar offenses by my informants in exchange for solid
information where I could close bigger cases. But I never forgot who
I was dealing with and when the information stopped flowing, I was
watching. Sooner or later they did another crime and then I moved in.
Deal with these guys, get the art back, then turn them over to the
IRS (unmerciful and extremely bureaucratic tax collector and auditor
for you Europeans unfamiliar with U.S. law). Hell hath no fury like a
tax audit. Screw up their passport so they are apprehended "by
mistake" when they come and go through the borders. Lose their
Social Security records (government pension plan). Make their
unsavory nature known to the credit bureau. Even slime balls need a
Visa card. Tie them up in civil litigation beyond their means to pay
for their defense. Give me a day with a computer and I can wreak so
much havoc with these guys they'll move to Antarctica for relief.
What ever happened to good law enforcement, anyway. "On the street"
we dealt with this type of thing all the time. I remember apprehending
a former drug dealing snitch after he stopped cooperating. It was on a
number of minor charges but the judge threw the book at him knowing
his past transgressions. Get those paintings back then pursue the bad
guys for every technicality you can find. Some might argue that my
type of justice is justice corrupted. I guess I was a cop too long.
My type of justice is justice corrupted only if it is unleashed on
innocent citizens. In the world of law enforcement we know who is
slime and who isn't and this type of justice is effective and "just".
To lose the opportunity to recover the stolen Gardner paintings out
of a false concept that the transaction would corrupt the justice
system is bizarre. We let "big" criminals go free all the time in
exchange for bigger criminals or the common good. Why is this any
different?
Steve Keller, CPP
------------------
-----UNESCO FORWARDED MESSAGE----------
From: owner-whnews@unesco.org
Date sent: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:56:32 +0100
WHNEWS 14.5 (18 September 1997)
Sender: owner-whnews@unesco.org

Contents
News:
* UNESCO LAUNCHES APPEAL TO SAFEGUARD ISLAND OF MOZAMBIQUE
* GREAT BARRIER REEF (AUSTRALIA) HIGH COURT APPEAL UNDERWAY
* FIRE AT MACHU PICCHU, PERU, 6-11 SEPTEMBER
* WORKSHOP FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGERS ON DISASTER
PLANNING FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND NEW INDEPEDENT
STATES SKOPJE - OHRID, FYR OF MACEDONIA, 13-17 SEPTEMBER

Announcements:
* UNESCO COURIER FEATURES "THE STATE OF THE WORLD HERITAGE" IN
SEPTEMBER ISSUE
* PUBLICATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
SYMPOSIUM IN HILDESHEIM, GERMANY: WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE -
A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
* NEW E-MAIL MAILING LIST FOR INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION:
ICONS_L
* ERRATA

** UNESCO LAUNCHES APPEAL TO SAFEGUARD ISLAND OF MOZAMBIQUE
Paris, September 3 (No. 97 - 136) - UNESCO'S Director-General
Federico Mayor launched yesterday in Maputo an international appeal
to safeguard the Island of Mozambique. He also inaugurated, on behalf
of the United Nations System, a trust fund to implement the Agenda
for the Sustainable Development and Integral Conservation of the
World Heritage Site of the Island of Mozambique. UNESCO is
contributing US$100,000 to the fund, said Mr Mayor. The Island of
Mozambique situated in the province of Nampoula, northern Mozambique,
was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991. A strategic port of
call on the route to India, major slave market and former
administrative capital of Mozambique, the island's architecture forms
a unique ensemble which mingles local traditions, Portuguese
influence and, to a lesser degree, Indian and Arabic influences. Mr
Mayor declared, after a visit to the island, "UNESCO's international
campaigns to safeguard Abu Simbel in Egypt, Borobudur in Indonesia
and the island of Goree in Senegal are well known. Hence I am
extremely pleased to continue UNESCO's tradition in appealing to the
international community to come together in supporting the
conservation of the site of the Island of Mozambique, and the
sustainable development of its people and its environment." "The rich
history of the Island of Mozambique," he added, "can also be traced
in its architectural environment, which reflects different periods
and the influences of different cultures. This living testimony to a
distinctive community built through diversity has had, and still
faces, several difficulties." The island has suffered from economic
decline and most of its buildings are partially or entirely
abandoned. To revive the island's development, UNESCO and the
government of Mozambique will establish a Regional Craft Centre and a
Youth Educational and Training Centre. The estimated cost for the
island's development programme - under UNESCO's technical guidance -
is about US$11 million. UNESCO and the government of Mozambique are
in the process of organizing a donor's meeting in early 1998. UNDP
created the trust fund with an initial contribution of US$300,000;
UNDP's representative in Mozambique, Emmanuel Dierckx de Casterle,
announced yesterday a further deposit of US$300,000 for the
implementation of the programme. In addition, the government of
Finland has provided an associate architect for UNESCO's World
Heritage Center.
****

** GREAT BARRIER REEF (AUSTRALIA) HIGH COURT APPEAL UNDERWAY
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 1997 13:50:12 +1000 (EST)
From: David John Haigh <david.haigh@jcu.edu.au>
The High Court appeal is underway so a note below.
"The controversy in Australia over the countries largest tourist
development being constructed adjacent to and in Hinchinbrook Channel
of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area continues in the
courts. The Friends of Hinchinbrook Society on Wednesday 3rd
September filed an application for special leave to appeal to the
High Court of Australia. The appeal is from the decision of the Full
Federal Court of Australia which supported the Commonwealth Minister
for the Environment's decision to consent to the development. The
Society case rests largely on whether or not to agree with Justice
(now Chief Justice) Brennan's view in the Tasmanian Dams Case in 1983
that the dominant duty of a Party to the Convention is to protect the
World Heritage. "Presentation" is subservient to "protection in
Article 4. The application is likely to be heard before Xmas. The
developer has indicated he intends to continue work such as dredging
the channel even though dredging would be prevented if the Society
wins the case."
**************

** FIRE AT MACHU PICCHU, PERU, 6-11 SEPTEMBER
Between 6 and 11 September, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, were
threatened by a large brush fire, eventually consuming over 800
hectares of mountain forest. At one time more than 400 firefighters
pumped water on the dense vegetation on the hills surrounding the
World Heritage site to prevent the fire from reaching the ruins. The
fire was believed to have been started by local farmers burning weeds
on the bank of the nearby Urubamba River to clear farmland. The fire
was eventually brought under control on Thursday, 11 September after
torrential rains put an end to the five-day old fire. The site, Peru's
most popular tourist destination, was reopened to the public on
Friday, 12 September.
**************

** WORKSHOP FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGERS ON DISASTER PLANNING
FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND NEW INDEPEDENT STATES
SKOPJE - OHRID, FYR OF MACEDONIA, 13-17 SEPTEMBER
In an effort to encourage coordinated disaster planning, mitigation
and relief, the United Nations General Assembly established 1990-2000
as the international Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).
As disaster management strategies evolve at local, national
and international levels, it is essential to assure inclusion of the
cultural heritage - sites, structures and monuments, as well as
museums, libraries, archives and their contents. A deliberate effort
is required, as emergency management commonly focuses on humanitarian
and strategic concerns. under a grant by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to the
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Dr. Sultan
Barakat, Director, Post- War Reconstruction and Development Unit,
University of York. U K., and Arlene K. Fleming, Cultural Resource
Management Consultant in the U.S.A., proposed a series of regional
workshops to foster integration of cultural heritage into disaster
management. Lazar Sumanov, president, ICOMOS-Macedonia, offered to
host the first regional workshop. It will be followed by an
international electronic forum on issues and successful practices.

WORKSHOP PURPOSE AND METHOD
To create national strategies for integrating cultural heritage into
disaster planning, mitigation and relief, at local and national levels
with regional and international cooperation.
Pairs of representatives from the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe and the New Independent States - one in disaster management,
and one in cultural heritage management - will discuss the challenges
and procedures for accomplishing this integration. Examples of
successful strategies will be presented and discussed, emphasising the
deliberate effort needed to assure inclusion of cultural heritage.
Each pair of representatives will report on the status of disaster
planning and cultural management in their nation, and will formulate
an appropriate plan of action.
For information: Dr. Sultan Barakat or Robert Brukner, PRDU,
University of York, e-mail: iaas3@york.ac.uk, fax: +44 1 904 433949
****************

** UNESCO COURIER FEATURES "THE STATE OF THE WORLD HERITAGE" IN
SEPTEMBER ISSUE
The September 1997 issue of the UNESCO Courier is devoted to World
Heritage. The 52-page edition contains fifteen articles, highlighting
themes ("Cultural Landscapes," the "Modern Movement," "Sacred
Mountains") individual sites ("A Canal in Southern France", "Three
Highland Villages in Japan"), as well as individual pieces by
historians, archaeologists, and journalists. For information on
ordering, see http://www.unesco.org/general/eng/publish/
courrier/index.html or write unesco.courier@unesco.org, Fax : +33 1
45.68.57.45.
******************

** PUBLICATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM IN
HILDESHEIM, GERMANY: WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE - A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
The organizers of a symposium on world cultural heritage, held in
Hildesheim, Germany 23 February - 1 March 1997 have announced the
publication of the proceedings of this symposium, entitled: "World
Cultural Heritage: A Global Challenge." The work contains all the
presentations and the resolution adopted at this week-long conference.
Seven representative projects from all five continents demonstrate
the problems and possible preservation measures of cultural sites
under threat. The African contribution is concerned with the
preservation of the old city of Islamic Cairo. For the American
continent, the archaeologist Walter Alva Alva describes the
spectacular excavation of several graves of princes of the Moche
culture (c.400 AD) on the pyramid field of Sipan in northern Peru.
The Asian project, presented by Prof. Yuan ZhongYi, the Director of
the Museum of Qin Shi Huangdi's Terracotta Warriors and Horses,
focuses on the excavation work carried out on the tomb of the first
emperor of China. The Australian Kakadu National Park with aboriginal
rock paintings stands for a joint park management of indigenous and
non-indigenous people. Three projects in Europe are represented,
including efforts to restore sacred works of art in Dubrovnik, the
conservation of frescoes in Arezzo, Italy, and the preservation of
Jewish cemeteries in Hannover and Berlin, Germany.
Other articles include experts from leading international
institutions.
Price: DEM 68.--
For more information, contact: Stadt Hildesheim, Mr. Nowak
Markt 1, D-31134 Hildesheim, Germany
*****************
** NEW E-MAIL MAILING LIST FOR INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION: ICONS_L
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 08:29:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Preston Hardison <pdh@u.washington.edu>
Subject: ICONS Conservation Software Mailing List
ICONS_L. The International Conservation Networking System Mailing
List We have opened the ICONS_L mailing list for discussing issues
related to the International Conservation Networking System (ICONS),
a relational database management system in support of networking on
biodiversity and conservation issues, and for information management
by indigenous and community-based organizations. ICONS provides basic
structures for the management of bibliographies, organizational and
expertise directories, projects and events, laws, geographic areas,
species information, Internet resources, indigenous and local
communities, data custodians, acronyms and topical discussions and
definitions in an encyclopedia. The software also provides a number
of look-up tables that can be used to provide authoritative
information in the other databases. This list is intended to serve
the community of people and organizations using the ICONS software by
providing technical support, and to encourage others to help us
improve the software through critical evaluation and positive
suggestions. The list can also be used for introductions and notices
about similar community-based projects, and to propose ways in which
the ICONS Project might create partnerships with these efforts.
Because the ICONS Project works with local and indigenous communities
and involves data sharing, it raises issues about computer standards,
intellectual property law and ethical guidelines for information
exchange. These issues also have a place on this list. We will use
the questions posed to this list to construct a set of frequently
asked questions (FAQ), which we will make available on the ICONS Web
site (http://www.iucn.org/icons). Over time, this can provide a
knowledge base for answering many of the technical and data exchange
issues for ICONS. The ICONS software is available for free download
for non-profit and Educational activities at:
http://www.iucn.org/icons.
To subscribe to the ICONS_L mailing list, send the following request
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***************

**Errata:
The date of the meeting of The Ninth Forum of Ministers of
Cultural Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean, given in the
last WHNEWS (14.4), should have read 29-30 May 1997.
**************

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