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The present paper deals with the mausoleum of Klement Gottwald, the first communist president of Czechoslovakia, whose embalmed body was on display at the National Memorial on Vítkov Hill in Prague for almost nine years (late 1953–early 1962). It addresses the extravagant mythology that evolved among the people within days of Gottwald’s death. The myths claim that the body had been decomposing right from the start, and that this was the actual reason for the eventual closure of the mausoleum. These rumours are currently taken as fact by the Czech media, by Wikipedia (the Czech, English and German versions of the entry “Klement Gottwald”), and even by some scholars. The article shows that while the original rumour reflected the resentment of the Czechoslovaks towards the “Oriental” tradition of embalming communist leaders, it did not have anything to do with the reality of maintaining Gottwald’s body. The myths are disproved using hitherto overlooked archival sources, as well as the testimonies of those who were in charge of the body’s preservation. The discussion begins with a chronological overview of Gottwald’s embalming to disprove the basic premise of the mythology, that the preservation work was done too long after his death and failed. Next, the organization and tasks of the mausoleum’s non-medical staff are addressed in order to show how the mausoleum actually operated. This part is followed by an excursus into some extraordinary events, such as lab appliances failing to work, and the solutions adopted by the responsible personnel. Both the relevant archival documents and the memories of eyewitnesses unequivocally confirm that the body was intact and handled with utmost care throughout the mausoleum’s history. In conclusion, the paper analyzes the context and circumstances of the closure of the mausoleum. It shows that the decision to terminate the project was a political step inspired by Moscow, and that no considerations apart from ideological and economic ones were involved. As usual, fact eventually proves to be more interesting than myth.
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From a crystallographic point of view, issues that relate to symmetry are particularly important. The concept of symmetry is also important in other areas such as history, anthropology, cultural studies, visual arts and architecture. In this work, the symmetry of decorations from the Collegium Maius Museum of the Jagiellonian University was researched. Friezes, “wallpaper” patterns and single motifs were analysed. The symmetry of friezes vary greatly. With that said, among the “wallpaper” decorations, the patterns that contain the four-fold axis and the two-fold axis are especially common. Most of the examined single motifs can be grouped as having a symmetry of 2mm. For all tested decorations, an interesting feature is the lack of the three-fold axis as the axis of the highest fold, although in some cases the six-fold axis is present. Hence, when choosing additional designs for the examined exhibition, and striving to fully reflect the historical truth, it is important to not use decorations that have the three-fold axis as the axis of the highest fold. As it was shown in this publication, the methods of crystallography an alternative way can be used to characterize and classify ornaments and patterns.
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The presentation of the officer’s coat dating from 1923 kept in the collection of the Jagiellonian University Museum reminds us of the reform of uniforms in the Polish Army after Poland regained independence and discusses the fashion for a certain type of buttons used by the officers in military uniforms. The coat was made by the tailor Moszek (Mojżesz) Spinka. The coat and the rules applicable to tailor-made clothes at the time, the country’s economic situation, as well as the coat’s connection with the private life of its owner are discussed. The owner, Franciszek Xawery Pusłowski (1875–1968), served in the 8th Prince Józef Poniatowski Uhlans Regiment, was a liaison officer toIgnacy Jan Paderewski and deputy aid-de-camp general to the President of the Republic of Poland Stanisław Wojciechowski.
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The article presents a suggestion for a new approach towards ritual, one of the key anthropological concepts. Generations of anthropologists have used the term to describe and interpret cultural practices related to different types of liminality and transgression (social relations, religious beliefs, theatrical practices, etc.) in a rigid meaning limited to describing a formalized scenario of symbolic behavior, sanctioned with ancient beliefs and values cherished by a given community. This case makes room for similar symbolic practices, thinned down and scattered among the whole cultural reality (e.g. in fashion, politics, ways of spending free time, etc.), which serve the same purpose, but are deprived of formalized scenarios and boundaries of tradition. Because of all this, a new term – rituality – needs to be used to better convey the essence of the numerous modern-day rituals. This advance in terminology helps to interpret and understand several cultural practices, and to create new terms, necessary for describing the fast-changing modern cultural landscape. Accepting a broad meaning of rituality requires an interdisciplinary approach, in which classic anthropological theories by Malinowski, Redcliff-Brown or Geertz are equally important as Goffman’s symbolic interactionism, Austin’s speech acts philosophy, Rothenbuhler’s social communication, or Csikszentmihalyi’s emotional flow psychology.
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The article elaborates on the specter of a 19th-century museum, that has haunted the Gallery of the 19th-century Polish Art in the Sukiennice in Krakow, Poland, for several dozens of years.The first floor of the Sukiennice compasses of the collection of the National Museum in Krakow since 1883. Paradoxically, frequent changes of content and design of that exposition had erased the memory of its initial look and there has appeared a stereotype of a 19th-century source of its distinctive qualities.It was Mieczysław Porębski who created a pastiche of 19th-century art museum in the Sukiennice gallery in 1975. Innovative at its time, Porębski’s concept accompanied similar solutions by Michael Jaffé and by Timothy Clifford. They all applied the Victorian rules of art display only partially and the result was a very particular visitor experience.
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Interview with Antonio Escámez Torres President of the Santander Bank Foundation
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The aim of the new Directive is to improve the efficiency of mechanisms to secure the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State, on or after 1 January 1993, introduced initially by way of Council Directive 93/7/EEC. Over the years it had been concluded that the application of Council Directive 93/7/EEC had, for a variety of reasons, a limited effect in terms of the actual return of cultural objects. The new Directive attempts to address these deficiencies and introduces substantial changes to the 1993 Directive. In particular, it extends the scope of the Directive to all cultural objects classified or defined as national treasures. It introduces the use of the Internal Market Information System (IMI) for administrative cooperation and exchange of information within national authorities. It extends the time-limit to initiate return proceedings. Finally, it establishes that the burden of proof of due diligence lies with the possessor for the purpose of compensation. The new Directive had much support during the legislative procedure, both in the European Parliament and in the Council. Adopted on 15 May 2014, the Directive was due to be transposed by the Member States by 18 December 2015. It now remains to be seen whether the new rules are applied in practice and will bring about the expected results.
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This article deals with the implementation of Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State in France. The implementing act was adopted in February 2015 with general consensus amongst members of Parliament that it was necessary to improve the protection of cultural heritage within Europe (loi n° 2015 – 195, 20 February 2015). By contrast, the relevant sections of the code that require implementing regulation, such as the use of the Internal Market Information System (“IMI”) have not yet been adopted. The 2015 Act amended the relevant sections of the Cultural Heritage Code to include the new dispositions of the 2014 Directive, mostly word by word. Those sections, in their original drafting, implemented the 1993 Directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State which was inspired by both the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions. This article successively examines three questions with the aim to assess the impact of the 2014 Directive on the protection of cultural objects in France: 1) it analyses to what extent the implementation of the 2014 Directive has improved the protection of French cultural objects; 2) it presents cases of restitution by France to other State Members as well as to countries outside the European Union; 3) it assesses the wider impact of the 2014 Directive on French civil law and cultural heritage law, in particular, the fundamental change caused by the requirement of due diligence on the presumption of good faith in favour of a good faith purchaser.
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Greece takes a strong stance towards the protection of cultural heritage and the return of cultural goods to their country of origin. Several cases in recent years have taken place with regard to cultural goods that have been returned from third countries to Greece, and which have left the country in either an illegal or an ambiguous manner. Returns were affected either on the basis of legal proceedings or an amicable resolution. Greece’s role in the EU and international fora has been important for the protection of cultural heritage. Greek law is one of the most comprehensive and protective laws in the area, especially by reason of the fact that the country has occasionally suffered from looting, is rich in cultural treasures and does not always offer adequate means to effectively protect all treasures found in its soil and waters. This article examines the notion of a “cultural object” under Greek law and what constitutes – according to this law – “unlawful removal” from the country’s territory. It also discusses how Greek courts understand the notion of “due care and attention”, according to Article 10 of the Directive 2014/60/EU, and why it is important that in cases where return is ordered, the possessor is the one to demonstrate that s/he exercised due care and attention in acquiring the object in order for her/him to be compensated. Comments are made as to changes that need to be introduced in Greek law by reason of implementing the Directive. Finally, this article discusses future functioning and efficiency of this new EU legal instrument.
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Directive 2014/60/EU on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State, which replaced Council Directive 93/7/EEC, was implemented in Italy by legislative decree in January of 2016. This article provides a summary of the key provisions and changes under the recast Directive, an overview of its implementation in Italy, and an analysis of its relationship with the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. The main Italian legislation on the circulation of cultural property is also examined in order to provide a critical analysis of the problems concerning its consistency with the corresponding international and EU rules.
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This article analyses the new German cultural property law in the context of EU law and the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the protection of cultural property. The analysis starts by looking at the circumstances that led to the 2016 reform of Germany’s cultural property law. It then widens the perspective by looking at the overall legal framework of the Single European Market (SEM) in the context of the free movement of goods and the protection of cultural property. Both, the new Directive 2014/60/EU on the return of cultural property as well as the EU Regulation 116/2009 on the export of cultural property are scrutinized with a specific focus on their impact in shaping and developing national cultural property law. Specific focus is placed on the divergent notions of “national treasures” and “national patrimony” in Article 36 of the EU Treaty. On the basis of this overall legal framework, the four pillars of the 2016 German cultural property reform are described. The article concludes by showing what is lacking in current EU law: an import regulation for cultural property. Without such an import regulation, the 1970 UNESCO Convention cannot have full effect in the SEM and its EU Member States.
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The Implementation Act for Directive 2014/60/EU on the return of cultural objects was published in the “Netherlands Bulletin of Acts, Orders and Decrees” in June 2015. Even though this new instrument represents a considerable enlargement of the protection of cultural heritage in the EU, its implementation has not led to major changes in Dutch legislation. The implementation of the previous Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 already resolved the impasse in the Netherlands over a reasonable balance between the interests of original owners and those of innocent purchasers. With the 1992/93 adjustments to Dutch law the most important steps for accepting the 1970 UNESCO Convention were also taken. The Netherlands’ definition of protected works of art is in accordance with the criteria of a cultural object as stated in Article 2(1) of Directive 2014/60/EU. At the same time, facilitating a greater awareness of due diligence and research into provenance is high on the Dutch agenda, as they are considered important aspects in the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural objects.
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This article presents the process of implementing Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council in Austrian law, focusing on a presentation of the solutions set out in the draft act as well as of amendments made in the course of parliamentary proceedings. In particular, the analysis includes: the work record, aims and objective scope of the act, the notion of “unlawful removal of a cultural object”, the ban on imports, legal definitions, the obligations of care and attention, pursuing claims, court jurisdiction, compensation and other claims, and Austria’s claim to return a cultural object. The article concludes that Austria’s interest in combating illegal imports of cultural objects has grown considerably. It seems that the Act as adopted can significantly reduce the illicit trafficking of cultural objects from other states to the territory of Austria. The new solutions, including longer periods for pursuing claims, will allow authorised persons to recover lost cultural objects in more cases.
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The process of implementation of the EU cultural goods Directive is more complicated than it would seem prima facie. Member States have been given a large degree of freedom in defining their national treasures, ecclesiastical goods, and public collections. This gives the Member States the opportunity of either narrowing these notions to the most treasured cultural goods, or expanding them to cover almost everything that can be classed as a “heritage item”. Both extremes may lead to unexpected and potentially harmful results. Furthermore, it is the job of the Member States to define procedural rules for internal restitution proceedings, and to establish rules of representation for claims brought before foreign courts. Last but not least, there will be the perennial problem of determining the proper law to rule on the validity of ownership transfers of the returned object. The final outcome of the implementation thus depends largely on lawmakers’ ability to predict the future outcome of proposed solutions, but since law is not an exact science, in the end it will be reduced to the old fashioned “lady or the tiger” dilemma. The purpose of this paper is to show possible ways of avoiding the tiger.
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This article aims to present the two main international conventions on the fight against trafficking in cultural property, and show how the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects remedies the main weaknesses of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, while building on its strengths. The 1995 UNIDROIT Convention, by virtue of its international private law approach to the matter of the illegal trade in stolen or illegally exported goods, has provided the basis for European developments in the field. The international principles already established in the preparatory works to the 1995 Convention are reflected, firstly, in the wording of Council Directive 93/7/EEC, and have been subsequently incorporated into Directive 2014/60/EU. In addition the use of the UNIDROIT Convention has become a benchmark for the evaluation of due diligence.
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An analysis of the phenomenon of crimes against cultural heritage may apply various methods for diagnosing the level of actual threats. Arguably, annual studies of examples of crimes involving cultural object(s) allow for the evaluation of tendencies within perpetrators’ actions, and may also help to devise methods to counteract future incidents. Many years of research into crimes against cultural heritage facilitate, in a complimentary way, measuring the level of threat caused by such actions and to minimise the risk of their occurrence. This article is a continuation of the annual cycle of articles published by the “Santander Art and Culture Law Review” aimed at a systematic presentation of the phenomenon of criminality against cultural heritage in Poland. It offers a selection of cases that constitute auxiliary material for the diagnosis of the level of threat for cultural objects within the designated period. Incidents of various criminal acts against cultural heritage are presented in the form of short informative pieces; these include cases of theft, robbery, or the destruction of valuable cultural property.
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