The past is owned by every individual, and by no group.

UNESCO's determination to surrender the objects of the past to modern
nations, using the "cultural heritage" meme, is a pendulum swing from
the idea of the "spoils of the conqueror." We really should consider
that the past transcends Nationalism. As the objects of the past move
from country to country, they communicate something of the culture of
the human species, and allow us to view each other without hatred or
fear. Surely, it is time that we started to realize that our real
"heritage" is as human beings, and not as nationals. If we cannot
grasp that, then we do not understand how we have evolved as a
creative species.

UNESCO addresses ownership, but there is a dangerous assumption that
each signing state is in a position to be fully responsible for the
subsequent care and research of these objects. Neither universities
nor museums have the time, the money, or the staff to be in a position
to say that they can be responsible for recording the past. Funding
for such things is diminishing on a massive scale, and we should
certainly be suspicious of funding at the best of times, as the amount
of money available for certain projects and institutions influences
the relative attention that some aspects of the past will receive.
Often, this funding is given to projects, not on their own merit, but
to reflect current political thought, and to make scholarship
subservient to the will of the masses.

There is also a poor understanding, in the academic world, of what
inspires individuals. If you look at literature, you will find that a
single object of the past, out of context with its environment, can
cause a profound change in a person. Look at the number of poems that
have been inspired by the sudden view of a solitary artifact or work
of art. In contrast, one poem was written about a visit to the Louvre.
The poet described the sensory overload caused by the "gold frames"
and communicated this, obsessively, by the repeated use of this
phrase; the poem ends with the poet fleeing the Louvre in panic.

Only a specialist will delight in seeing a thousand red-figure pots in
the same room. The public will not be inspired. I believe that the
objects of the past should be fully integrated into the real lives of
human beings. We should see artifacts and art in the streets, in the
workplace, in restaurants, and in the homes of individuals that we
visit. Such is the nature of inspiration. Only when we are so
inspired, can we then use the museum collections to fuel our
understanding. 

Jay mentioned Canada. Recently, the Canadian government, because of
monetary concerns, has stopped accepting material concerning private
individuals for the National Archive. This institution has decided
that only government records will be archived henceforth. In addition,
there is now a plan to make all personal census records of Canadian
citizens unavailable to researchers at any time. The current law
allows that records can be made available for historical research 75
years from the death of that person. If this new law is passed, the
Canadian government will own the history of every Canadian. What they
release of it to the public will be at their own discretion, and for
their own purposes.

If we make the claim that we care for the past, then perhaps we should
include the knowledge that discovery has always been made by the
individual, and not by groups. Whether those individuals were
professional or not is of no consequence. Einstein was an amateur when
he did his best work.

My own area of interest is numismatics. Most of the best research and
publication in this area has been accomplished by the private
collector. I specialize in Celtic numismatics, and this subject, to
the best of my knowledge, is not taught as a course at any
institution. I am an amateur, and have spent the last thirty-five
years being interested in my subject, and the last fifteen years of
that has involved serious research, all of which I have paid for
myself.

Regards,

John Hooker
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