In order to support the development of a policy of prevention and repression of illicit trafficking of cultural properties, the Seminar on the Protection and Circulation of Cultural Goods: Combating Illicit Trafficking will bring together experts from Brazil, Latin America and international organizations related to the theme to share and discuss ways of regulating the circulation of these objects. The event is held at Itaú Cultural (Avenida Paulista, 149, São Paulo - SP), on 04 and 05/06/2018, from 09:00AM to 06:00PM. 

In addition to cooperating with the event, bringing international experts to address the issue, UNESCO in Brazil is also collaborating with the Ministry of Culture (MinC, in Portuguese acronym), through an international technical cooperation project, with the development of a specialized study that will also subsidize the ellaboration of the national policy.

Based on the international legal landmark, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970), the specialist Edouard Planche, from UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, comes to present the overview and guidelines of international protection during the Seminar. On the first day of the event (04 June, 2018), at 10:30 a.m., Planche presents the action and normative of UNESCO that refers to the protection of cultural properties. He will also address topics on the best practices and the challenges faced on the world stage. 

The Representative a.i. of UNESCO in Brazil, Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, will attend the opening session of the Seminar, alongside the Minister of Culture, Sérgio Sá Leitão, and the Director of Itaú Cultural, Eduardo Saron, on 04 June, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. “UNESCO is available to contribute with the Brazilian government for the building of a national policy. Considering that the trafficking of cultural properties surpasses boundaries, it is important that the policy is also articulated regionally, so that not only Brazil, but all the countries of the region benefit and adopt mechanisms to protect the heritage and the circulation of cultural properties, in a coordinated manner. It is important to ensure the circulation of cultural properties with clear regulations on how it should be done”, states the Representative.

The event will be closed with a balance of the discussions and referrals for the building of the public policy. The Minister of Culture, Sérgio Sá Leitão, the Coordinatr a.i. of Culture of UNESCO in Brazil, Isabel de Paula, and representatives of other bodies responsible for the theme in the region will participate of this moment.

During the event, UNESCO in Brazil also makes available to the participants the printed version, in Portuguese, of the Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society, approved at the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, in November 2015. The document lists a number of recommendations for UNESCO Member-states aiming to highlight the importance of protecting and promoting museums and collections for sustainable development.

Translated into Portuguese and diagrammed by UNESCO in Brazil to celebrate the International Museum Day (18 May), the Recommendation has become more accessible to Portuguese-speaking countries.

About the Event

Organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Institute Itaú Cultural, the Seminar Protection and circulation of cultural properties: fighting the illicit trafficking, counts on the cooperation of the Representation in Brazil of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO in Brazil) and the Brazilian Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). It also has the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE, in Portuguese acronym), the Institute of the National Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan, in Portuguese acronym), the Brazilian Institute of Museums (Ibram, in Portuguese acronym) and the National Library Foundation (FBN, in Portuguese acronym).

To learn more, visit: http://protecaodebensculturais.org

http://protecaodebensculturais.org

Media contact:

UNESCO in Brazil

Fabiana Pullen, f.sousa(at)unesco.org, +55(61)2106-3596 or +55(61)99848-8971