Material / Image Research Lab (MIRL)

The New York Times published an interesting article today about the ever-tightening restrictions on selling and donating antiquities that lack adequate provenance.  On one side are the supporters of laws intended to prevent the looting of archeological sites and illegal selling or trading of antiquities.  On the other side are collectors and dealers (and organizations such as the Cultural Policy Research Institute) who argue that by preventing the sale and donation of antiquities within the US those objects will leave the country, and additionally this will have a detrimental effect on museums by donors put off by these policies.  It’s an argument that is likely to get thornier rather than simpler…