Yates will participate in a roundtable discussion on Decolonisation at EAA 2021

17 Aug 2021

Dr Donna Yates will participate in roundtable Session #376. “Expanding Horizons: Decolonisation, Contested Ownership of Archaeological Material, and the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property” at the 2021 annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. The session will be held entirely online and will take place at 14:30 – 17:30 CEST, 8 September 2021.

The content of the session:

“The collection of antiquities can be seen in the light of the decolonisation movement to represent a Western “Cultural Horizon”. This was characterised by the idolisation of Classical Greek and Roman material culture, including architectural styles, as reflected in the façades of many museums across the world. The association with ancient empires was explicit validation of British, European and American imperialist activities in the 18th to 20th centuries.

As we leave behind the ‘old normal’, what are the specific actions and policies that we as archaeologists need to be pursuing, in order to achieve an equitable settlement in terms of both the ownership of cultural heritage and the expression of the archaeological and historical narrative?

In this Roundtable session of the EAA Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material, we will examine the relevance, limitations, and potential for revision of national laws based on the UNESCO 1970 “Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property”.

We invite members to share experience of how the 1970 Convention is implemented in their country, and the intersection with decolonisation.”

To view list of all sessions, please visit: https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2021/sessions/overview/

For more details and to register, please visit: https://www.e-a-a.org/EAA2021/Home/EAA2021/Home.aspx?hkey=12668d95-ebcf-45ef-9c7f-1405571fe0b5