Le trafic illicite de biens culturels dans le cadre de la guerre civile syrienne : une mosaïque byzantine à Palmdale, étude de cas
Trafficking in cultural objects is an illicit source of income that partially supplies the art market. This clandestine trade is international even if some countries are more affected than others. In order to limit these practices and the consequences they generate, the international community has been trying since the second half of the 20th century to mobilize the population and to produce legal tools for the protection of the world's heritage. However, in August 2015, a shipment of eighty-three objects of Syrian origin was delivered to the port of Long Beach, California. The shipment sent from Turkey was composed of pottery, and three mosaics, including one piece dated between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. This mosaic has been seized and confiscated from its owner by the District Court of California but has never been returned to its country. The purpose of this study is to analyze and understand the path of an illicit cultural object. However, trafficking remains a complex phenomenon and its ramifications are countless. In order to make this study intelligible, our dissertation will be divided into three chapters that will anchored into a case study. The historical context of the mosaic is studied in the first chapter. It highlights the impact of an unstable environment on crimes against art. The chapter also provides a global analysis of the intermediaries involved in the traffic and provides a formal and iconographic analysis of the mosaic. Then, in order to understand the journey of the artifact to the United States, the second chapter of this study focuses on established yet illicit practices of the art market, both the legal « white » market and the illicit or «black» market. It also underlines the importance of technology in the expansion of the illicit traffic of art objects. Finally, the last chapter studies the international institutions and their pronoucement (if not always their actions) in favor of the protection of cultural heritage. This section creates a history of the different legal instruments that could have prevented the illicit export of the mosaic or that could still currently allow its return to Syria. But are these tools efficient ?
Idleb Trafficking in cultural goods Art market Mosaic Syria