ICOM and SPK present German Version of the Red List of Iraqi Cultural Objects at Risk

News from 01/13/2016

ICOM has updated its Emergency Red List of Iraqi Cultural Objects at Risk. On January 14, 2016, the German version will be presented at the Archäologisches Zentrum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Statuette eines Beters aus dem archaischen Ischtar-Tempel von Assur
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum/Foto: O. M. Teßmer

Illegal excavations and looting threaten cultural heritage across the globe. This has reached dramatic proportions in the Middle East, as an endless stream of unsettling news reports indicates. To prevent illicit trade in antiquities, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), with support from the US Department of State, produces Red Lists for the regions most severely affected.

A German translation of the Emergency Red List, as updated in 2015, was made possible by the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation). It will be presented for the first time in Germany on January 14, 2016, at an event attended by Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters, Minister of State in the Foreign Office Maria Böhmer and Foundation President Hermann Parzinger.

The Red Lists published by ICOM and the US Department of State contain examples of the types and categories of cultural items that are particularly at risk. They make it easier for government agencies, as well as collectors and art dealers, to identify items that have been put on the market illegally.

We regret that only a limited number of seats are available.

You can follow the event live on Twitter with the hashtag #ICOMRedList.

Links for Additional Information

To overview