UNIDROIT welcomes the new ICOM Red List of Greek Cultural Objects at Risk and congratulates ICOM for the 25th anniversary of the Red Lists

On 11 March 2025 the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Hellenic National Committee, in collaboration with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, launched the new Red List of Greek Cultural Objects at Risk which is very important tool to fight illicit traffic in cultural property.

The launch took place in Athens at the Acropolis Museum in presence of the Hellenic Minister of Culture, Ms Lina Mendoni, and Ms Medea S. Ekner, ICOM Director General.

Following the official launch, a Round Table Discussion took place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Red List, at which UNIDROIT joined its long standing partners, UNESCO and INTERPOL, in supporting this new tool which will strengthen the implementation of the due diligence concept enshrined in the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported cultural Objects.

 

UNIDROIT welcomes this new tool developed by ICOM which is our longstanding partner in this field and calls for a wide use of it by museum professionals but also by law enforcement agencies, the art market as well as private citizens. International cooperation is at the heart of the fight against the theft and illegal export of cultural goods.

‘‘Due diligence is an important process in the legal acquisition of all cultural objects, and a key feature of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention. ICOM Red Lists are important not only because they raise awareness to illicit trafficking, but because they constitute a precious tool to implement provenance research and due diligence, just as describe in Article 4 (4) of the Convention. UNIDROIT and ICOM are long standing partners in the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural objects and we look forward to continuing our collaboration to set standards and disseminate tools to our own members and the wider public.”

 

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