Madam, - In the light of questions raised recently by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre about the provenance of material in the Hunt Museum Collection, the Irish Museums Association, as the body representing the interests of museums throughout Ireland, would like to record its support for efforts by the Hunt Museum and other interested parties to establish the provenance of objects in the collection.
The IMA fully endorses the International Council of Museums code of ethics for museums. Article 4.4 of the code cites the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen and Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (1995).
It goes on to urge that "if a country or people of origin seek the return of an object or specimen that can be demonstrated to have been exported or otherwise transferred in violation of the principles of these conventions and shown to be part of that country's or people's cultural or natural heritage, the museum concerned should, if legally free to do so, take prompt and responsible steps to co-operate in its return."
The ICOM code of ethics may be consulted at the ICOM website: http://icom/museum/ethics. - Yours, etc.,
PAT COOKE, Chairman, Irish Museums Association, c/o Pearse Museum, St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.