Symposium on The Future of Restitution - Cultural objects WWII

9.30

Registration, coffee and tea

Opening statement by the State secretary of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands

Endless restitution: is consensus possible on when justice is done? 
Provenance research and restitution have become a priority in several countries which endorsed The Washington Principles twenty-five years ago. The generation of victims of the Holocaust is passing and new generations are looking for their lost heritage. What will the future twenty-five years from now look like? What can be expected from new methods of research or new attitudes towards the topic of restitution? The end of restitution has been announced (unjustly) before, but is it endless?

A conversation between two senior forces in the field of provenance research and restitution:

• Dr. Wesley A. Fisher - Director of Research at the World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO) and the Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany;
• Prof. Dr. Rudi Ekkart – former director of RKD/ Netherlands Institute for Art History and as chairman of the ‘Committees-Ekkart’ instrumental in shaping the Dutch restitution policy.

Borderless restitution: towards a supranational restitution committee?
The Second World War dispersed looted art all over the continent and beyond. Yet restitution is a state-based practice, a practice that differs between states in many ways. This could lead to inequality of rights. Could a supranational approach be a solution for fair practice? And is it sensible?

A lecture by:

• Dr. Evelien Campfens, Cultural heritage law specialist, post-doc fellow at the Research Group ‘Museums Collections and Society’, and author of Cross-border claims to looted art.

A reflection on the lecture will be given (speaker to be announced)

Musical intermezzo

Loot: can we prevent it?
The concept of war is still, unfortunately, a present and vivid reality for many. And where there is war, there is looting. What can be learned from the painstaking work of recuperation, provenance research and restitution after World War II? How can loot possibly be prevented or the route to restitution be enhanced? How should today’s Monuments Men and Women act?
Two presentations by and a conversation between:

• Robert Edsel, author of Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History;
• Ankie Petersen, staff officer Cultural Property Protection at the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands.

“Heirless” art: the restitution of unclaimed objects to the Jewish community
If original owners of looted art or their heirs passed away or cannot be identified through provenance research, what fair and just solution can be offered? The Dutch government has proposed the following: looted Jewish art which cannot be restituted to its rightful owner should be given to and taken care by the Jewish community. Eventually, formal ownership will even be transferred. How would such practice work? What does the Jewish community wish to do with these objects?

A panel discussion between:

• Dr. Wesley A. Fisher - Director of Research at the World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO) and the Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany;
• Leontine Meijer Mensch - director Ethnological Collections, State of Saxony, Germany, ex dep director of the Jewish Museum Berlin;
• Christianne Mattijssen, director Heritage and Arts at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands;
• To be announced

Musical intermezzo / spoken column

The future of provenance research: practice meets theory
Provenance research is globally more relevant today than ever. As new techniques provide better access to archives, conducting research has become a professional field spanning more than just provenance specialists. But it takes more than new technologies to facilitate provenance research for those who deal with the art works on a daily basis. How will the science behind provenance research develop in the coming decades? And what possible position will it get in the art market, or in academic training?

A presentation on the issue, from the perspectives of the art market and the academic world:

• Richard Aronowitz – Christie’s global head of restitution;
• Prof. Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister - Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte.

Closing remarks
A reflection on the topic and the day by:

• Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep and On (Not) Reading Anne Frank