Legal and illegal circulation of library collections: a study for a better conservation

Paris, 12 January 2012

The COMSt Team 5: Conservation and Preservation of Oriental Manuscripts organized its third workshop focusing on Legal and illegal circulation of library collections: a study for a better conservation in Paris, Faculté Jean Monnet, Salle Georges Vedel, on 12 January 2012.

Click here to download the detailed workshop report (PDF).

Workshop programme

9:00
Stéphane Ipert (CCL, Arles), Introduction - The legal status of the circulation of works of art in antiquity

9:20
Pedro Rueda (University of Barcelona), The circulation of books in European colonies

10:00
Cristina Dondi (CERL, London), The circulation of books in Europe: examples from the collection of incunabula in the Bodleian Library (Oxford)

10:40 coffee break

11:00
Dickran Kouymjian (Fresno, USA - Paris), The Fate of Armenian Manuscripts: From Genocide Confiscation and Looting to Litigation for Restitution

11:40
Norman Palmer (UK), Unlocking the Written Heritage: Resolving Title Claims to Ancient Documents and Reversing their Illicit Removal

12:30 Lunch

2:00 p.m.
Marie Cornu (CNRS, Paris), Cultural right of property. The heritage legally protected in the fight against the illegal transfer

2:40 p.m.
Marc-André Rénold (Geneva), Alternative methods for resolving litigations

3:30 p.m - 6:00 pm.
Panel discussion with professionals who present their experiences:
Joseph Moukarzel (Kaslik, Libanon), The situation of libraries in the Middle East
Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (CNRS, Paris), The situation of Syriac manuscripts
Ewa Balicka-Witakowska (Uppsala), The Ethiopian manuscripts and artefacts
Laura Parodi (Oxford/Harvard/Genova), Historic cases in Persian and Islamic iconographic heritage
Annie Vernay-Nouri (BNF), Construction, transfer and circulation of knowledge in the Arab world