ABSTRACT

This volume provides an unparalleled exploration of ethics and museum practice, considering the controversies and debates which surround key issues such as provenance, ownership, cultural identity, environmental sustainability and social engagement. Using a variety of case studies which reflect the internal realities and daily activities of museums as they address these issues, from exhibition content and museum research to education, accountability and new technologies, Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage enables a greater understanding of the role of museums as complex and multifaceted institutions of cultural production, identity-formation and heritage preservation.

Benefitting from ICOM’s unique position in the museum world, this collection brings a global range of academics and professionals together to examine museums ethics from multiple perspectives. Providing a more complete picture of the diverse activities now carried out by museums, Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage will appeal to practitioners, academics and students alike.

part I|42 pages

Introduction and context: ICOM's commitment to museum ethics

chapter 1|6 pages

ICOM turns 70

Ethics and the value creation role of museums

part II|36 pages

The ICOM Code and evolving issues for museums' conduct and care of heritage

chapter 5|9 pages

The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums

Background and objectives

chapter 7|10 pages

Reversing the de-realization of natural and social phenomena

Ethical issues for museums in a multidisciplinary context

chapter 8|8 pages

Dances with intellectual property

Museums, monetization and digitization

part III|50 pages

International action, treaties and benchmarks for protection of the world's heritage

chapter 11|10 pages

Protecting cultural heritage at risk

An international public service mission for ICOM

chapter 12|8 pages

Stolen and illegally exported artefacts in collections

Key issues for museums within a legal framework

chapter 13|8 pages

Advice and support in the recovery of lost art

The German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste)

part IV|62 pages

Heritage care and ethics through the lens of multiple cultures and regions

chapter 14|10 pages

Unchanging ethics in a changing world

chapter 15|21 pages

Remodelling shared heritage and collections access

The Museum Island constellation and Humboldt Forum project in Berlin

chapter 16|11 pages

A museum triangle

Ethics, standards of care and the pleasure of perception

chapter 17|8 pages

The Chinese museum

Transformation and change through ethics construction

part V|74 pages

Evolving issues: Collaboration, provenance research, deaccessioning, social responsibility and public participation in museums

chapter 19|17 pages

Advocating For International Collaborations

World War II-era provenance research in museums

chapter 20|8 pages

‘Definitely stolen?'

Why there is no alternative to provenance research in archaeological museums

chapter 21|10 pages

Deaccessioning

Some reflections

chapter 22|14 pages

From Apollo into the Anthropocene

The odyssey of nature and science museums in an external responsibility context

chapter 23|9 pages

Ethics in a changing social landscape

Community engagement and public participation in museums

chapter 24|14 pages

Conservation

How ethics work in practice

part VI|51 pages

‘Torn history', reviewing, reshaping and rebuilding an integrated heritage

chapter 25|11 pages

Exhibiting contentious and difficult histories

Ethics, emotions and reflexivity

chapter 26|11 pages

Native America in the twenty-first century

Journeys in cultural governance and museum interpretation

chapter 27|7 pages

Using the past to forge a future

Challenges of uniting a nation against skeletal odds

part VII|37 pages

Case studies, ethical dilemmas and situational ethics training

chapter 30|8 pages

The Lombroso Museum in Turin

A reflection on the exhibition and scientific study of human remains

chapter 32|6 pages

The mask of Ka-nefer-nefer

The complex history of an Egyptian object

chapter 33|7 pages

Ethics versus law

The restitution of The Miracle of St Anthony by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

chapter 34|6 pages

Ethics in action

Situational scenarios turning the keys to the Code of Ethics