U.S. Artifact Sale Contested by Mexican Culture Ministry
The Artemis Gallery in Louisville, Colorado, is set to auction archaeological assets associated with the Maya and Teotihuacán cultures on Thursday, a move that has sparked controversy and legal action from the Mexican government.
At the heart of the dispute are at least 47 objects, including zoomorphic figurines, clay vessels, mirrors inlaid with green stone, and fragments of sculptures. According to Mexico's Culture Minister, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, the planned auction is an attack on Mexico's memory and cultural identity.
The Culture Ministry has initiated legal action for the halt of such auctions, citing respect for the ethical and cultural values represented by these pieces. The ministry describes the commercialization of Mexican archaeological assets as cultural dispossession that undermines the memory of Indigenous communities.
These objects are inalienable assets and property of the nation, according to the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic, and Historical Monuments and Zones. The government is seeking to repatriate the objects to Mexico and combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property in compliance with national legislation and international treaties.
This case is the latest of recurring attempts by foreign countries to auction Mexican archaeological pieces. In April, the Culture Ministry denounced an auction organised by auction house Zemanek Münster, in Germany, which sold 17 Mexican archaeological artifacts.
Under the banner #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende (My Heritage Is Not For Sale), the Culture Ministry continues to reiterate its policy of actively defending Mexico's archaeological, artistic, and historical heritage. Sotheby's in the United States is also involved, holding an auction on Friday offering at least 47 pieces of pre-Columbian origin and ethnographic significance, identified by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History as part of Mexico's national cultural heritage and classified as inalienable property of the state under Mexican federal law.
Mexico has initiated legal action for the U.S. auction house to halt the sale, citing respect for the ethical and cultural values represented by these pieces. The reports for this article come from Infobae and La Jornada.
