The exhibition "Treasures guilty. Archaeological looting in France and in the Mediterranean basin" is labeled Exhibition of national interest by the Ministry of Culture, It is co-organized by the Museums of Marseille and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (PACA) (Regional Archeology Service).
If today archeology generates widely publicized discoveries and constantly renews our historical knowledge, She is also the victim of the fascination she arouses. Every year, breaking the heritage code that governs the practice of archeology in France, Traffickers and "collectors" capture several million cultural goods - from prehistory to contemporary times - to the detriment of knowledge and sharing with the greatest number of our common heritage. This research and shops of objects extracted from the soil and under the waters are crimes and are quite the opposite of what archeology is. Because the latter, "Science of the past", is not, indeed, The search for buried or underwater objects but that of buried knowledge to share it in a selfless manner with the greatest number. The looting is, on the other hand, the illegal predation of objects, for the purpose of mercantile confiscation or individual enjoyment, to the detriment of collective knowledge. Museums have taken up the subject in order to raise public awareness of this scourge (exhibition-dossier "ancient sculptures of Libya and Syria. Fighting the illicit traffic of cultural goods", at the Louvre in 2021; "Past stolen" at the National Archeology Museum which ended on August 29, 2022 and "Treasures from the bottom of the seas, An archaeological heritage in danger ”currently presented at the Ancient Arles Departmental Museum).
More than a delight project, This exhibition aims to raise awareness of the broadest public as to the extent of this phenomenon. For this purpose, It benefits from a very strong competition from the Ministry of Culture, in particular through its regional archaeological services and the department of underwater and submarine archaeological research, as well as, more unusual, Customs cooperation, of the national gendarmerie and the national police. The Manager Department, Medals and ancients of the National Library of France and the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP).
Strong of this objective and this rich partnership network, This citizen ambition exhibition will last eleven months in order to be able to be entered in the annual program of school audiences, students and professionals. Because archaeological looting does not only concern international organized traffic of "blood antiquities". It most often begins with a harmless gesture on the part of everyone: the collection of an object on the ground or under the waters. The exhibition will therefore be aimed at the entire population and will deliver good practices to adopt.
During the year of the exhibition, Many meetings will be on the program, And will be announced on the Museums of Marseille site. Conferences, projections, Commented visits, favorite visits, Workshops for families ... will complete the themes addressed in the exhibition. The commissioners
Xavier Delestre - David Lavergne - Xavier Corré