Appealing once again to ethics and respect for the nation’s cultural heritage, a call was made to raise awareness of these practices.
On behalf of the Mexican government, the Federal Ministry of Culture, through its head, Alejandra Frausto, expressed its disapproval and rejection of the sale offered on the electronic page of the Setdart Gallery, based in Barcelona, Spain, in the category called “Archaeology”, which includes three pieces belonging to the Mexican cultural heritage, of the Chupícuaro, Teotihuacano and Maya styles.
Appealing once again to ethics and respect for the cultural heritage of the nation, through a letter sent this Thursday, July 21, Alejandra Frausto urged the Setdart Gallery to stop offering and selling the pieces, taking into consideration its historical, symbolic and cultural value; “In the case of Mexico, they represent an invaluable legacy of our ancestral cultures, and a sample of the diversity and cultural richness of our country, a vestige of who we are and of the living cultures of our original peoples”
The foregoing, after the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) made an opinion on archeology, based on the digital catalog available on the website of the aforementioned gallery, finding that the three pieces offered correspond to cultures settled in our country and are part of the cultural heritage of Mexicans, defined and protected by the Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Zones.
The federal Ministry of Culture and the INAH regret and disapprove of this intention to sell, whose pieces constitute property of the nation, inalienable and imprescriptible, extracted without authorization and illegally from the national territory, as their export is prohibited by Mexican legislation since 1827. .
In the same way, it was reported that the corresponding judicial procedures have been initiated before the Spanish authorities on the sale in question, with the interest that the pieces that make it up be repatriated to Mexican territory, through official diplomatic and legal channels. , with the aim of protecting the cultural heritage of our country.
Mexico reaffirms its commitment to the protection of cultural heritage and the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property, in compliance with national legislation and international treaties on the matter, urging the Setdart Gallery to reflect on ethical codes and morals around the commercialization of illegally plundered cultural property, which encourages cultural dispossession and threatens the memory of peoples.
The Government of Mexico invited the Setdart Gallery to join in the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage, avoiding this type of illegal sales, which also threaten the heritage of humanity.