Ray Bondin appointed scientific adviser on new UNESCO chair
Renowned expert on cultural heritage has collaborated with UNESCO for 35 years
UNESCO has approved the establishment of a new UNESCO chair at the University of Siena with the theme of ‘Illicit Traffic of Cultural Artifacts and Cultural Rights’ led by Alessia Koush and Massimo D’Auria. Ray Bondin, a renowned expert on cultural heritage and on world heritage in particular, is one of the four scientific advisers of this new UNESCO chair.
Bondin has collaborated with UNESCO and its various institutions for 35 years. He was particularly involved in the establishment of this UNESCO chair at the University of Siena. In the past he was chairperson of the Malta National Commission of UNESCO and was involved in the establishment of the first UNESCO chair at the University of Malta under the leadership of Peter Mayo.
One of the main aims of the new UNESCO chairs is the establishment of The Journal of Cultural Heritage Crime. The establishment of this chair, which means a research centre on particular themes, comes at a time when illicit traffic of cultural objects is very high, mainly due to the current global conflicts.
Well-organised criminal gangs take the opportunity to steal cultural artefacts and try to sell on a dark market. The situation has very much deteriorated in recent years. UNESCO, therefore, sees this new research centre as a very important tool in its attempts to control this traffic.
The head of the new chair, Alesia Koush, explained that the prime objective consists in research on the legal, economic and social aspects of this traffic and its effects on human rights and on cultural aspects of the local communities affected by this traffic.
The research will also concentrate on the identification and best practice and the involvement of local communities through the process of restitution of these objects according to the 2005 European Faro Convention.
Though not an expert on illicit traffic, the position of Bondin as a scientific adviser is more linked to the need for his guidance with regards to the policies and needs of UNESCO.