A conference in New York on 10 April, organised by the non-profit Committee for Cultural Property, debated the need for reform of cultural property laws in the US. The speakers cited a recent tussle over a Cambodian statue that was consigned to Sotheby’s in 2011 (see above) but was removed from the auction at the last minute. “It seemed to me that the US government asked the Cambodian government, ‘Do you have an ownership statute?’, and the Cambodian government said, ‘Sure we do,’ and went out and found one,” said the art lawyer Michael McCullough. A transcript and video are now available on the organisation’s website, committeeforculturalpolicy.org.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Cambodia made up its own laws, US lawyer says'