普世博物馆的重要性和价值宣言
【背景】2002年10月，西方19家重量级博物馆在慕尼黑发表宣言，宣扬“普世博物馆”的观念，拒绝归还收藏的外国文物。后来，18家博物馆在宣言上签了字，只有大英博物馆没有签。希腊指责整件事情都是由大英博物馆策划的。大英博物馆予以否认，但是仍然拒绝向希腊归还雅典帕德嫩神庙的大理石雕塑。
【链接】[url=http://www.tomflynn.co.uk/UniversalMuseumsDeclaration.pdf]http://www.tomflynn.co.uk/UniversalMuseumsDeclaration.pdf[/url]
相关新闻：[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/13/parthenon.highereducation]http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/13/parthenon.highereducation[/url] [url=http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/neos.html]http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/neos.html[/url]
【译文】
[b]普世博物馆的重要性和价值宣言[/b]
国际博物馆界一致坚信，必须坚决阻止考古、艺术和种族物品的非法买卖。然而，我们应该承认，以前所获得的藏品必须用不同敏感和价值的眼光来看待，与获得的时代相应。在贯穿欧洲和美洲的博物馆里，数十年前甚至数百年前收藏的物品和标志性作品是在与今天不能相提并论的条件下获得的。
时间一长，这样获得的藏品——无论是通过购买、赠送还是共享——已经成为保养它们的博物馆的一部分，所以是收藏国的遗产。今天我们对作品的原有背景这个主题特别敏感，但是不应该无视一个事实，即博物馆也能给离开原产地很久的藏品提供有效而珍贵的背景。
如果不是古代文化作品通过主要的博物馆向国际公众施加了影响，对古代文明的普世欣赏不可能这么深入人心。事实上，只举一个例子来说，古希腊的雕塑是对这一观点和公共收藏重要性的绝好阐释。数个世纪长的对希腊艺术的欣赏史，发端于古代，复兴于文艺复兴的意大利，后来延伸到欧洲和美洲的其他地方。它进入全世界的公共博物馆标志着希腊雕塑对人类作为整体的重要意义和对当代社会的持续价值。这些作品由于和其他伟大文明的产品放在一起观赏和研究，它们的独特希腊审美更加突显。
要求归还博物馆收藏已久的藏品已经成为博物馆的重要问题。尽管每一个个案必须单独处理，但是我们应该承认，博物馆不只为一国的公民服务，也为所有国家的人民服务。博物馆是文化发展的媒介，它们的任务是通过不断重新诠释的过程培养认识。每一件藏品都对这一过程有贡献。使广泛多面收藏的博物馆注意力变窄，将使所有来访者受害。
下列博物馆的馆长签署：
芝加哥艺术学院
慕尼黑巴伐利亚国家博物馆（老绘画陈列馆，新绘画陈列馆）
柏林国家博物馆
克里夫兰艺术馆
洛杉矶约翰·保罗·盖蒂博物馆
纽约索罗门·罗伯特·古根海姆博物馆
洛杉矶县艺术馆
巴黎卢浮宫
纽约都市艺术馆
波士顿美术馆
纽约现代艺术馆
佛罗伦萨岩石展览
费城艺术馆
马德里普拉多博物馆
阿姆斯特丹国家博物馆
圣彼得堡国家埃尔米塔日博物馆
马德里蒂森·博内米萨博物馆
纽约惠特尼美洲艺术馆
【原文】
[b]Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums[/b]
The international museum community shares the conviction that illegal traffic in archaeological,
artistic, and ethnic objects must be firmly discouraged. We should, however, recognize that objects
acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values, reflective of
that earlier era. The objects and monumental works that were installed decades and even centuries ago
in museums throughout Europe and America were acquired under conditions that are not comparable
with current ones.
Over time, objects so acquired—whether by purchase, gift, or partage—have become part of the
museums that have cared for them, and by extension part of the heritage of the nations which house
them. Today we are especially sensitive to the subject of a work’s original context, but we should not
lose sight of the fact that museums too provide a valid and valuable context for objects that were long
ago displaced from their original source.
The universal admiration for ancient civilizations would not be so deeply established today were it not
for the influence exercised by the artifacts of these cultures, widely available to an international public
in major museums. Indeed, the sculpture of classical Greece, to take but one example, is an excellent
illustration of this point and of the importance of public collecting. The centuries-long history of
appreciation of Greek art began in antiquity, was renewed in Renaissance Italy, and subsequently
spread through the rest of Europe and to the Americas. Its accession into the collections of public
museums throughout the world marked the significance of Greek sculpture for mankind as a whole
and its enduring value for the contemporary world. Moreover, the distinctly Greek aesthetic of these
works appears all the more strongly as the result of their being seen and studied in direct proximity to
products of other great civilizations.
Calls to repatriate objects that have belonged to museum collections for many years have become an
important issue for museums. Although each case has to be judged individually, we should
acknowledge that museums serve not just the citizens of one nation but the people of every nation.
Museums are agents in the development of culture, whose mission is to foster knowledge by a
continuous process of reinterpretation. Each object contributes to that process. To narrow the focus of
museums whose collections are diverse and multifaceted would therefore be a disservice to all
visitors.
Signed by the Directors of:
The Art Institute of Chicago
Bavarian State Museum, Munich (Alte Pinakothek,
Neue Pinakothek)
State Museums, Berlin
Cleveland Museum of Art
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Louvre Museum, Paris
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Prado Museum, Madrid
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
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