Abstract
In this article we shed light on the position of Finland in conversations on the movement of unprovenanced cultural objects, within the national, the Nordic and the global contexts. Finland’s geopolitical position, as a “hard border” of the European Union neighbouring the Russian Federation, and its current legislative provisions, which do not include import regulations, mean that it has the potential to be significant in understanding the movement of cultural property at transnational levels. In particular, we outline a recent initiative started at the University of Helsinki to kick-start a national debate on ethical working with cultural objects and manuscripts. We analyse exploratory research on current awareness and opinion within Finland, and summarize our current work to produce robust research ethics to guide scholars working in Finland. Although Finland has a small population and is usually absent from international discussions on the illicit movement of cultural property (save a few exceptions), we argue that it is still possible—and important—for scholars and others in Finland to affect policy and attitudes concerning art crime, provenance, and the role of stakeholders such as decision-makers, traders and the academy.
Highlights
The vulnerability of cultural objects—from fine art to ancient manuscripts, to archaeological artefacts and antiquities—to theft, smuggling and illegal trade, is known and documented globally, as is the ongoing debate around the ethics of collecting and working with such material
In this article we focus on the position of Finland and especially of academic research taking place within Finnish institutions, within the global context of attempts to regulate and even curtail the illicit trade in cultural property
The police have data on thefts involving cultural objects, but it is not easy to retrieve the information from the data register concerning only cultural objects.”1 The absence of statistics contrasts the general picture given by the Finnish Heritage Agency, who in 2017 still wrote that “Finland is not the final destination for cultural artefacts, but primarily used as a transit country for the trafficking of European cultural artefacts through Finland and out of the European Union (EU)” (Maaperä 2017, p. 50)
Summary
The vulnerability of cultural objects—from fine art to ancient manuscripts, to archaeological artefacts and antiquities—to theft, smuggling and illegal trade, is known and documented globally, as is the ongoing debate around the ethics of collecting and working with such material. In 2006, a study was published that spanned the Nordic region of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, spearheaded and coordinated by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, Information and Publication (Brottsförebyggande rådet) (Korsell et al 2006) This groundbreaking study aimed to establish baseline data concerning a wide range of “heritage crimes”, not just those related to illegal import, export and looting. It is especially difficult to measure the scale or impact of import in Finland in particular, due to a current lack of import regulation for cultural objects, moving the responsibility for checking and enforcing instead to the object’s point of export elsewhere Another collaborative project, involving specialists and decision-makers from Norway and Poland, was the “Stop Heritage Crime” project. Cultural Objects and Manuscripts”, and the related research activities that we have since initiated in Finland
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