On its official Twitter account, the institution wrote: ‘From the Ministry of Culture through the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage, we are carrying out the legal actions for the recovery of the pre-Columbian pieces that will be auctioned. ‘Let’s prevent the illegal trafficking of our cultural properties!’
On Saturday, MiCultura issued a communique in which it denounced this violation of the legal framework regarding the illegal trafficking of pre-Columbian objects, which will be auctioned by Dr. Francisca Bernheim in Munich, Germany.
The accusation, presented at UNESCO, also requests that the Panamanian works, included in the catalog of the collection, are returned to the country.
According to the German company’s website, the pieces are Cocle Parita style pottery vessels, from an archaeological site located in central Panama. Most of them exceed 1,200 euros (near 1,400 dollars) in the initial bidding price.
Press reports reveal that about 324 lots of archaeological pieces from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia make up the Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger’s auction, scheduled for Tuesday, September 21.
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