The
most amazing news this week reminds us of detective
stories and makes reference to the uncontrollable
problem of the dealing of patrimonial goods. There
are some moais now being sold at a Miami Art gallery.
What's unbelievable is not the sale of heritage
by businessmen but the fact that there are huge
sculptures of more than two tons of weight that
have been taken from Rapa Nui to Miami with nobody
noticing it. The question is, were they ever at
the island at all?
The collection
of Rapa Nui archeological monuments and pieces -of
"immeasurable value" and that can be bought
"by the piece or separately", according
to the brochure of the Cronos Art gallery, in Miami,
where they are being sold- includes two moais (each
sold at almost one million dollars) along with other
pieces of volcanic stone, carved figures and petroglifos.
There's the head of a female moai called "Maea
atua metua", the most ancient piece (1.000
AC) and a stone board with a "rongo rongo"
writing -the lost writing of the Rapa Nui, of which
there are only 24 testimonies around the world.
The objects are property of Hernán García,
a goverment functionary during the Pinochet administration.
He received these pieces as family legacy. He says
he has long ties with the island and these were
a gift from the islanders and the governor for his
help to Rapa Nui.
An engineer and author of historical texts, García
is a big admirer of Augusto Pinochet who, fourteen
years ago, along with the island's governor, may
have signed the act to take out these pieces from
the island. According to García, in the year
2001 he received the authorization of the National
Monuments Council to take the moais to Miami.
The strange thing is that nobody knows about this.
At the Council they claim to have no background
on the collection nor of any such authorization.
The then governor, Sergio Rapu, can't confirm the
information either. There are lots of facts that
make the suspicions grow.
A while ago, nobody would have put in doubt the
origin of patrimonial objects managed by privates:
they were the base of the most important collections.
But now things have changed. To form a Museum in
one's own house is something much more complicated.
More so to put it on sale. Even though the scarce
capacity of an organism such as the National Monuments
Council, the State seems to be taking care of the
patrimony which belongs to all Chileans.
At least it has the intention of applying law 16.441,
which regulates the export of Historical monuments.
All those objects, private or public, that have
to be kept at archives, libraries or museums. This
law says that "only the President may authorize
the takeout, out of national land, of parts of buildings
or historical ruins, Indian cemeteries, anthropoarcheological
pieces that may be over or under the surface and
whose conservation may be of interest to science,
history or art; and also of pieces, monuments, paintings,
books or private documents that because of its historical
or artistic profile must be kept at Museums or Archives
or at a public place to be commemorated or exhibited".
Today, there's no need for the President's signature.
Who signs is the Minister of Education, after the
authorization of the Monuments Council.
There are, at least, two possible explanations for
this moais to be now in Miami. Both speak of a crime:
that the pieces are authentic and were taken out
filed as "handcraft", which is an illegal
traffic of cultural goods. Or that they are copies,
a fraud with publicity at the United States. The
Council asked the gallery for all the information
to see the pieces` origin. The story is to be continued.
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