News of Interest Around the World: Austria, Mexico, UK, Palestine, Egypt

May 3, 2012

Austria-Mexico Treaty Could Facilitate Loan of Feathered Crown — “The Austrian government has approved a bilateral pact with Mexico governing the loan of cultural artifacts, an agreement that could pave the way for a headdress believed to have been worn by Aztec ruler Montezuma II to be temporarily brought to the Latin American country.

The treaty, negotiated over nearly two years and approved earlier this week by Austria’s Cabinet, is aimed at resolving a decades-long dispute over the spectacular feather-work crown, a spokesman for Austria’s Culture and Education Ministry told Efe Thursday.”

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune.

Tax-relief cap will curtail major gifts — “Major projects planned by the UK’s leading arts organisations and museums are threatened by tax changes that the British government is proposing in an attempt to close loopholes enjoyed by the super-rich. In his March budget, the chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne announced a tax-relief cap on annual donations to charity above £50,000 or a quarter of an individual’s income, whichever is greater. Critics argue that this will discourage very large charitable gifts, and pressure to force a U-turn was mounting as we went to press.”

Source: The Art Newspaper.

Palestine Ratifies the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property — “On 22 March 2012, Palestine deposited with the Director-General its instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.”

Source: UNESCO.

Dealer Admits to Smuggling from Egypt — “An antiques dealer pleaded guilty … to smuggling ancient Egyptian treasures, including a coffin, to the United States.

Mousa Khouli, also known as Morris Khouli, aged 38, faces up to 20 years of prison for “smuggling Egyptian cultural property into the United States and making a false statement to law enforcement authorities,” the federal prosecutor’s office in New York said.”

Source: Independent Online.