A new battle.
The Mexican government is once again trying to prevent the sale of pre-Hispanic pieces that it considers part of its cultural heritage.
Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto asked, by letter on Wednesday, the Millon house to withdraw thirty properties which must be presented for sale on Friday in Paris.
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The sale “Carnets de voyage - Opening Sales”, certified by the expert Serges Reynes, offers a total of 380 lots. Primitive art objects from Asia, Oceania and Indonesia. But also objects from pre-Columbian America from Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador and even Mexico. These come from two separate collections.
“One comes from a German collection authorized by the Ministry of Culture and the other from an estate in Strasbourg”,
specifies the expert to attest to the legality of this sale.
But for the Mexican Secretary of Culture, thirty of these pieces are archaeological assets from the Mexican national heritage.
Alejandra Frausto asks the Millon company to withdraw it from sale
"taking into account the historical, symbolic and cultural values of these goods, which prevail over any commercial interest".
“cultural nationalism”
The episode is reminiscent of precedents in France.
In November, the Mexican embassy requested the cancellation of the sale organized by Christie's.
Without success.
The London house had recorded some $ 3 million in revenue for this controversial sale according to AFP.
This time, the Mexican government said it had initiated legal proceedings with the French authorities but also through diplomatic channels to suspend the dispersal.
"For months, the entire profession and the Ministry of Culture have agreed on the fact that there is no illegality",
proclaims Serges Reynes who today denounces a
"cultural nationalism"
in contrast to the universalist vision of art in France.
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