The scandal of selling Cordoba Mosque's wood ceiling in Christie's!!!
This is really frustrating... I heard it sometime ago but I thought "well this can't happen!"... But it's happening: 5 rafters of the great Cordoba Mosque's ceiling, one of the major mosques in early Islamic architecture, are being sold in Christie's!!! seriously, sometimes I wonder: really what could not be sold in Christie's?!! Some guy says that he found them in his backyard (??!!!) and he just decided to sell them... The amaizing thing is that Christie's think that this story is a sane one!!! I wonder now how these guys at Chrtistie's look like??!!
This is how it's reported in Al-Sharq al-Awsat:
إسبانيا تطالب باستعادتها وسعر العارضة بين 200 و300 ألف جنيه إسترليني
ووصف موقع صالة كريستيز على الإنترنت مسجد قرطبة، وهو موقع أثري عالمي مسجل لدى اليونسكو، بأنه «أحد أكثر الآثار أهمية في العالم». وأردف: «العوارض الخشبية اكتشفت مخبأة خلف حظيرة ضخمة حيث كانت ملقاة منذ عقود، وفقا لما يقوله مالكها السابق. وكان من المؤمل إمكانية استخدامها في مشروع معماري لم يتحقق ولذلك بقيت هناك من دون اكتشاف حتى وقت قريب نسبيا».
4 Comments:
salut,
interessant ton post.
Juste pour te dire que si on supposait que les encheres soient gagnées par un riche saoudiens qui achetra ce bois à prix d'or et le mettra dans sa maison à ryadh, et l'argent ira pour conserver la mosquée et sponsoriser quelques jeunes maghrebins etudiants en architecture chaque année à visiter l'andalousie et s'inspirer de l'art de leur ancetres pour faire decoller l'architecture de leurs pays, villes, villages alors ce sera tout benefice !!!!qu'en penses tu ?
That's the best "last choice" of the worst probabilities... But it's incosistent: who would sponsor the students? do you mean the guy wo would receive the money... that is who acquired them illegally from sme place? do you really think that such greedy person would be willing to sponsor you or any othwr person to visit Cordoba?
I would rather see that same rich Saudi to try another thing: hire a lawyer who would stop the auction... and bring that guy to justice... you know in the UK they have an effective justice system and good basis in the law to question of the property of cultural including archeological objects: As the sharq awasat journalist says the Sapnish government is against the auction and is questioning the seller's story; so here is another basis of stopping the whole process... Being silent and legitemizing this auction is not yet the last realistic resort
Hi !
I think there's still a moderate misunderstanding between us.
Indeed I agree that this auction has no legitimacy and that the seller is to be sent to justice but my proposal was that the money of this auction ( if auction will be ) should be sent to a special fund of the Cortoba Mosque and which among others could sponsor young maghreb architects to know more and to learn and get inspired...This is my idea for the use of the funds for which such an auction could seem useful.
Hello... And that's what I thought I was responding to: A-the money of this specific auction would not go to "Christie's" but it would go to the guy who pretends acquiring them legally: so it is HE who will be receiving the money... and I don't think he'd be spending it but on himself; B-If he would be sent to jail the objects will return to Spain, the archeological deposits in Cordoba's Museum, which I can assure you it won't sell it in any auction...
Otherwise you're suggesting something else that never happened: that Museums for example should start selling their objects to sponsor students' visits to...ect... which is clearly a weird suggestion
I really sympathise with your good intentions: sending students to learn about Andalusian architecture: but would not be better and easier to wish that a rich Saudi would start a Foundation specifically for this purpose with the money he would be buying with the Cordoba mosque's ceiling?!
Could you explain exactly what you mean?
Post a Comment
<< Home