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About Us
The Site
Cultural Property Advice is a comprehensive on-line advisory service to help you to collect, buy and sell art, antiques and antiquities legitimately and with confidence. It provides a reliable, accurate and practical source of information and guidance on cultural property including: exporting and importing cultural objects; current legislation; news on stolen and illicitly traded objects; and lots of checklists and factsheets to support what you are doing.
Cultural Property Advice supports: the trade including dealers and auction houses; private individuals whether one-off purchasers or collectors; those working in public collections including museums, libraries and archives.
Cultural Property Advice was commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), with funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in July 2005. Hopkins Van Mil carried out a wide consultation with potential users of the site and developed content for it based on the resultant discussions. They worked with rba design to develop an appropriate look and feel for the site. MDA project managed the publication of the site which was launched in February 2007.
The team
MLA is the lead strategic agency for museums, libraries and archives. They are part of the wider MLA Partnership, working with the nine regional agencies to improve people's lives by building knowledge, supporting learning, inspiring creativity and celebrating identity. The Partnership acts collectively for the benefit of the sector and the public, leading the transformation of museums, libraries and archives for the future.
DCMS is responsible for government policy on culture, media and sport. It aims to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, to support the pursuit of excellence and to champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries.
MDA is the UK's lead organisation on documentation and information management for museums. They provide advice, support and guidance to museum professionals to help them achieve national standards in the management of their collections. MDA has developed Collections Link, the national advisory service for collections management.
Hopkins Van Mil: Creative connections is a partnership offering management, planning and training services targeted at the cultural and creative sector both in the UK and internationally. We use research and consultation to develop international, marketing, communication and issues-based strategies; we provide international advice and intelligence by creating tailored international knowledge tools; we provide policy advice; and develop training and event programmes.
rba design is an experienced website internet solutions company that delivers the highest quality product and service. Their areas of expertise include web design, ecommerce, web-based applications and emarketing.
Orangeleaf Systems Ltd who specialise in web application development for the heritage and cultural sectors created the Content Management System and spoliation database search applications.
Acknowledgements
Cultural Property Advice was developed with a steering group which worked closely with us on the content and design of the site. We are most grateful for their time and willingness to engage with the project. They were: Gina Lane, MLA (Chair); Owain Lloyd-James, DCMS; Julian Radcliffe, Art Loss Register; James Ede (Charles Ede Ltd); Lee Barham, HM Revenue and Customs; Caitlin Griffiths, Museums Association; Carola Magill (Metropolitan Police); David Uffindell (MLA). We are also grateful to the staff of the Art Loss Register who supported Hopkins Van Mil in the consultation process; to Dick Ellis of Swift Find and Roger Bland of the Portable Antiquities Scheme who checked factsheets and checklists and to all those who provided case study material. Emily Candler, Secretary of the National Museums Directors' Conference and the Spoliation Working Group have provided enormous help and support in developing the Looted Art 1933-45 areas of the site and we welcome our ongoing collaboration with them. Sarah Percy Davies of LAPADA; Mark Dodgson of BADA and Christopher Battiscombe of SLAD have been very generous of their time and we are grateful.
Many thanks are also due to Hally Ingram, freelance consultant and Chris Turner of Berwyn Consulting, together with all those who took part in the consultation seminars and focus groups.
Disclaimer
Cultural Property Advice is the copyright of MLA. It was developed in wide consultation with the trade in art, antiques and antiquities; private individuals and public collections. Careful checks have been made during its development but independent legal advice must be sought regarding any cultural property issues and MLA, or any other member of the team, takes no responsibility for issues that may arise from using the site. Links within material on Cultural Property Advice may lead to other sites. MLA and our partners do not sponsor, endorse or otherwise approve any information or statements appearing in those sites. MLA and our partners are not responsible for the availability of, or the content located on or through, any such external sites.
