Culture, Art, Cultural Identity and Small States

Welcome and Keynote Panel

The keynote panel will discuss the themes of the conference. Given the breadth of the keynote speakers' backgrounds and experiences the audience will receive an extensive introduction to the theme of the conference.

Chair: Steven Finizio, WilmerHale

Dr Andrzej Jakubowski, Chair of the Cultural Heritage Governance Committee of the ILA

Dr Winani Thebele, Chief Curator and Head of the Ethnology Division at the Botswana National Museum, Restitution

Lisa Shoman, Judge, Belize Supreme Court

Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights

Panel 1: Small States—Crossing Cultures

The panel will explore what is culture and how small states' migrants experience the culture of the (inevitably larger) host state and what mechanism they employ to keep their culture.

Chair: Dr Nicole Pierce, Deputy-Director, ISMS

Ellen Lekka, Culture Programme Office, UNESCO, Samoa

Calvin Hamilton, Arbitra, Guyana and Barbados

Pamela Awuor, African Media Association Malta

Panel 2: Intellectual Property and Culture

Intellectual property systems vigorously protect the classical categories of the arts, but these systems are less certain in protecting traditional forms of art. The panel will discuss the protection of culture through intellectual property.

Chair: Dr. Spyros Maniatis, Professor and Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Professor Charlotte Waelde, Professor, Coventry University:"The Protection of Dance"

Dr Sharon Le Gall, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies: "Intersection of Cultural Identity and Intellectual Property

Purcell Siaki Sali, Legal Service Adviser, Massey University: "The Protection of Traditional knowledge and Expression of Culture in the Pacific"

Panel 3: Flows of Cultural Goods—Past and Present

Cultural goods have been evidence or souvenirs documenting a journey to foreign lands or trophies of a successful war. Today cultural goods are successfully traded and are an important income source for some countries.

Chair: Iain Sandford, Sidley Austin, Geneva

Dr Michelle Zang, Victoria University of Wellington: "Trade in Cultural Goods - a Pacific Island case study"

Mariya Polner, World Customs Organisation: "Illicit Trade in Cultural Goods"

Rostam J. Neuwirth, Professor of Law, University of Macau: "Culture and Trade"

Panel 4: Culture and the Environment

The intersection between environment and culture is incontrovertible- different cultures respond to differently to the challenges that arise as a result of climate change and human interference in the environment: from agriculture to art to the industries and professions that dominate different societies. For example, in places like the Caribbean, where fishing is a prominent livelihood for many, issues of pollution in the water will be of much greater concern than in landlocked or desert-covered countries.

Chair: Dr Elke Selter, Cultural Heritage Research Fellow, BIICL

Ron Vave, University of Hawaii: "Cultural practice of indigenous Fijian and Social and Ecological Resilience"

Muhammad Juma, Head of Africa Unit at the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO: "Natural Heritage Protection in Zanzibar" 

Caroline Mair-Toby, Partner, Mair, Port of Spain: "Climate Change - Cultural Resilience"

Panel 5: Dispute Resolution—Art and Artefacts

Art and cultural heritage disputes are often multidimensional, involving not only complex legal issues, but also sensitive, not necessarily legal elements, of an emotional, ethical, historical, moral, political, religious, or spiritual nature. This includes, for example, a small state's conflict with a museum regarding the return of an artefact and compensation for the unauthorised reproduction of the artefact in the museum's publication.

Chair: WilmerHale

David Bowker, WilmerHale, Washington DC

Panel 6: Conclusion

Art and cultural heritage disputes are often multidimensional, involving not only complex legal issues, but also sensitive, not necessarily legal elements, of an emotional, ethical, historical, moral, political, religious, or spiritual nature. This includes, for example, a small state's conflict with a museum regarding the return of an artefact and compensation for the unauthorised reproduction of the artefact in the museum's publication.

Chair: Kristin Hausler, British Institute of International and Comparative Law Dorset Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Director of the Centre for International Law

Catherine C Cole, Heritage Consultant, Catherine C. Cole & Associates

Dr Alexandra Xanthaki, Professor, Brunel University, UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights

Ana Tuiketei, Barrister and Arbitrator, Suva, Fiji