Press Statement : September 1st 2015

PRESS STATEMENT TO BRITISH AUTHORITIES ON ANTIQUITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS

 

It is the right of all nations to be able to look and see the works of human civilisations and gain knowledge from the human history of civilisation.  To be able to watch the sequence effects that reflect the cultures and history of all States.

 

The sale of Sekhemka is a crime against humanity in the right of the world and the Egyptian people.  The authorities in charge of Northampton Museum have blocked the Pharaonic civilisation from the eyes of the world by selling the statue of Sekhemka in an auction in order to raise funds to expand the museum.  For the Museum to be trading in antiquities for financial gain is a humanitarian disaster and an event which should never have happened in the history of museums.

 

The selling of Sekhemka is a major crime against the people of the world.  Selling the statue to an anonymous buyer and moving the statue to an unknown place means that the whole world will be deprived of the knowledge of the ancient Egyptian civilisation, which is considered a crime against humanity.

 

The Save Sekhemka Group London and Egypt ask the intervention of all organisations concerned with human rights in Britain to help reverse the contract of the Sekhemka sale  and to put the statue on display in a museum in Britain to show the public around the world what Pharaonic civilisation is.  If the statue is not of any importance to Northampton Museum, the statue is the right and property of the Egyptian people and then ethically the Sekhemka statue MUST be returned back to its homeland and placed in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square for Egyptians and the tourists visiting Egypt to see the Pharaonic civilisation.

 

The Save Sekhemka Action Group London and Egypt

 

 

 

PRESS STATEMENT TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM COMMUNITY

 

It is the human right of all nations to be able to see, enjoy and learn from the products of human history and civilisation.

 

Thus the sale of the Sekhemka statue by the Northampton Borough Council is in its way a crime against humanity.  By selling the statue, which was held in trust for the public in the Northampton Museum, Northampton Council has denied the world a jewel of Pharaonic civilisation.  What is worse, in taking on the role of antiquities dealer Northampton Council has engineered a disaster for the international museum community, diminishing the trust of the public in all our museums and encouraging those who use antiquities as commodities to be cashed in for gain.  Even those criminals and terrorists who would loot, traffic and sell the birth right of nations to raise funds and launder dirty money.

 

If the selling of Sekhemka, a unique and irreplaceable wonder of Egyptian Art and Culture, is a major crime against the people of the world and puts other antiquities in danger, selling the statue to an anonymous buyer compounds the crime.  This action moves Sekhemka from the world of a living museum where the statue can be seen and enjoyed to unknown place which deprives the world of the knowledge embodied by Sekhemka.

 

The Save Sekhemka Action Group in Northampton with its fellow campaigners in London and Egypt ask the intervention of all individuals and organisations with an interest in the enjoyment and celebration of the diverse cultures of the world to uphold the Human Right of the public to see Sekhemka as was always intended by those who originally placed the statue in Northampton Museum.

 

A way must be found to keep Sekhemka on display in a museum in Britain to show the public around the world what a glory the Pharaonic civilisation of Egypt represents.

 

If the UK Government, Arts Council England and the UK Museum Community cannot come up with such a solution, then the Sekhemka statue MUST be returned to its homeland of Egypt and placed in an Egyptian Museum for the pleasure and education of tourists visiting Egypt and the modern custodians of Egypt’s culture, the Egyptian people.

 

The Ancient Egyptians believed that a person lived as long as their name was remembered.  It is now up to the British Government, Arts Council England and the Museum Community, to decide how Sekhemka’s name is to be remembered:  as a shining name to be shared with the world or as a name forevere tarnsihed with the stain of ignorance and greed dragging down the names of those who allowed this cultural crime to happen.

 

The Save Sekhemka Action Group UK with the London and Egypt Groups