"There are things which are not made for the eyes of men": What Alice Rohrwacher tells us about illicit trafficking of cultural property in "La Chimera"
From as early as the prehistoric era, human beings have sought ways to confer cultural meaning to their existence. Indeed, one of their primary instincts has been the desire to leave symbolic traces and marks of their passage on Earth for those who will come after them. Once humanity has developed the concepts of past and future, works of art and monuments began to assume a truly symbolic significance. They have served to establish a link and a sense of continuity between generations across the centuries. In this way, cultural heritage becomes a mirror of humanity—of its evolution and progress. It represents the highest expression of what a society has achieved, of what it values, and of what it believes in. The way we treat and regard cultural and artistic heritage, in turn, becomes an important measure of our own cultural identity. To inherit that patrimony, is not merely to admire it, but to assume responsibility for it. When heritage becomes a commodity absorbed into the ferocious...
