France pushes for Russia’s expulsion from ICOM over cultural appropriation

Le Monde published a statement from French art experts.

According to the column by the experts, “Russia’s desire to erase the uniqueness of Ukrainian identity” is evident through the destruction and looting of monuments and artworks, as well as the organization of revisionist exhibitions.

“As of April 16, UNESCO recorded 494 sites destroyed or damaged since February 24, 2022, including 149 religious buildings, 257 historic structures, 33 monuments (including those commemorating the Holocaust), 18 libraries, 34 museums, and 2 archaeological sites. However, Moscow’s goal isn’t only destruction — it also seeks to appropriate Ukrainian heritage and ‘Russify’ it whenever possible,” the art experts emphasized.

They stressed that following the annexation of Crimea, thousands of artworks were transferred from Crimean museums to Russian institutions. In 2016, Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery hosted a major exhibition of 19th-century marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky, with 38 of the 120 works on display coming from Crimean collections. The archaeological site of Chersonesus, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was dismantled, looted, and repurposed into a museum complex opened in July 2024, including a new “Museum of Crimea and Novorossiya” aimed at legitimizing Russia’s claims to eastern and southern Ukraine.

The column also highlights the removal of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian artworks and cultural objects to Crimea or Russia. This includes items from the Kherson Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko and the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore.

“In Mariupol, Russian soldiers seized iconic works by Arkhyp Kuindzhi (1841–2010) and Ivan Aivazovsky. As for the ‘Scythian Gold’ collection stored in the Melitopol Museum of Local Lore, it simply disappeared,” the column noted.

Art experts stress that these actions align with a clear political agenda — to fulfill the imperial dream of a "Greater Russia." In Russian museums, exhibitions are being created to showcase the history of the “special military operation.” Curators are being trained to “re-catalog” Ukrainian collections within the Russian museum system. These actions violate international law, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which Russia is a signatory.

“Therefore, urgent measures are needed. Specific actions can be taken immediately: exclude Russia from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and remove employees of Russian museums involved in the looting of Ukrainian collections in occupied territories. Article 7.2 of the ICOM Code of Ethics clearly states: 'Museum policies should take into account international legislation that serves as the standard for interpreting the ICOM Code of Ethics.' The ongoing presence of institutions and individuals in ICOM who are involved in the destruction, looting, and falsification of cultural heritage is a blatant violation of these principles. Excluding Russia from ICOM is the least that can be expected from an institution governed by French law, which focuses on the protection of cultural heritage and the application of ethical standards in international museum cooperation,” the experts concluded in their statement.

The column was signed by, among others:

- Art historian Kostiantyn Akinsha
- Founder of the Jam Factory art center in Lviv, Harald Binder
- Founder of the Marrakech Biennale, Vanessa Branson
- Lawyer at the International Criminal Court, Emmanuel Daoud
- Composer, artist, and curator, Carl Michael von Hausswolff
- Photographer Sarah Moon
- President of the Ukrainian Coalition of Cultural Figures, former director of the Ukrainian Institute in France, Olha Sahaidak
- Head of the legal department of ICOM Ukraine, President of the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine, Vitalii Tytych 

• Historian Radomyr Mokryk, in the Proper Names program, spoke about the nature of Russian cultural colonization, its perception and impact on Western society, as well as the countermeasures that have been and are being implemented in the Ukrainian cultural community.