Cultural Heritage and Diplomatic Partnerships Between the United States and Peru

Abstract

The United States and Peru have worked collaboratively and independently to create bilateral programs, which include museum studies internships, anti-trafficking initiatives, exhibit exchanges, and professional exchanges, aimed at returning the research, stewardship, and interpretation of Peruvian cultural heritage property back to Peru. Cultural heritage property includes movable objects of importance to cultural identity, such as archaeological artifacts. This capstone explores how diplomatic relationships influence cultural heritage policies, and shows how these policies have facilitated the shift of study and inquiry of Peruvian archaeological artifacts back to Peruvian institutions. Much literature is devoted to the development of cultural heritage law and antitrafficking initiatives in the international arena, Latin America, and Peru, but there is a lack of literature exploring the programs that the United States has created in cooperation with Peru (Guerrero, 2009; Hoffman, 2006; Luke, 2012). This document looks specifically at how two countries that did not have a direct colonial relationship have worked together to create programing for the interpretation, repatriation, and exhibition of Peruvian cultural heritage property. Exploring the influences of cultural diplomacy and soft power that impact the decisions made in the protection, funding, and management of cultural heritage property, we see that programming between these two countries is evolving in a way that aligns with U.S. foreign policy agendas. Through a critical analysis of the foundations of the policy, laws and programs, this research seeks to identify trends in cultural heritage property programming that have developed as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Peru.