Our appreciation of art can help in its preservation, but can also be destructive. The opening of prehistoric caves has disrupted the environmental balance that has preserved the cave paintings. Human conflict and art theft, such as that of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has caused illicit art trafficking on an enormous scale.
The purpose of this essay activity is to highlight problems of art preservation and historic inquiry in the face of human interference.
Prior to beginning this activity, you should do the following:
Complete the text reading for this Module, and through EC Virtual Library, or the New York Times website, locate and read ONE of the following:
After your readings, compose a short essay (two pages of double-spaced text) that synopsizes the article you have read and highlights the issues of preservation that are presented. Include your own thoughts on the issues. In your comments, you may want to consider the following: