Art and Cultural Heritage is appropriately, but not solely, about national and international law respecting cultural heritage. It is a bubbling cauldron of law mixed with ethics, philosophy, politics and working principles looking at how cultural heritage law, policy and practice should be sculpted from the past as the present becomes the future. Art and cultural heritage are two pillars on which a society builds its identity, its values, its sense of community and the individual. The authors explore these demanding concerns, untangle basic values, and look critically at the conflicts and contradictions in existing art and cultural heritage law and policy in its diverse sectors. The rich and provocative contributions collectively provide a reasoned discussion of the issues from a multiplicity of views to permit the reader to understand the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the cultural heritage debate.

Barbara Hoffman counsels and litigates in the area of art, publishing, entertainment and intellectual property law, representing visual artists, art collectors, museums, directors, writers, film producers, and new media companies. She has acted as legal adviser to various non-profit institutions in the art world, has taught courses on art and law and intellectual property law, and has published extensively in the field. Ms. Hoffman is recent past chair of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Art Law and current member of the Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts. She participated in CONFU as original chair of the visual image committee and is a co-chair of the International Bar Association's Art, Culture and Intellectual Property Law Committee.