Financial assistance movable cultural heritage
The Federal Act on the International Transfer of Cultural Property (CPTA, SR 444.1) and the related Ordinance (CPTO, SR 444.11) implement the 1970 and the 2001 UNESCO Conventions into national law. The granting of financial assistance to the benefit of maintaining cultural heritage (art. 14 CPTA) is one of numerous measures in the CPTA to preserve moveable cultural property as cultural heritage of humankind and to protect it against theft, looting and destruction.
Applications for financial assistance to preserve cultural heritage in states that have ratified the UNESCO Convention of 1970 can be submitted in writing (via post or email) to the Specialised Body for the International Transfer of Cultural Property using the revised “Application Form Financial Assistance” (February 2023 version).
Applications for the submission period 2023 are to be submitted by 30 June 2023 and prior to executing the intended project. Applications for financial assistance to protect moveable Ukrainian cultural property may be submitted up to the two cut-off dates 31 March 2023 or 30 June 2023. Further information is available in the document “Guidelines on financial assistance to the benefit of maintaining moveable cultural heritage” and the section “Financial assistance moveable cultural heritage Ukraine”.
These Guidelines as well as the Directives on the priority of allocation of financial assistance of the Federal Department of Home Affairs of 15 December 2015 will be taken into consideration during the allocation process. Projects concerning States that have signed a bilateral agreement on the import and repatriation of cultural property according to art. 7 CPTA will be given priority. With the aim of ensuring a high and long-term effectiveness of the projects maintaining cultural heritage, applications between CHF 80’000 and CHF 100’000 are particularly welcome.
