Collective expansion of provenance research and institutional capacity to promote and sustain peace

Strong institutions contribute greatly to peace and its promotion, as the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 16 vividly recognizes. Institutional capacity for supporting peace initiatives from the local to the global levels is built by promoting a culture of accountability and transparency, especially through effective recordkeeping about heritage objects under their care. Such capacity can also be tested during a crisis response, involving urgent and collaborative work alongside judiciary and law enforcement agencies, to address any displacement of artifacts from their country of origin. UNESCO marked the European Year of Cultural Heritage and the early 50th anniversary of its 1970 Convention by publishing a toolkit that relays core concepts of provenance alongside practical tools available for tracking stolen art, special investigative techniques, and essential knowledge of deterioration agents and preservation. We see the 2018 toolkit and its active usage in a well-attended 2023 workshop as a form of peace work. Archivists can continue to train soldiers on the rescue and recovery of perilous artworks, monuments, historic sites, and informational archives – in non-traditional settings prioritizing rapid recognition and communication of all of the assembled available evidence. We integrate data gathered both from asking professional archivists how they research and communicate provenance information and from job ads mentioning provenance and how archivists are expected to research it today, to encourage new provenance research efforts that promote peace by protecting heritage for community enjoyment.