/At the end of November, members of MACCH from the Faculty of Law returned to Maastricht after a day of insightful discussions and presentations on art and law in Leuven. The 20th Anniversary Ius Commune Congress featured a workshop on art and law organised by Prof. Dr. Hildegard Schneider, Dean of the Maastricht Faculty of Law and Prof. Bert Demarsin, Campus Dean of the Brussels Campus of KU Leuven. The day ended with a presentation on a new Maastricht Art & Law venture.

In the collaborative spirit of the Ius Commune Research School our colleagues who participated in the workshop represented universities from Belgium, the Netherlands, Scotland and South Africa. The research school is a network of four universities (Maastricht University, KU Leuven, Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam) which was set up in 1995 and connects around 230 researchers and 130 Ph.D. candidates from both private and public law (for more information see: http://www.iuscommune.eu/school.aspx?language=English). The international participation in November ensured an interesting dialogue on the diverse aspects of art law which were featured in the presentations. Conversations began in the seminar and were picked up during coffee breaks and a shared dinner. The topics presented touched upon a variety of (legal) fields, including public international law, international and comparative private law and an economic approach towards the position of museums.

The day ended with a presentation on a new Maastricht Art & Law venture which will combine academic knowledge based at the university with private expertise. The venture is the ‘brainchild’ of practitioners Marcus Collins and Murk Muller. Its online presence (artandlaws) will provide interested practitioners and researchers in the field with background information and selected art-related news, and serve as a platform for discussion. More information on the project is sure to follow with the launch of the website which is scheduled for this year.

For more information please contact Vanessa Tuensmeyer.