Adrienne Bell

“... by destroying a culture’s art, you destroy the people. (...) If you erase every reminder of their history,
their symbology, everything everything that made them special and distinct in this world, then you can make those people forget who they really
are. And that’s what conquerors truly want. (...)

Because only after that can the conquerors get down to the business of really taking over. Of substituting
their own history, their own symbols, their own meaning, on another. Of casting the conquered as outsiders in their own land. (...)

Sure there are other things that go—language, clothes, food. But people have to eat. They have to clothe themselves. They need to talk. Those things can take
generations to eradicate. Art on the other hand is wrongly seen as a luxury, easily stolen without consequence. But those baubles you’re talking about are far more valuable than money. And don’t you believe for a second that the people buying
and selling them don’t understand that better than anyone else.”
― Adrienne Bell, Jake