A long-lost Vajradhara sculpture that resurfaced in a Hong Kong collection highlights scholars’ responsibility to mediate between communities and the art market.
Emiline Smith
Emiline Smith is a lecturer in art crime and criminology at the University of Glasgow (UK). She currently leads two GCRF-funded projects on the trafficking of cultural and natural resources in Indonesia, Nepal and Myanmar. Follow her on Twitter at @DrEmilineSmith.
Posted inOpinion
A Small Community in Nepal Wants Its Stolen God Back
Why should the people of Pharping celebrate their sacred festival with a replica of a 400-year-old idol while the original clearly sits in the collection of a Singapore museum?
Posted inNews
The Ongoing Looting of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Heritage
Artifacts stolen from the Kotawehera Rajamaha temple in Sri Lanka are the latest victims of longstanding looting and trafficking.
Posted inArt
In Myanmar, Protests Harness Creativity and Humor
As protestors use every possible tool to reject the coup peacefully, the use of art and humor has generated a collective identity in a country marked by social disparity.
Posted inOpinion
Stumbling Towards Repatriation
We need to make it clear to our museums that we do not want to walk around in galleries of stolen artworks.
