Michael Press

Art

The Implicit Threat of Being Designated a World Heritage Site

Since the World Heritage List was first started in 1978, there has been a persistent link between inclusion on the list and forced relocation of residents, who are typically poor or marginalized.

Art

How to See Palestine Whole

It is crucial for us to see how and why European and American images of Palestine have historically distorted the realities of this region.

Art

What Centuries of Damage to Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Might Mean

The power relations presented in an exhibition at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation are selective. We get a discussion of ancient power — but what about the modern power to acquire these objects regardless of legal or ethical concerns?

Art

How Social Media is Allowing for Illegal Antiquities Trafficking

The Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project has published a critical report on West Asian antiquities trafficking taking place more or less out in the open on Facebook.

Art

Investigating Origins and Cultural Heritage at the Metropolitan Museum

As educational institutions, museums should feel an obligation to be forthcoming about provenance issues with items on display.

Art

Daguerreotypes by a French Traveler Who Was Among the First to Photograph the Eastern Mediterranean

Monumental Journey displays Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey's daguerreotypes which include the earliest surviving photographs of many notable cities and monuments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Art

The Clandestine Cultural Knowledge of Ancient Graffiti

Today we are used to thinking of graffiti as subversive or illegal, but ancient people didn’t necessarily see graffiti in this way at all.

Art

In Jerusalem, a Museum's Ethics Go Astray

The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem recently unveiled a new exhibition, Finds Gone Astray, to great fanfare, but it has so many ethical and legal violations that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Art

Let Them Eat Heritage

The rush to restore cultural monuments in Iraq and Syria has papered over the failure to rebuild houses, infrastructure, and people’s lives.

Art

Documenting Damaged Cultural Heritage and Human Suffering in Yemen’s Civil War

Yemeni human rights organization Mwatana has issued a report based on years of research, titled, “The Degradation of History: Violations Committed by the Warring Parties against Yemen’s Cultural Property."

Art

When Will Egyptian and Peruvian Mummies Return Home?

In the context of the Field Museum's lack of information regarding their provenance the mummies' return to the Field Museum after a three-year tour is hardly a homecoming.

Art

Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of the Bible Revealed as Forgeries

The museum, not unfamiliar with scandal, failed to perform due diligence before showcasing the scrolls.