While conversations about historic monuments ignite public debate, a small sculpture which was likely looted heads to auction at Christie’s Paris.
Looting
Posted inArt
“Looting”: The Revolt of the Oppressed
The genesis of the term “loot” in colonial India has racist origins. Now, after the US president called for the killing of those “looting,” its origins become increasingly significant.
Posted inArt
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.
Posted inNews
Protesters Object to Display of Looted Objects at Israel’s Bible Lands Museum
Finds Gone Astray features 40,000 artifacts confiscated from looters and unauthorized dealers in antiquities over the past 50 years. The protestors demand the immediate removal of the exhibition and the repatriation of the stolen items to the Palestinian Authority.
Posted inArt
Seizure of Looted Antiquities Illuminates What Museums Want Hidden
Over 20,000 precious art objects were seized in a raid at dawn — what can this elucidate about beauty, theft, and the museum?
Posted inArt
What Central Africa’s War on Poaching Can Teach Us About Fighting the Plunder of Antiquities
Calls for greater law enforcement efforts to fight antiquities trafficking have been growing ever since ISIS’ profiteering from the trade in looted antiquities became public knowledge in 2014. Two years later, concrete steps are finally being taken.
Posted inNews
Looters Kill Two Guards at Ancient Egyptian Necropolis
Two guards at the Dayr al-Barsha archaeological site in Middle Egypt were killed by looters during a foiled robbery this weekend.
Posted inNews
Study Finds ISIS Militants Aren’t the Only Ones Looting Syrian Archaeological Sites
ISIS’s systematic looting in Syria has captured the world’s attention, but a new study shows they’re not the only ones selling off the country’s cultural heritage.
Posted inOpinion
Marion True Does Not Deserve Our Sympathy
Marion True, former curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, made headlines recently by giving her first interview since 2007.
Posted inNews
US House of Representatives Passes Controversial Art Protection Bill
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would ensure that authorities cannot seize works of art brought into the United States for temporary display in cultural institutions — even if they’re determined to have been stolen.
Posted inNews
Tomb-Raiding Archaeologists Arrested in Chinese Antiquities Trafficking Bust
Four archaeologists were among nearly 200 people from six Chinese provinces recently arrested for raiding ancient tombs and selling an estimated $80 million worth of antiquities on the black market, the Beijing Times reported.
Posted inNews
Crimes of the Art
On this week’s art crime blotter: Elton John’s glasses stolen from museum, a Basquiat painting disappears in breakup, and a sexy hay bale sculpture offends Aussies.