Seven ancient statues and pottery vessels are headed back to their homeland in Italy after authorities said they tracked down the stolen items in New York City. Dating back as far as the eighth century B.C., the artifacts were looted by Italian tomb raiders in the 1990s, then were smuggled out of the country and…
Bulgaria recovers over 5,000 antiquities in joint anti-smuggling op with Turkey, France. Bulgarian officials said Friday they had recovered over 5,600 smuggled antiquities and arrested 22 members of two international smuggling rings in a joint operation with Turkey and France. A tip-off by the Bulgarian services eighteen months ago has led to the dismantling of…
Le 29 novembre de l’année dernière, la Commission belge francophone et germanophone pour l’UNESCO organisait une Journée d’étude sur le thème du trafic illicite des biens culturels, en tant que source de financement du terrorisme et des groupes armés. Vous avez peut-être eu l’occasion d’y assister et de constater à quel point les débats furent…
“Save Culture, end trafficking”. New infographic tells you all about UNESCO’s work in combating illicit trafficking. UNESCO Culture sector has published a new infographic, highlighting UNESCO’s work in fighting against illicit trafficking in cultural property. It explains basic concepts of trafficking and illustrates the global effort in implementing the UNESCO 1970 convention on the Means…
Asma Ibrahim, director of the Museum and Art Gallery Department, State Bank of Pakistan, gave a presentation on ‘Illicit Trade in Antiquities: The Tale of the Persian Mummy’ at the Aga Khan University this week. “The trafficking of culture goods is a growing problem,” Ibrahim said, citing numerous examples of thefts from museums, monuments, religious…
The origins of Italy’s Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale go back to the late 1960ies. Since years it publishes a periodic bulletin that has proven to be a valuable tool towards raising awareness and working to combat illicit trafficking and the theft of works of art. The recent 38th bulletin includes descriptions and…
Finally, the Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands (PAN) is online. All started with a project of Prof. dr. N.G.A.M. Roymans, University of Amsterdam. PAN is similar to the English and Welsh PAS, the Danish DIME, and the Flemish MEDEA, and all are part of the North Sea Area Finds Recording Group, which registers archaeological artefacts. The…
A recently published article by Nick Romeo at the National Geographic’s webpage describes the work of Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis who detects regularly illicit objects in museum’s collections and auction houses. The article is cited in the following. A few years ago, Christos Tsirogiannis was looking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s online collection when he…
Syria and Iraq: Culture at Risk. Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Goods – 31/03/2017, Stockholm (Sweden) In the footsteps of war and unrest, antiquities are being looted from ancient sites and museums. These objects are sold illegally on a growing international market. This trade is a strong threat to proper documentation of our cultural heritage and…
Illegal excavations that have been continuing for the last three months in the ancient city of Myndos in Bodrum’s Gümüşlük neighborhood have elicited the anger of locals due to the lack of any action to halt the activity. “They’re doing whatever they want in the ancient city. Treasure hunters are looting the national treasures…
EAA-Committee on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 