Donna Yates, archaeologist in the criminology department of the University of Glasgow, starts a free online course: From fakes and fraud, to thefts and trafficking, art crime has turned archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria into “lunar landscapes”, decapitated Buddha sculptures in Cambodia and left empty frames on museum walls. So how do we protect…
Geneva’s art world suffered another blow to its reputation in November when prosecutors seized pillaged Syrian antiquities from the city’s free port, raising concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing. Now a group of art dealers, lawyers and consultants is fighting back. Under the banner of the Responsible Art Market Initiative, the group published a set of…
The University of Padoa, Italy, organises an international winter school on Anthropology of Forgery 13-17 February 2017. The schhol takes places at the University of Padoa, the Gallerie d’Italia in Vicenza, and the Palazzo Zuckermann, Padoa. You can find the program and further information here: program_winter-school_anthropology-of-forgery_2017
Europol has joined forces with law enforcement authorities from 18 countries, INTERPOL, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Customs Organization (WCO) to tackle the theft and illicit trafficking of cultural goods. Operation Pandora, as EUROPOL just noticed in a press release on January 23, 2016, was successfully led by…
As recently posted, the Royal-Athena Galleries, New York,had until recently a sarcophagus, which presents a battle between Greeks and Trojans, on sale. The gallery is owned by Dr. Jerome Eisenberg, New York, and has a more than doubtful history, since it is tighly connected with the Italian illicit antiquities dealer Gianfranco Becchina. Thanks to Dr.…
An international Colloquium on ‘Initiatives to strengthen international capacities for the protection of cultural property and the prevention of illicit trafficking in cultural goods – the Council of Europe Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property‘ will take place in Strasbourg this week on January 13, 2017. It is organised by the Council of Europe.…
A Roman marble fragment currently on sale at the Royal-Athena Galleries, owned by Dr. Jerome Eisenberg, New York, has a more than doubtful history. The fragment of this sarcophagus, which presents a battle between Greeks and Trojans, is depicted in four Polaroid images (see below) and is referred to in three handwritten notes, in the…
The Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg just published a leaflet with guidelines on how to deal with metal detectorists or people carrying out illegal excavations. It includes the definitions of Raubgräber (someone excavating without permission) and Sondengänger (metal detectorists), and the current legal background in Baden-Württemberg. It is in any case suggested to call the police…
Swiss authorities have seized cultural relics looted from Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, as well as from Libya and Yemen, which were being stored in Geneva’s free ports.The free ports provide highly secured warehouses where basically anything can be kept tax-free with few questions asked. The confiscated objects, from the third and fourth centuries, include…
This week, our committee member Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, senior archaeologist at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge, identified again several objects of very doubtful provenance in a forthcoming auction; this time it is the auction of Gorny & Mosch in Munich on December 14, 2016. The four identified antiquities derive from the Robin Symes…
EAA-Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 