Home > Global Art

Global Art

Global Art news covers international events, from the destruction of cultural heritage through war, infrastructure development, and government neglect – to the successful implementation of policies that enable documentation, scholarship and art preservation. Articles cover both nationalist perspectives and the historic view that the international circulation of art is a bridge for communication, humanist study, and mutual understanding.

Current events demonstrate how international cultural property issues have become highly politicized, both as an expression of self-determination for formerly-colonized nations and as diplomatic bargaining chips. In the past, Western nations had virtually unlimited access to art from around the world; today, the pendulum has swung to the furthest opposite position, as national governments claim absolute ownership of the entire history of art within their political boundaries.

Fifty to one hundred years after independence, few countries have established the state-regulated trade in art envisioned in the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Instead, many countries have made it illegal to export virtually all art through laws that make art the property of the state. Other nations have seized control over the cultural heritage of Christian, Jewish, and other religious and ethnic minorities. This is the background to current events in which the legitimate art trade is treated as a pawn in international diplomacy, and access to art is viewed as expendable compared to more pressing economic or trade interests.

Read More > < Read Less

Careful Collector No. 33: Angie Funds Her Hoard

Cultural Property News 2023-2024 Report

UK: Reparations and Repatriation at ‘Reckoning with History’

Careful Collector No. 32 – What the Heck is It?

Museum of the Bible Exhibition Unveils Afghan Liturgical Quire

Brazil Opens Two Indigenous Museums

Tens of thousands of artifacts looted from Sudan National Museum

Ukraine – Russians steal ancient statues from Mariupol, looted artwork spotted in Crimea, Customs seizes medieval sabers.

Netherlands to Indonesia – Objects Taken in Puputan Badung War Returned

Afghanistan: Taliban Ban Images of ‘Living Things’ & Promise to Preserve Ancient Buddhist Site By Digging Copper Mine Under It

Off-Road Racing Destroys Chilean Geoglyphs While AI Enables Hundreds of New Finds in Peru

UK’s National Museum Directors’ Council Issues Open Letter on Museum Protests

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Hearing to Restitution Study Group on Benin Bronzes

CPAC Hearing Ignores Realities in Lebanon, Mongolia, and El Salvador

El Salvador Seeks MOU Renewal Despite 37 Year History of Import Restrictions, Corruption, and Government Neglect

Lebanon in Chaos: Will US Sign Heritage Agreement?

The Internet’s Favorite Sumerian

China 2024: The Smothered Screams of Muslim Genocide

Elizabeth Weiss & the New Archaeology Wars

Careful Collector #30: Sending Art and Antiquities to Failed States No Recipe for Preservation

ATADA Award Goes to Robert Gallegos, Founder of Voluntary Returns Program

Neolithic News: Stonehenge Tunnel Plan Terminated

Moundbuilders Golf Course Now Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks

UK’s Horniman Museum Benin Repatriation Re-examined

Careful Collector No. 29 – Importing Antiquities, Art and Collectibles into the EU Becoming Far More Challenging

Italy: Excess Art to Colossal Naples Museum – Carabinieri Revel in Seizure of 105,000 Artifacts

A Closer Look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme

World’s Oldest Shipwreck Discovered in Mediterranean

Berlin’s Altes Museum Returns Collection of Apulian Vases

Careful Collector No. 28 – Liberated Art Returns Home

Ukraine Requests 1.4 Million Years’ Import Restrictions on Art

Commentary: Problems of Universal Art

Ecuador: Turmoil, Neglect, and a History of Legal Looting

Careful Collector #27 – It Came from Outer Space

Dirty Details: British Museum Presses Case Against Former Curator Peter Higgs

A Fungus Among Us at Persepolis & Pyramid Cladding at Menkaure Abandoned

WMF Turns Over Angkor Wat to APSARA Despite Human Rights Concerns Over Government Control

Greek Ceramics Pulled from Auction Show That Archives Should Be Made Public

Met Museum Aims at Cultural Reconciliation in Returning Treasures to Thailand

Careful Collector #26 – The Benefits of Dealing with Established Trade Associations

Betrayal of Tibet: DA’s Controversial Returns to China

In and Out Artworks – Sculptures from America’s Greatest Collections in Flux

Careful Collector No. 25 – Third Party Grading Services and Slabs: Good for Collecting or Not?

Afghanistan Sites Demolished by Bulldozers

NY’s Rubin Museum Transitions to ‘Museum Without Walls’

Europe: Alarming Future of the Art, Antiquity and Archaeology Market

Ethiopian Shield from 1868 Battle of Maqdala Withdrawn from Auction

Souvenir Costs French Tourist 8 Days in Luxor Jail

2024 India Report: U.S. Art Blockade Inevitable Despite Destruction and Neglect

Careful Collector No. 24 – William Penn Still Stands Tall in Philadelphia

Commentary: Renewal of Algerian MOU

The New NAGPRA: ‘traditional knowledge’ in, artifacts out.

China Doubles Down to Crush Islamic Culture and Identity

At Great Expense, Manhattan DA Returns Fakes to Lebanon

Did NY Asst. DA Bogdanos Return a Legally Owned Object to Greece?

Careful Collector No. 22 – Your Tax Dollars at Work

Law? What law? CPAC Ignores Statute in New ‘Evidence Free’ MOU with India

Why Is The Manhattan D.A.’S Office Publishing Data It Knows To Be Untrue?

Careful Collector No. 21 – Ancient Coins as Teaching Tools for Kids

Oct-Sept 2023 Short Reads: Met Museum Returns, China Goes Digital, Michael Ward Accepts Plea, and Spurious Scythians Seized in Spain

UNESCO Update: Stamping Out Cat Juggling Again?

The British Museum is still the greatest museum in the world.

Korea’s Supreme Court Resolves Decade-long Dispute Over Stolen Buddhist Statue

Cleveland Museum of Art Fights Back Against NY DA’s Seizure of Famous Bronze Statue

Legal Head of Italian Culture Ministry: ‘Fiendishly extensive’ proofs bar imports.

Careful Collector No. 20 – Why Is Our Government Recognizing the Rights of Authoritarian Governments to Cultural Heritage of Displaced Religious and Ethnic Minorities?

Armenians Racing to Save Heritage in Karabakh

Careful Collector No. 19 – The Life and Times of Trail-Blazing Antiquities Dealer Leo Patterson

Misuse of U.S. Heritage Law: State Department Seeks Blockade on Nepalese Art

U.S. Signs MOU with Yemen. This Time, No Testimony Allowed.

Egypt’s Jewish Restoration Projects: Seized Geniza Still Missing

Return of Benin Bronzes: Why are the victims of slavery hushed up?

Cairo’s Historic Cemeteries: Erasing the Dead Past

Honduras Wants Import Restrictions After 20 Years Noncompliance With U.S. Law

Alice Kandell Gives Major Collection of Tibetan Art to Minneapolis

Careful Collector No. 18 – Resetting the Collecting Narrative

The Myth of the “recovery” of Argentina’s Act of the Declaration of Independence

Benin Bronzes Lawsuit Against Smithsonian: Deadria Farmer-Paellmann & Bruce Afran Interview

Careful Collector No. 16 – Let it Snow in a Globe – Paige’s Accumulation Becomes a Collection

Israel Asks Citizens to Turn In Antiquities – Archaeologists Ask to Stop Excavations

Hong Kong: Laws Imperil Culture From Art to Anthems

Pop Music Against Oppression

China Seeks Cultural Protection But Nixes US UNESCO Membership

EU Action Plan Replays Bogus Claims About Art Market

Law Note: UK Ivory Act Expanded

Art Moves: Kogi Sacred Masks Go from Germany to Colombia

Art Moves: Three Vatican Parthenon Fragments go to Greek Archbishopric, then Acropolis Museum

Law Note: Netherlands Court Rules Crimean Gold Must Go To Ukraine

Voices Pro & Con at CPAC on China and Bulgaria MOUs

Careful Collector No. 15 – World Culture Cop

Is the EU sleepwalking into an art market nightmare?

SPECIAL REPORT: 2023 CHINA MOU – Building China’s Art Monopoly and Destroying Minority Culture and Identity

Careful Collector No. 14: A Collecting Bubble That Burst

Repatriation of Brutus Aureus Highlights Dangers of Overzealous NY DA’s Office to Ancient Coin Collecting

Nigeria Gives Benin Ruler Exclusive Ownership of Bronzes

Can Taliban be Trusted to Preserve Afghan Heritage?

In Defense of David

Careful Collector No. 13: New Collectors from Abroad

Young historian finds medieval gold treasure in the Netherlands

Turkey Loses Guennol Stargazer Appeal. Statue Will Go to Christie’s and Steinhardt.

EU: Death Comes to the Vatican Canon, Rome Archeological Exhibit, Ali Aboutaam Fined after 6 Year Investigation

Careful Collector No.12: NFTs- Flash in the Pan or Here to Stay?

State Dept Renews Blockade on Libyan Art, Ignoring Law and Facts

Will U.S. Sign Uzbekistan Art Embargo 50,000 BC to 1917?

Careful Collector No. 11: Orders and Decorations: Can Symbols of Valor be Bought and Sold?

CPAC Report: Coin Collectors Face More Collateral Damage

Cambodia and “Stone Temple Nationalism”

NAGPRA: Major Changes Proposed for 2023 to Native American Repatriation Law

Careful Collector No. 10: The Lifecycle of Collectibles: Different Generations Often Value Different Things

Committee for Cultural Policy 2022 Annual Report

168 Nazca Lines, 35K Syrian Antiquities, No More Golf at Moundbuilder Site and Pompeii’s Sheep are Baaaaack

US Plans Agreements to Block Art from Uzbekistan, Cambodia and North Macedonia

Careful Collector No. 9: Will my African Art be repatriated as reparations for the Colonialist past?

STOP Act Passes: First law restricting export of American art

Comments on UNESCO’s Draft Model Provisions on the Prevention and Fight against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property

UNESCO Model Provisions Could End Most Global Trade

Putin Using Martial Law to Legitimate Ukraine Art Looting

Moai on Easter Island Damaged in Arson Fire

The Llullaillaco Mummies

Restitution Study Group Unable to Stop Smithsonian’s Benin Returns

Where will Benin bronzes go? Nigerian government, Edo Museum or Oba?

Caucasus Heritage Watch: Azerbaijan is Destroying Armenian Heritage

ICOM Condemns Russia’s Destruction of Ukrainian Heritage

Repatriations: Getty Sirens, Cambodian Sculptures, Jewish Coin, Nepal Stele

The Careful Collector – Why does a French auction house want to know so much about me?

UK Charity Act Opens Door to Restitutions

J’accuse! Georges Lotfi’s Dramatic Open Letter to Bogdanos’ Antiquities Trafficking Unit

Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Masterpieces

Russia’s War Against Ukrainian Culture

The Careful Collector- Fakes and Alterations: Hana Hunts for Vintage Uke with Few Strings Attached

Shorts: Briton in Iraq Released – Yale Gives Up Indian Artifacts – Jewish Manuscript Rescued – Gentileschi Seized

Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche

Libyan Jewish Community Fights for Rights to Heritage

Will US Renew Libyan Art Embargo During Civil War?

The Careful Collector: Great Catsby is Life of the Party

Turkey – Hagia Sophia Suffers Serious Damage: Walls Peeled and Marble Tiles Shattered

The Careful Collector: Not as Rare as You Might Think!

Belgian Blunder: Government Sells Stolen Ife Head for €240

Sacre bleu! Former Louvre president charged in antiquities trafficking case.

Commentary: Cultural Heritage Predation in Iraq – The sectarian appropriation of Iraq’s past

Losing the Parthenon Marbles: History, Passion, and Possession

U.S. Weighs Questionable Cultural Property Agreement with Pakistan

Mes Aynak: Dark Days for Afghanistan’s Buddhist Heritage

The Careful Collector: Don’t Import Buyer’s Remorse

“Who ordered the borscht?” When a State Steals Culture, Others Pay the Bill.

Egypt’s Antiquities Authority Seizes Geniza from Jewish Cemetery

EU Parliament Resolution Condemns Azerbaijan’s Erasure of Armenian History

CINOA-Art Market Demands Fundamental Review of Law Making

Mali Government Wants U.S. Blockade on Art as Russian Mercenaries Secure Regime

Bamiyan: What Lasted for 1500 Years Will be Gone in Ten

U.S. Treasury Report: Key Findings on Money Laundering and Terror Finance in Art Trade

Citizen Activists Want Nepalese Art Back

Vance Caps Career: Steinhardt Gives Up $70 Million in Antiquities

2021 Cultural Agreements Deny Access to Art

Whistleblower Fired: UN Human Rights Council Gave Dissidents’ Names to China

Uyghur Human and Cultural Rights: Forced Labor Prevention Act and Shocking Holocaust Museum Report

Gold Ewer with Hollywood History Delivered to Turkey

Roman Busts Found & 45,000 Skeletons Reburied in UK Rail Project

Mexico Establishes Agency to Seek Antiquities on Carabinieri Model

Nation-Building with Archaeology: Iraq, Syria and Libya

CENSORED: Cartoons and Ancient Conquerors in China

Dutch Court: Scythian Gold from Crimea Should Go to Ukraine

Trade Delivers Reality Check to Money Laundering Regulators

Germany Funds €600,000 NEXUD AI App for Antiquities

Lebanon, Abomey, Bishop Aukland, and Afghanistan

Peru Asks to Extend 25 Year Long Art Blockade

Art Market Organizations Stand Together Against Illicit Trade

The Real Looting of Afghanistan: Pit Mining vs Heritage

Afghanistan’s 4000 Years of Cross-Border Empires and Trade

The Evolution and Deconstruction of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage Laws

Afghanistan’s Heritage: A Former Government, the Taliban, and a Questionable Blockade

Afghanistan Ethnographic Art: Turkoman Embroidery

Coins of Afghanistan – Documenting History and Trade

Pashtunwali: Pashtun Traditional Tribal Law in Afghanistan

International Criminal Court: Cultural Heritage & Genocide

UNESCO Threatens Stonehenge with At-Risk Status

Future UK Ban on Hippo, Narwhal, Whale, and Walrus Ivories?

The Strange History of the Torlonia Marbles

A Tale of Two Seizures: The Carabinieri TPC

Around the Mediterranean: discoveries, ancient economies and national politics

Turkish MoU Will Devastate Minorities, Bolster Erdoğan Regime

Archaeological Discovery Points to Long-lost Settlement of Sarabay in Florida

Bulldozing Culture: China’s Systematic Destruction of Uyghur Heritage Reveals Genocidal Intent

Interview: Factum Foundation’s Ferdinand Saumarez Smith on Preserving the Bakor Monoliths

Thefts, Fakes, and Facsimiles: Preserving the Bakor Monoliths of Eastern Nigeria

Sisi’s Parade of Absolute Rulers – Celebration of Autocracy Opens Egyptian Museum

CircArt and the British Museum – A great opportunity wasted.

April May 2021 Repatriation Digest

Setback for Planned Mega-Resort and Amusement Park at Angkor Wat

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 1

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 2

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 3

Critical Comments Rain Down on Draft EU Regulations

MOU Backstory: How Cultural Property Agreements with Authoritarian Middle Eastern Governments are Made

Is ICE Writing Its Own Laws? The Curious Case of the Chandler Museum

NETCHER Project: 194 Recommendations Locked in Unreality

Argam Ayvazyan: Spy–Researcher For Nakhichevan Armenian Culture

Albania Wants US Art Embargo But Where is the Art?

Egypt’s Brutal Regime Wants to Renew US Blockade on Art; Claims to Protect Heritage & Culture

Art and Abolition: Art Objects and the Rejection of Slavery

Turkish MOU: Last Minute State Department Deal Sparks Outrage

UK Not Adopting EU Art and Antiquities Import Rules

The Museum of the Bible: Repatriations, investigations, thefts, and fakes dog DC institution.

Armenian Monuments Threatened After Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh War

Nigeria Welcomes Future Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA)

UNESCO Appoints Syria Trust for Development to Heritage Post

Bungling Smugglers: Egypt Seeks Extradition after Trial in Absentia of Former Consul

Our World Heritage’s Full Year of Events: Rethinking the World Heritage Convention

Bad DIY Idea: Egyptians Digging for Antiquities in Own Homes

CCP/CPN 2020 Year End Report

UNESCO Marks Convention’s 50th Anniversary with Doctored Photos and Disinformation

Humboldt Forum Collaboration with Tanzania

‘Cute Repatriation’ Prank Brings Fake Beuys Sculpture to Tanzania

Forget history. There is no Genghis Khan.

Berlin’s Museuminsel in the Wake of Vandalism

Hypothetical Hopes for Healing Through Art

Turkey Seizes Ancient Seed Collection in Nationalist Move

Nigeria: Support Cultural Expansion, Not Art Blockade

Gary Vikan: The Holy Shroud, A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death

Elias Gerasoulis: A geo-political perspective on the Turkish MoU

August & September: Six Short Stories on Museums, Art and Culture

WCO Reports: Heritage Trafficking Tiny Percentage of Illegal Trade

Istanbul’s Last Church-Mosque-Museum

Interview with Robert G. Ousterhout: The Preservation and Reconversion of Kariye Camii

State Department to Hear Requests for Import Restrictions on Nigerian, Greek, and Bolivian Art

Rio Tinto: How Australian Law Tolerates Heritage Destruction

China Tariffs Come Back for Real in 2020

Coalition Opposes Cultural Property Requests by Repressive Governments

Smashing Buddhas in Pakistan: Rural Ignorance and Museum Indifference

RAND Corp Report Demolishes Assumptions on Antiquities and Terror

RAND Corporation Report Debunks Facebook & Dark Web Ties to Illegal Antiquities

Reclaiming Tibetan Culture in the Digital Age

New Publication: Ivory 2020 Art and Heritage Law

Hagia Sophia No Longer a Museum: US Should Deny Turkey’s Request for Blockade on Art

Italy Wants 20 Year Art Blockade Expanded to 2025

Turkish Court Decides Hagia Sophia’s Conversion to Mosque

Rediscovering Old Provenances for Ancient Coins

St John Simpson Interview: Afghanistan repatriation, Daesh, remote-archaeology and the ILLICID report

Brent Huffman: Mes Aynak Update

Arts Council England: Guidelines for Museum Repatriation

The Interview: Adam Lowe of Factum Arte

Hartwig Fischer: Collections entail responsibilities. Notes on a global institution.

Visit Sacred Spaces through Virtual Travel

Costa Rica Seeks U.S. Import Restrictions on Art

Elizabeth S. Bolman: Images from the Red Monastery Church

Scholar Identifies Missing Indian Statue in Ashmolean Collection

Elizabeth Bolman Interview: The Red Monastery Church

US Customs Delivers 7 “National Treasure” Coins Worth $200 to Cyprus

Hong Kong Artists’ Political Protests Continue

How Jordanian Import Restrictions Really Happened

Collaborative Exhibit at LACMA – Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific

Five Reasons NOT to Sign Cultural Property Deals with Turkey and Tunisia

Turkey Claims all Art and Artifacts: Centuries of Multicultural History and Trade Denied

CCP & GHA Testify on Blockade on All Art from Tunisia

Turkish Request Alarms Armenians, Greeks, Turkish Jews, Orthodox and Syriac Christians in Diaspora

Controversy: How US Recognizes Middle East Government Ownership of Jewish & Minority Heritage

What’s Next for 2020? Art Blockades, Money Laundering Rules, OFAC Sanctions

What Remains – Ancient Artworks Travel, Inspire, and Survive

Safani Gallery of NY Files Lawsuit to Recover “Head of Alexander”

Successful Repatriation: The Utimut Process in Denmark & Greenland

Scandiknavery! Fakes, Fantasy, the Cold War and Cultural Histories

CCP & GHA Testimony on Yemen’s Request for Cultural Property Restrictions

Morocco Seeks US Import Restrictions on Ancient & Ethnic Art

Jewish community issues urgent call on proposal to Block Yemeni and Moroccan heritage

Uzbekistan Leads the Way in International Collaboration on Cultural Heritage

John Gilmore Ford: Portrait of a Collector

Notorious: Indian Prosecutions and Foreign Repatriation

Never Seen Again? Indian Artifacts in Icon Centers Left to Rot

Turkey: Ilisu Dam Inundates 12,000 Year Old Town in Kurdish Region

The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 1

The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 2

US State Department Imposes Embargo on Algerian Cultural Artifacts, Including Rope!

Leonard Cohen, Anyone? Reporting on Illicit ‘Cultural Objects’ is Deceptive

UK Gov’t Query: Is Ban on Warthog, Hippo, Walrus, Whale and Narwhal Necessary?

Was ILLICID Report ‘Buried’ For Failing to Show Illegal Trade?

Click Here to Enter Nirvana

The Wondrous Cosmos in Medieval Manuscripts

EU Regulation Curtailing Import of Art & Antiquities Now Law

Turkey’s President Wants to Turn Hagia Sophia into a Mosque

African Voices: Muhigirwa Kinyunyi Claude of LUCHA Movement for Change

The Security State and Destruction of Uyghur Culture in Xinjiang

Exhibitions and Demonstrations: How Art Museums Connect to the Community

Not Again! 25% Tariff on Chinese Antiques Pending

Expanding the Protecting U.S. Heritage Abroad Act

Chile’s Application for Import Restrictions to CPAC – Testimony

Testimony to CPAC on Jordan’s Application for Import Restrictions

Asian Studies Association Condemns China’s Incarceration of Turkic Muslims

UNESCO Exposed!

EU 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive Program Notes

Germany Offers $2.17 Million for Ethnographic Provenance Research

Egypt Rejects Accessible Database of Art in Circulation

Discovery at Abydos Shines Light on 19th-20th C Egyptology

EU Parliament Holocaust Restitution Proposal Threatens Circulation of Ancient Art

A Central Asian Cinderella – The Tale of Bibi Seshambe

Bodleian Libraries Oxford Exhibition on Translation Highlights Cross-Cultural Communication

Brazil:: A New President Persecutes the Arts

Superb Rubin Museum Exhibition “Faith and Empire-Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism”

Saudis Bomb Heritage Sites-Art Trade Blamed

UK to Change Treasure Act – New Restrictions Proposed

Savoy-Sarr Report on African Art Restitution: A Summary

Polyresin Indian Gods Made-in-China

Australia Liberalizes Export Laws for Indigenous Art & Antiques

Italian Court Orders Getty to Return Bronze ‘Victorious Youth’ After Over 40 years

Art Imports to EU Threatened by Draconian Regulation

French Proposal for Restitution of African Art

18 Jewish Organizations Protest MENA Nationalization of Heritage to State Department

ACCG Seeks Supreme Court Review in Coin Case

Uncertain Future for Golden Statue Holding Buddhist Mummy

Egypt Demands Review of TEFAF Artworks

National Stolen Property Act: Primary US Cultural Property Law

Mwatana for Human Rights: Destruction of Yemen’s History

Benin Dialog Group: Building and Filling a New Museum in Benin

Are We in for a Flood of “Sleeper” Claims?

Nabu Museum Opens in Lebanon

Culture and Fashion: Betrayal is the New Black

UK Law Would Deputize “Ivory Hunters” to Search and Seize

Chinese Art Heists: Purloined Treasures

Rapa Nui Claims British Museum’s Moai Sculpture

A Culture Destroyed: China Expunges Uyghur Identity

Mes Aynak: Corruption, Copper and a Nation’s Heritage

No Country for Old Achaemenids

Will Iraqi Jewish Heritage Stay in US?

Nigeria: Kano’s Walls Will Disappear

We Don’t Need No Algerian Blockade

Mexico: Art in the Time of Restrictive Export Laws

Westminster Abbey Repatriation Claim From Ethiopia

‘Traffic’ Says UK Ivory Antiques Trade Won’t Harm Elephants

Heritage Responders and Caribbean Museums in Crisis

Maori Mokomokai to Return to New Zealand

EU Adds Art Dealers to Money Laundering Rules

Whose Truth? NYT Journalist Accused of Stealing Cultural Property

Ethiopia: We Want Our Art Back, Not Long Term Loans

Proposed EU Rules on Asian, Islamic and Antiquities Trade

UK Imposes Strict Ivory Sales Ban

To Repatriate or Not to Repatriate: That is the Question

Returning African Heritage From Global Museums

Thailand Wants Major Statues Collected in 1960s Back from US Museums

Art in the Time of Facebook: Prehistoric Sculpture Censored By Social Media

China & US: Human Rights Versus Cultural Property Claims

Yemen Claims Jewish Religious Artifacts

Turkey Bombs 3,000 Year Old Syro-Hittite Site to Rubble

‘Historic Environment Scotland’ Tackles Climate Change

French Town Seeks Bust Sold By Parish Priest 100+ Years Ago

Catalonia Seeks Independence: Spain Orders Art Returned

Düsseldorf Mayor Cancels Stern Exhibition – Then Reverses Decision

Puma Graffitis Indian Monuments

Egyptian Coptic Museum Overlooked

Pakistan Museum Trashes Ancient Statues

100 Year Negotiation Won’t Bring Books Home

Terrorism, Cultural Heritage and the Threat to Museums’ Public Missions

Tsirogiannis: Master of the Blame-Game Goes After Frieze Masters

New Art Law for India?

Antiques & Elephants: Changes to UK Ivory Law

Land Grab at 3rd Millennium Site in Gaza – Hamas versus Heritage

Corrupt Cambodian Regime Fails MOU Criteria

Egypt Policies: Finders Keepers to Death Penalty

Syrian Museum Wants Art Looted By Syrian Soldiers Back

Key Issues in Return of Benin Artifacts

Facts on Terrorism and the Art Trade

French Scientists Reveal “True Colors” of Sainte-Chapelle Apostles

Qatar Works to Preserve Sudan’s Monuments

Neglect of Egypt’s Antiquities Bigger Issue Than Theft

Archaeology Proxy for Politics in Turkey

Indian Monuments Threatened By Removal of Legal Protections

UNESCO Declares Tomb of Patriarchs to be Palestinian World Heritage Site

Colombia Seeks Bids for Salvage of $1 Billion Shipwreck

Broken Promises, Dirty Dealings by Tongan Government

Now That Jews Are Gone, Egypt Says It Will Restore Sites

Cleveland Museum Deserves Full Credit for Researching and Returning Head of Drusus to Italy

Nations Meet in Alternative Universe in Which They Support Cultural Tolerance

Making Life Miserable for Museums, Again?

Benin Repatriation Request Raises Tough Questions

Industry Behemoths Set Voluntary Rules for Art Business

Pandora’s Big Disappointment

Court Says Statue 600 years in Japan Should Go to to Korean Temple

Stunning Bronze Age Golden Torc and Roman Villa Highlight 2015 PAS Reports

India on Kapoor Repatriation: “We brought back what was genuine, and left the rest there.”

News from Turkey: Finding an Ancient Statue, Flooding an Antique Town, and Cancelling a Modern Art Biennal

After Pressure, Germany Announces Reform of Limbach Commission

Mica Ertegun Gift to Restore Edicule in Church of Holy Sepulchre

Satellite Dishes on Ancient Tombs

German Cultural Assets Protection Law Moves Inexorably Forward

The Dolorous Case of Pakistan’s Museums

Instant Conviction of Japanese Dealer

Commentary: Sarah Parcak’s TED Prize – Can International Crowdsourcing Replace Source Country Commitment?

Archaeologists Argue Over Source of Stonehenge’s Ancient ‘Bluestones’

Battle over Rights to Richest Shipwrecked Treasure

French Government Reverses Donation to Guimet of Chinese Gold Ornaments

Turkey’s AK Party Nails Giant Election Poster to Valens Aqueduct

From THE HINDU: A Stunning Opinion by Dr. Vishakha N. Desai

Heads Roll at Indian Museums

Tomb of Turkish Founding Grandfather Relocated

December 7, 2024

Careful Collector No. 33: Angie Funds Her Hoard

December 4, 2024

Cultural Property News 2023-2024 Report

October 26, 2024

UK: Reparations and Repatriation at ‘Reckoning with History’

October 25, 2024

Careful Collector No. 32 – What the Heck is It?

October 19, 2024

Museum of the Bible Exhibition Unveils Afghan Liturgical Quire

October 18, 2024

Brazil Opens Two Indigenous Museums

October 18, 2024

Tens of thousands of artifacts looted from Sudan National Museum

October 18, 2024

Ukraine – Russians steal ancient statues from Mariupol, looted artwork spotted in Crimea, Customs seizes medieval sabers.

October 17, 2024

Netherlands to Indonesia – Objects Taken in Puputan Badung War Returned

October 17, 2024

Afghanistan: Taliban Ban Images of ‘Living Things’ & Promise to Preserve Ancient Buddhist Site By Digging Copper Mine Under It

October 15, 2024

Off-Road Racing Destroys Chilean Geoglyphs While AI Enables Hundreds of New Finds in Peru

October 15, 2024

UK’s National Museum Directors’ Council Issues Open Letter on Museum Protests

October 14, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Hearing to Restitution Study Group on Benin Bronzes

September 30, 2024

CPAC Hearing Ignores Realities in Lebanon, Mongolia, and El Salvador

September 23, 2024

El Salvador Seeks MOU Renewal Despite 37 Year History of Import Restrictions, Corruption, and Government Neglect

September 8, 2024

Lebanon in Chaos: Will US Sign Heritage Agreement?

September 1, 2024

The Internet’s Favorite Sumerian

August 31, 2024

China 2024: The Smothered Screams of Muslim Genocide

August 30, 2024

Elizabeth Weiss & the New Archaeology Wars

August 26, 2024

Careful Collector #30: Sending Art and Antiquities to Failed States No Recipe for Preservation

August 22, 2024

ATADA Award Goes to Robert Gallegos, Founder of Voluntary Returns Program

August 11, 2024

Neolithic News: Stonehenge Tunnel Plan Terminated

August 5, 2024

Moundbuilders Golf Course Now Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks

August 1, 2024

UK’s Horniman Museum Benin Repatriation Re-examined

July 29, 2024

Careful Collector No. 29 – Importing Antiquities, Art and Collectibles into the EU Becoming Far More Challenging

June 30, 2024

Italy: Excess Art to Colossal Naples Museum – Carabinieri Revel in Seizure of 105,000 Artifacts

June 24, 2024

A Closer Look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme

June 21, 2024

World’s Oldest Shipwreck Discovered in Mediterranean

June 21, 2024

Berlin’s Altes Museum Returns Collection of Apulian Vases

June 20, 2024

Careful Collector No. 28 – Liberated Art Returns Home

June 20, 2024

Ukraine Requests 1.4 Million Years’ Import Restrictions on Art

June 18, 2024

Commentary: Problems of Universal Art

June 10, 2024

Ecuador: Turmoil, Neglect, and a History of Legal Looting

June 3, 2024

Careful Collector #27 – It Came from Outer Space

April 30, 2024

Dirty Details: British Museum Presses Case Against Former Curator Peter Higgs

April 28, 2024

A Fungus Among Us at Persepolis & Pyramid Cladding at Menkaure Abandoned

April 28, 2024

WMF Turns Over Angkor Wat to APSARA Despite Human Rights Concerns Over Government Control

April 28, 2024

Greek Ceramics Pulled from Auction Show That Archives Should Be Made Public

April 27, 2024

Met Museum Aims at Cultural Reconciliation in Returning Treasures to Thailand

April 27, 2024

Careful Collector #26 – The Benefits of Dealing with Established Trade Associations

April 26, 2024

Betrayal of Tibet: DA’s Controversial Returns to China

April 25, 2024

In and Out Artworks – Sculptures from America’s Greatest Collections in Flux

March 31, 2024

Careful Collector No. 25 – Third Party Grading Services and Slabs: Good for Collecting or Not?

March 30, 2024

Afghanistan Sites Demolished by Bulldozers

March 5, 2024

NY’s Rubin Museum Transitions to ‘Museum Without Walls’

March 2, 2024

Europe: Alarming Future of the Art, Antiquity and Archaeology Market

February 29, 2024

Ethiopian Shield from 1868 Battle of Maqdala Withdrawn from Auction

February 25, 2024

Souvenir Costs French Tourist 8 Days in Luxor Jail

February 20, 2024

2024 India Report: U.S. Art Blockade Inevitable Despite Destruction and Neglect

February 20, 2024

Careful Collector No. 24 – William Penn Still Stands Tall in Philadelphia

February 17, 2024

Commentary: Renewal of Algerian MOU

February 12, 2024

The New NAGPRA: ‘traditional knowledge’ in, artifacts out.

January 10, 2024

China Doubles Down to Crush Islamic Culture and Identity

January 5, 2024

At Great Expense, Manhattan DA Returns Fakes to Lebanon

December 31, 2023

Did NY Asst. DA Bogdanos Return a Legally Owned Object to Greece?

December 28, 2023

Careful Collector No. 22 – Your Tax Dollars at Work

December 16, 2023

Law? What law? CPAC Ignores Statute in New ‘Evidence Free’ MOU with India

December 6, 2023

Why Is The Manhattan D.A.’S Office Publishing Data It Knows To Be Untrue?

December 5, 2023

Careful Collector No. 21 – Ancient Coins as Teaching Tools for Kids

November 1, 2023

Oct-Sept 2023 Short Reads: Met Museum Returns, China Goes Digital, Michael Ward Accepts Plea, and Spurious Scythians Seized in Spain

November 1, 2023

UNESCO Update: Stamping Out Cat Juggling Again?

October 31, 2023

The British Museum is still the greatest museum in the world.

October 27, 2023

Korea’s Supreme Court Resolves Decade-long Dispute Over Stolen Buddhist Statue

October 26, 2023

Cleveland Museum of Art Fights Back Against NY DA’s Seizure of Famous Bronze Statue

October 23, 2023

Legal Head of Italian Culture Ministry: ‘Fiendishly extensive’ proofs bar imports.

October 17, 2023

Careful Collector No. 20 – Why Is Our Government Recognizing the Rights of Authoritarian Governments to Cultural Heritage of Displaced Religious and Ethnic Minorities?

October 3, 2023

Armenians Racing to Save Heritage in Karabakh

September 27, 2023

Careful Collector No. 19 – The Life and Times of Trail-Blazing Antiquities Dealer Leo Patterson

September 17, 2023

Misuse of U.S. Heritage Law: State Department Seeks Blockade on Nepalese Art

September 7, 2023

U.S. Signs MOU with Yemen. This Time, No Testimony Allowed.

September 2, 2023

Egypt’s Jewish Restoration Projects: Seized Geniza Still Missing

September 1, 2023

Return of Benin Bronzes: Why are the victims of slavery hushed up?

August 31, 2023

Cairo’s Historic Cemeteries: Erasing the Dead Past

August 29, 2023

Honduras Wants Import Restrictions After 20 Years Noncompliance With U.S. Law

August 25, 2023

Alice Kandell Gives Major Collection of Tibetan Art to Minneapolis

August 12, 2023

Careful Collector No. 18 – Resetting the Collecting Narrative

July 24, 2023

The Myth of the “recovery” of Argentina’s Act of the Declaration of Independence

July 4, 2023

Benin Bronzes Lawsuit Against Smithsonian: Deadria Farmer-Paellmann & Bruce Afran Interview

July 2, 2023

Careful Collector No. 16 – Let it Snow in a Globe – Paige’s Accumulation Becomes a Collection

June 30, 2023

Israel Asks Citizens to Turn In Antiquities – Archaeologists Ask to Stop Excavations

June 21, 2023

Hong Kong: Laws Imperil Culture From Art to Anthems

June 20, 2023

Pop Music Against Oppression

June 18, 2023

China Seeks Cultural Protection But Nixes US UNESCO Membership

June 18, 2023

EU Action Plan Replays Bogus Claims About Art Market

June 18, 2023

Law Note: UK Ivory Act Expanded

June 17, 2023

Art Moves: Kogi Sacred Masks Go from Germany to Colombia

June 17, 2023

Art Moves: Three Vatican Parthenon Fragments go to Greek Archbishopric, then Acropolis Museum

June 17, 2023

Law Note: Netherlands Court Rules Crimean Gold Must Go To Ukraine

June 10, 2023

Voices Pro & Con at CPAC on China and Bulgaria MOUs

June 5, 2023

Careful Collector No. 15 – World Culture Cop

May 27, 2023

Is the EU sleepwalking into an art market nightmare?

May 26, 2023

SPECIAL REPORT: 2023 CHINA MOU – Building China’s Art Monopoly and Destroying Minority Culture and Identity

April 29, 2023

Careful Collector No. 14: A Collecting Bubble That Burst

April 28, 2023

Repatriation of Brutus Aureus Highlights Dangers of Overzealous NY DA’s Office to Ancient Coin Collecting

April 26, 2023

Nigeria Gives Benin Ruler Exclusive Ownership of Bronzes

April 21, 2023

Can Taliban be Trusted to Preserve Afghan Heritage?

April 19, 2023

In Defense of David

April 17, 2023

Careful Collector No. 13: New Collectors from Abroad

April 16, 2023

Young historian finds medieval gold treasure in the Netherlands

March 11, 2023

Turkey Loses Guennol Stargazer Appeal. Statue Will Go to Christie’s and Steinhardt.

March 9, 2023

EU: Death Comes to the Vatican Canon, Rome Archeological Exhibit, Ali Aboutaam Fined after 6 Year Investigation

March 1, 2023

Careful Collector No.12: NFTs- Flash in the Pan or Here to Stay?

February 24, 2023

State Dept Renews Blockade on Libyan Art, Ignoring Law and Facts

February 4, 2023

Will U.S. Sign Uzbekistan Art Embargo 50,000 BC to 1917?

February 3, 2023

Careful Collector No. 11: Orders and Decorations: Can Symbols of Valor be Bought and Sold?

February 3, 2023

CPAC Report: Coin Collectors Face More Collateral Damage

January 9, 2023

Cambodia and “Stone Temple Nationalism”

January 8, 2023

NAGPRA: Major Changes Proposed for 2023 to Native American Repatriation Law

January 5, 2023

Careful Collector No. 10: The Lifecycle of Collectibles: Different Generations Often Value Different Things

January 3, 2023

Committee for Cultural Policy 2022 Annual Report

January 3, 2023

168 Nazca Lines, 35K Syrian Antiquities, No More Golf at Moundbuilder Site and Pompeii’s Sheep are Baaaaack

January 1, 2023

US Plans Agreements to Block Art from Uzbekistan, Cambodia and North Macedonia

December 7, 2022

Careful Collector No. 9: Will my African Art be repatriated as reparations for the Colonialist past?

December 1, 2022

STOP Act Passes: First law restricting export of American art

November 11, 2022

Comments on UNESCO’s Draft Model Provisions on the Prevention and Fight against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property

November 2, 2022

UNESCO Model Provisions Could End Most Global Trade

October 30, 2022

Putin Using Martial Law to Legitimate Ukraine Art Looting

October 29, 2022

Moai on Easter Island Damaged in Arson Fire

October 20, 2022

The Llullaillaco Mummies

October 10, 2022

Restitution Study Group Unable to Stop Smithsonian’s Benin Returns

October 4, 2022

Where will Benin bronzes go? Nigerian government, Edo Museum or Oba?

September 29, 2022

Caucasus Heritage Watch: Azerbaijan is Destroying Armenian Heritage

September 27, 2022

ICOM Condemns Russia’s Destruction of Ukrainian Heritage

September 27, 2022

Repatriations: Getty Sirens, Cambodian Sculptures, Jewish Coin, Nepal Stele

September 26, 2022

The Careful Collector – Why does a French auction house want to know so much about me?

September 26, 2022

UK Charity Act Opens Door to Restitutions

September 19, 2022

J’accuse! Georges Lotfi’s Dramatic Open Letter to Bogdanos’ Antiquities Trafficking Unit

August 31, 2022

Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Masterpieces

August 2, 2022

Russia’s War Against Ukrainian Culture

August 1, 2022

The Careful Collector- Fakes and Alterations: Hana Hunts for Vintage Uke with Few Strings Attached

August 1, 2022

Shorts: Briton in Iraq Released – Yale Gives Up Indian Artifacts – Jewish Manuscript Rescued – Gentileschi Seized

August 1, 2022

Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche

July 28, 2022

Libyan Jewish Community Fights for Rights to Heritage

July 28, 2022

Will US Renew Libyan Art Embargo During Civil War?

July 1, 2022

The Careful Collector: Great Catsby is Life of the Party

July 1, 2022

Turkey – Hagia Sophia Suffers Serious Damage: Walls Peeled and Marble Tiles Shattered

June 1, 2022

The Careful Collector: Not as Rare as You Might Think!

May 30, 2022

Belgian Blunder: Government Sells Stolen Ife Head for €240

May 28, 2022

Sacre bleu! Former Louvre president charged in antiquities trafficking case.

May 21, 2022

Commentary: Cultural Heritage Predation in Iraq – The sectarian appropriation of Iraq’s past

May 15, 2022

Losing the Parthenon Marbles: History, Passion, and Possession

May 5, 2022

U.S. Weighs Questionable Cultural Property Agreement with Pakistan

April 4, 2022

Mes Aynak: Dark Days for Afghanistan’s Buddhist Heritage

April 3, 2022

The Careful Collector: Don’t Import Buyer’s Remorse

March 31, 2022

“Who ordered the borscht?” When a State Steals Culture, Others Pay the Bill.

March 31, 2022

Egypt’s Antiquities Authority Seizes Geniza from Jewish Cemetery

March 31, 2022

EU Parliament Resolution Condemns Azerbaijan’s Erasure of Armenian History

March 18, 2022

CINOA-Art Market Demands Fundamental Review of Law Making

March 17, 2022

Mali Government Wants U.S. Blockade on Art as Russian Mercenaries Secure Regime

March 11, 2022

Bamiyan: What Lasted for 1500 Years Will be Gone in Ten

March 7, 2022

U.S. Treasury Report: Key Findings on Money Laundering and Terror Finance in Art Trade

February 3, 2022

Citizen Activists Want Nepalese Art Back

January 19, 2022

Vance Caps Career: Steinhardt Gives Up $70 Million in Antiquities

January 6, 2022

2021 Cultural Agreements Deny Access to Art

December 26, 2021

Whistleblower Fired: UN Human Rights Council Gave Dissidents’ Names to China

December 24, 2021

Uyghur Human and Cultural Rights: Forced Labor Prevention Act and Shocking Holocaust Museum Report

December 14, 2021

Gold Ewer with Hollywood History Delivered to Turkey

December 12, 2021

Roman Busts Found & 45,000 Skeletons Reburied in UK Rail Project

November 2, 2021

Mexico Establishes Agency to Seek Antiquities on Carabinieri Model

October 31, 2021

Nation-Building with Archaeology: Iraq, Syria and Libya

October 31, 2021

CENSORED: Cartoons and Ancient Conquerors in China

October 31, 2021

Dutch Court: Scythian Gold from Crimea Should Go to Ukraine

October 30, 2021

Trade Delivers Reality Check to Money Laundering Regulators

October 29, 2021

Germany Funds €600,000 NEXUD AI App for Antiquities

October 28, 2021

Lebanon, Abomey, Bishop Aukland, and Afghanistan

October 15, 2021

Peru Asks to Extend 25 Year Long Art Blockade

October 12, 2021

Art Market Organizations Stand Together Against Illicit Trade

October 5, 2021

The Real Looting of Afghanistan: Pit Mining vs Heritage

October 2, 2021

Afghanistan’s 4000 Years of Cross-Border Empires and Trade

October 2, 2021

The Evolution and Deconstruction of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage Laws

October 2, 2021

Afghanistan’s Heritage: A Former Government, the Taliban, and a Questionable Blockade

September 5, 2021

Afghanistan Ethnographic Art: Turkoman Embroidery

September 5, 2021

Coins of Afghanistan – Documenting History and Trade

August 28, 2021

Pashtunwali: Pashtun Traditional Tribal Law in Afghanistan

August 1, 2021

International Criminal Court: Cultural Heritage & Genocide

July 31, 2021

UNESCO Threatens Stonehenge with At-Risk Status

July 31, 2021

Future UK Ban on Hippo, Narwhal, Whale, and Walrus Ivories?

July 24, 2021

The Strange History of the Torlonia Marbles

July 20, 2021

A Tale of Two Seizures: The Carabinieri TPC

July 16, 2021

Around the Mediterranean: discoveries, ancient economies and national politics

July 11, 2021

Turkish MoU Will Devastate Minorities, Bolster Erdoğan Regime

July 10, 2021

Archaeological Discovery Points to Long-lost Settlement of Sarabay in Florida

June 23, 2021

Bulldozing Culture: China’s Systematic Destruction of Uyghur Heritage Reveals Genocidal Intent

May 31, 2021

Interview: Factum Foundation’s Ferdinand Saumarez Smith on Preserving the Bakor Monoliths

May 30, 2021

Thefts, Fakes, and Facsimiles: Preserving the Bakor Monoliths of Eastern Nigeria

May 30, 2021

Sisi’s Parade of Absolute Rulers – Celebration of Autocracy Opens Egyptian Museum

May 29, 2021

CircArt and the British Museum – A great opportunity wasted.

May 25, 2021

April May 2021 Repatriation Digest

May 20, 2021

Setback for Planned Mega-Resort and Amusement Park at Angkor Wat

May 17, 2021

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 1

May 17, 2021

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 2

May 17, 2021

The Antiquities Trade: A reflection on the past 25 years, Part 3

April 21, 2021

Critical Comments Rain Down on Draft EU Regulations

April 15, 2021

MOU Backstory: How Cultural Property Agreements with Authoritarian Middle Eastern Governments are Made

April 4, 2021

Is ICE Writing Its Own Laws? The Curious Case of the Chandler Museum

April 2, 2021

NETCHER Project: 194 Recommendations Locked in Unreality

March 27, 2021

Argam Ayvazyan: Spy–Researcher For Nakhichevan Armenian Culture

March 13, 2021

Albania Wants US Art Embargo But Where is the Art?

March 10, 2021

Egypt’s Brutal Regime Wants to Renew US Blockade on Art; Claims to Protect Heritage & Culture

February 27, 2021

Art and Abolition: Art Objects and the Rejection of Slavery

February 2, 2021

Turkish MOU: Last Minute State Department Deal Sparks Outrage

January 29, 2021

UK Not Adopting EU Art and Antiquities Import Rules

January 28, 2021

The Museum of the Bible: Repatriations, investigations, thefts, and fakes dog DC institution.

January 27, 2021

Armenian Monuments Threatened After Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh War

January 20, 2021

Nigeria Welcomes Future Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA)

January 18, 2021

UNESCO Appoints Syria Trust for Development to Heritage Post

January 16, 2021

Bungling Smugglers: Egypt Seeks Extradition after Trial in Absentia of Former Consul

January 9, 2021

Our World Heritage’s Full Year of Events: Rethinking the World Heritage Convention

December 31, 2020

Bad DIY Idea: Egyptians Digging for Antiquities in Own Homes

December 29, 2020

CCP/CPN 2020 Year End Report

November 23, 2020

UNESCO Marks Convention’s 50th Anniversary with Doctored Photos and Disinformation

November 22, 2020

Humboldt Forum Collaboration with Tanzania

November 22, 2020

‘Cute Repatriation’ Prank Brings Fake Beuys Sculpture to Tanzania

November 19, 2020

Forget history. There is no Genghis Khan.

November 19, 2020

Berlin’s Museuminsel in the Wake of Vandalism

November 17, 2020

Hypothetical Hopes for Healing Through Art

October 17, 2020

Turkey Seizes Ancient Seed Collection in Nationalist Move

October 13, 2020

Nigeria: Support Cultural Expansion, Not Art Blockade

October 10, 2020

Gary Vikan: The Holy Shroud, A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death

September 30, 2020

Elias Gerasoulis: A geo-political perspective on the Turkish MoU

September 30, 2020

August & September: Six Short Stories on Museums, Art and Culture

September 29, 2020

WCO Reports: Heritage Trafficking Tiny Percentage of Illegal Trade

September 27, 2020

Istanbul’s Last Church-Mosque-Museum

September 27, 2020

Interview with Robert G. Ousterhout: The Preservation and Reconversion of Kariye Camii

September 20, 2020

State Department to Hear Requests for Import Restrictions on Nigerian, Greek, and Bolivian Art

September 14, 2020

Rio Tinto: How Australian Law Tolerates Heritage Destruction

September 10, 2020

China Tariffs Come Back for Real in 2020

August 27, 2020

Coalition Opposes Cultural Property Requests by Repressive Governments

August 15, 2020

Smashing Buddhas in Pakistan: Rural Ignorance and Museum Indifference

July 30, 2020

RAND Corp Report Demolishes Assumptions on Antiquities and Terror

July 19, 2020

RAND Corporation Report Debunks Facebook & Dark Web Ties to Illegal Antiquities

July 17, 2020

Reclaiming Tibetan Culture in the Digital Age

July 13, 2020

New Publication: Ivory 2020 Art and Heritage Law

July 13, 2020

Hagia Sophia No Longer a Museum: US Should Deny Turkey’s Request for Blockade on Art

July 8, 2020

Italy Wants 20 Year Art Blockade Expanded to 2025

July 1, 2020

Turkish Court Decides Hagia Sophia’s Conversion to Mosque

June 2, 2020

Rediscovering Old Provenances for Ancient Coins

April 26, 2020

St John Simpson Interview: Afghanistan repatriation, Daesh, remote-archaeology and the ILLICID report

April 23, 2020

Brent Huffman: Mes Aynak Update

April 8, 2020

Arts Council England: Guidelines for Museum Repatriation

March 31, 2020

The Interview: Adam Lowe of Factum Arte

March 30, 2020

Hartwig Fischer: Collections entail responsibilities. Notes on a global institution.

March 26, 2020

Visit Sacred Spaces through Virtual Travel

March 20, 2020

Costa Rica Seeks U.S. Import Restrictions on Art

March 6, 2020

Elizabeth S. Bolman: Images from the Red Monastery Church

February 24, 2020

Scholar Identifies Missing Indian Statue in Ashmolean Collection

February 23, 2020

Elizabeth Bolman Interview: The Red Monastery Church

February 22, 2020

US Customs Delivers 7 “National Treasure” Coins Worth $200 to Cyprus

February 19, 2020

Hong Kong Artists’ Political Protests Continue

February 12, 2020

How Jordanian Import Restrictions Really Happened

January 31, 2020

Collaborative Exhibit at LACMA – Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific

January 21, 2020

Five Reasons NOT to Sign Cultural Property Deals with Turkey and Tunisia

January 7, 2020

Turkey Claims all Art and Artifacts: Centuries of Multicultural History and Trade Denied

January 7, 2020

CCP & GHA Testify on Blockade on All Art from Tunisia

December 23, 2019

Turkish Request Alarms Armenians, Greeks, Turkish Jews, Orthodox and Syriac Christians in Diaspora

December 20, 2019

Controversy: How US Recognizes Middle East Government Ownership of Jewish & Minority Heritage

December 19, 2019

What’s Next for 2020? Art Blockades, Money Laundering Rules, OFAC Sanctions

December 13, 2019

What Remains – Ancient Artworks Travel, Inspire, and Survive

December 2, 2019

Safani Gallery of NY Files Lawsuit to Recover “Head of Alexander”

November 28, 2019

Successful Repatriation: The Utimut Process in Denmark & Greenland

November 28, 2019

Scandiknavery! Fakes, Fantasy, the Cold War and Cultural Histories

October 29, 2019

CCP & GHA Testimony on Yemen’s Request for Cultural Property Restrictions

October 29, 2019

Morocco Seeks US Import Restrictions on Ancient & Ethnic Art

October 11, 2019

Jewish community issues urgent call on proposal to Block Yemeni and Moroccan heritage

October 10, 2019

Uzbekistan Leads the Way in International Collaboration on Cultural Heritage

October 9, 2019

John Gilmore Ford: Portrait of a Collector

October 4, 2019

Notorious: Indian Prosecutions and Foreign Repatriation

October 3, 2019

Never Seen Again? Indian Artifacts in Icon Centers Left to Rot

September 30, 2019

Turkey: Ilisu Dam Inundates 12,000 Year Old Town in Kurdish Region

September 24, 2019

The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 1

September 24, 2019

The international art market as cultural bogeyman, Part 2

August 18, 2019

US State Department Imposes Embargo on Algerian Cultural Artifacts, Including Rope!

July 31, 2019

Leonard Cohen, Anyone? Reporting on Illicit ‘Cultural Objects’ is Deceptive

July 28, 2019

UK Gov’t Query: Is Ban on Warthog, Hippo, Walrus, Whale and Narwhal Necessary?

July 14, 2019

Was ILLICID Report ‘Buried’ For Failing to Show Illegal Trade?

July 11, 2019

Click Here to Enter Nirvana

June 26, 2019

The Wondrous Cosmos in Medieval Manuscripts

June 16, 2019

EU Regulation Curtailing Import of Art & Antiquities Now Law

June 10, 2019

Turkey’s President Wants to Turn Hagia Sophia into a Mosque

May 30, 2019

African Voices: Muhigirwa Kinyunyi Claude of LUCHA Movement for Change

May 29, 2019

The Security State and Destruction of Uyghur Culture in Xinjiang

May 25, 2019

Exhibitions and Demonstrations: How Art Museums Connect to the Community

May 24, 2019

Not Again! 25% Tariff on Chinese Antiques Pending

May 7, 2019

Expanding the Protecting U.S. Heritage Abroad Act

April 1, 2019

Chile’s Application for Import Restrictions to CPAC – Testimony

April 1, 2019

Testimony to CPAC on Jordan’s Application for Import Restrictions

March 31, 2019

Asian Studies Association Condemns China’s Incarceration of Turkic Muslims

March 19, 2019

UNESCO Exposed!

March 19, 2019

EU 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive Program Notes

March 17, 2019

Germany Offers $2.17 Million for Ethnographic Provenance Research

March 12, 2019

Egypt Rejects Accessible Database of Art in Circulation

March 12, 2019

Discovery at Abydos Shines Light on 19th-20th C Egyptology

February 22, 2019

EU Parliament Holocaust Restitution Proposal Threatens Circulation of Ancient Art

February 20, 2019

A Central Asian Cinderella – The Tale of Bibi Seshambe

February 20, 2019

Bodleian Libraries Oxford Exhibition on Translation Highlights Cross-Cultural Communication

February 7, 2019

Brazil:: A New President Persecutes the Arts

February 6, 2019

Superb Rubin Museum Exhibition “Faith and Empire-Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism”

February 2, 2019

Saudis Bomb Heritage Sites-Art Trade Blamed

February 2, 2019

UK to Change Treasure Act – New Restrictions Proposed

January 30, 2019

Savoy-Sarr Report on African Art Restitution: A Summary

January 20, 2019

Polyresin Indian Gods Made-in-China

December 31, 2018

Australia Liberalizes Export Laws for Indigenous Art & Antiques

December 30, 2018

Italian Court Orders Getty to Return Bronze ‘Victorious Youth’ After Over 40 years

December 29, 2018

Art Imports to EU Threatened by Draconian Regulation

December 27, 2018

French Proposal for Restitution of African Art

December 20, 2018

18 Jewish Organizations Protest MENA Nationalization of Heritage to State Department

December 19, 2018

ACCG Seeks Supreme Court Review in Coin Case

December 13, 2018

Uncertain Future for Golden Statue Holding Buddhist Mummy

November 27, 2018

Egypt Demands Review of TEFAF Artworks

November 26, 2018

National Stolen Property Act: Primary US Cultural Property Law

November 26, 2018

Mwatana for Human Rights: Destruction of Yemen’s History

November 23, 2018

Benin Dialog Group: Building and Filling a New Museum in Benin

November 17, 2018

Are We in for a Flood of “Sleeper” Claims?

October 24, 2018

Nabu Museum Opens in Lebanon

October 10, 2018

Culture and Fashion: Betrayal is the New Black

September 25, 2018

UK Law Would Deputize “Ivory Hunters” to Search and Seize

September 22, 2018

Chinese Art Heists: Purloined Treasures

September 19, 2018

Rapa Nui Claims British Museum’s Moai Sculpture

August 27, 2018

A Culture Destroyed: China Expunges Uyghur Identity

August 23, 2018

Mes Aynak: Corruption, Copper and a Nation’s Heritage

August 19, 2018

No Country for Old Achaemenids

August 10, 2018

Will Iraqi Jewish Heritage Stay in US?

August 10, 2018

Nigeria: Kano’s Walls Will Disappear

July 12, 2018

We Don’t Need No Algerian Blockade

July 4, 2018

Mexico: Art in the Time of Restrictive Export Laws

July 2, 2018

Westminster Abbey Repatriation Claim From Ethiopia

July 2, 2018

‘Traffic’ Says UK Ivory Antiques Trade Won’t Harm Elephants

June 27, 2018

Heritage Responders and Caribbean Museums in Crisis

June 27, 2018

Maori Mokomokai to Return to New Zealand

May 28, 2018

EU Adds Art Dealers to Money Laundering Rules

May 22, 2018

Whose Truth? NYT Journalist Accused of Stealing Cultural Property

May 15, 2018

Ethiopia: We Want Our Art Back, Not Long Term Loans

April 22, 2018

Proposed EU Rules on Asian, Islamic and Antiquities Trade

April 20, 2018

UK Imposes Strict Ivory Sales Ban

April 18, 2018

To Repatriate or Not to Repatriate: That is the Question

April 14, 2018

Returning African Heritage From Global Museums

March 15, 2018

Thailand Wants Major Statues Collected in 1960s Back from US Museums

March 14, 2018

Art in the Time of Facebook: Prehistoric Sculpture Censored By Social Media

March 10, 2018

China & US: Human Rights Versus Cultural Property Claims

February 13, 2018

Yemen Claims Jewish Religious Artifacts

February 3, 2018

Turkey Bombs 3,000 Year Old Syro-Hittite Site to Rubble

January 16, 2018

‘Historic Environment Scotland’ Tackles Climate Change

January 8, 2018

French Town Seeks Bust Sold By Parish Priest 100+ Years Ago

December 29, 2017

Catalonia Seeks Independence: Spain Orders Art Returned

December 28, 2017

Düsseldorf Mayor Cancels Stern Exhibition – Then Reverses Decision

November 30, 2017

Puma Graffitis Indian Monuments

November 30, 2017

Egyptian Coptic Museum Overlooked

November 18, 2017

Pakistan Museum Trashes Ancient Statues

November 12, 2017

100 Year Negotiation Won’t Bring Books Home

November 1, 2017

Terrorism, Cultural Heritage and the Threat to Museums’ Public Missions

October 28, 2017

Tsirogiannis: Master of the Blame-Game Goes After Frieze Masters

October 27, 2017

New Art Law for India?

October 15, 2017

Antiques & Elephants: Changes to UK Ivory Law

October 7, 2017

Land Grab at 3rd Millennium Site in Gaza – Hamas versus Heritage

September 30, 2017

Corrupt Cambodian Regime Fails MOU Criteria

September 22, 2017

Egypt Policies: Finders Keepers to Death Penalty

September 20, 2017

Syrian Museum Wants Art Looted By Syrian Soldiers Back

August 27, 2017

Key Issues in Return of Benin Artifacts

August 24, 2017

Facts on Terrorism and the Art Trade

August 18, 2017

French Scientists Reveal “True Colors” of Sainte-Chapelle Apostles

August 10, 2017

Qatar Works to Preserve Sudan’s Monuments

August 10, 2017

Neglect of Egypt’s Antiquities Bigger Issue Than Theft

August 6, 2017

Archaeology Proxy for Politics in Turkey

July 24, 2017

Indian Monuments Threatened By Removal of Legal Protections

July 18, 2017

UNESCO Declares Tomb of Patriarchs to be Palestinian World Heritage Site

July 14, 2017

Colombia Seeks Bids for Salvage of $1 Billion Shipwreck

June 30, 2017

Broken Promises, Dirty Dealings by Tongan Government

May 22, 2017

Now That Jews Are Gone, Egypt Says It Will Restore Sites

April 27, 2017

Cleveland Museum Deserves Full Credit for Researching and Returning Head of Drusus to Italy

April 24, 2017

Nations Meet in Alternative Universe in Which They Support Cultural Tolerance

April 13, 2017

Making Life Miserable for Museums, Again?

March 29, 2017

Benin Repatriation Request Raises Tough Questions

February 7, 2017

Industry Behemoths Set Voluntary Rules for Art Business

January 30, 2017

Pandora’s Big Disappointment

January 29, 2017

Court Says Statue 600 years in Japan Should Go to to Korean Temple

December 11, 2016

Stunning Bronze Age Golden Torc and Roman Villa Highlight 2015 PAS Reports

November 15, 2016

India on Kapoor Repatriation: “We brought back what was genuine, and left the rest there.”

September 14, 2016

News from Turkey: Finding an Ancient Statue, Flooding an Antique Town, and Cancelling a Modern Art Biennal

August 10, 2016

After Pressure, Germany Announces Reform of Limbach Commission

June 21, 2016

Mica Ertegun Gift to Restore Edicule in Church of Holy Sepulchre

April 20, 2016

Satellite Dishes on Ancient Tombs

April 14, 2016

German Cultural Assets Protection Law Moves Inexorably Forward

April 8, 2016

The Dolorous Case of Pakistan’s Museums

March 30, 2016

Instant Conviction of Japanese Dealer

February 24, 2016

Commentary: Sarah Parcak’s TED Prize – Can International Crowdsourcing Replace Source Country Commitment?

December 17, 2015

Archaeologists Argue Over Source of Stonehenge’s Ancient ‘Bluestones’

December 15, 2015

Battle over Rights to Richest Shipwrecked Treasure

July 27, 2015

French Government Reverses Donation to Guimet of Chinese Gold Ornaments

May 28, 2015

Turkey’s AK Party Nails Giant Election Poster to Valens Aqueduct

May 11, 2015

From THE HINDU: A Stunning Opinion by Dr. Vishakha N. Desai

May 10, 2015

Heads Roll at Indian Museums

February 25, 2015

Tomb of Turkish Founding Grandfather Relocated