ATHAR
Despite increasing levels of security and scrutiny in recent years, the international art industry has a legacy of enabling criminal groups to move and conceal money with few restrictions, thanks to a culture of anonymous clients, minimal transparency and few checks and balances.https://nowlebanon.com/hezbollahs-blood-...
Only the battered and charred walls of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda National Literary and Memorial Museum remain standing, like ribs surrounding a chest cavity, void of the heart and lungs that once beat and breathed life.https://cnewa.org/magazine/erasing-identity/
The Covid-19 pandemic will long be remembered for the lockdowns it imposed and the millions of lives it stole, particularly among the elderly. A recent Unesco report shows that it has also took a subtle yet large toll on our world heritage properties.https://theconversation.com/looting-and-decay-how-the-pandemic-wrough...
Katie Paul, co-director of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research Project, a study into transnational trafficking and crime financing by anthropologists and heritage experts in the US, says the growth of social media has exacerbated the issue.https://meobserver.org/egypts-treasure-of-smuggled-an...
Sixty-two years ago, the small Indian town of Thanjavur woke up to devastating news. A 2,000-year-old temple in the city had been looted, and its much-loved deity was missing. Police in India say that the centuries-old statue of the dancing Hindu god Shiva (Natarajar) now resides over 2,000 miles away, within the walls...
To mark the third International Day Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, Qatar National Library hosted a high-level virtual panel discussion about the efforts to counter the sale and illegal circulation of antiquities and documentary heritage in the Middle East and North Africa.https://www.qnl.qa/en/about/...
The Himaya project based in Qatar has been working with Interpol to identify artefacts trafficked to London, Paris and Amsterdam.https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/13/stolen-afghan-manuscripts-have-been-coming-up-for-sale-at-major-auction-houses-according-to-research-group
It’s common knowledge that armed non-state groups in the Middle East bankroll themselves with oil and ransom money. But a close third in the pipeline that fuels warlords and terrorists globally? The plunder and sale of antiquities.https://www.npr.org/2022/06/12/1103777253/activists-take-aim-at-the-buyers-of-looted-anti...
As the war in Ukraine continues, Russian invaders have taken to stealing important cultural property from Ukrainian museums. Among the losses are Christian icons, fourth-century Sycithian gold, 300-year old silver coins, special medals, and more. One less discussed but immensely damaging feature of war is the attack on...