Friday, October 13, 2017

Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime

Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime
FutureLearn MOOC
University of Glasgow

Dr. Donna Yates, Lead Educator
University of Glasgow’s Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research

9 October 2017

WEEK ONE:

Course Team:

Dr. Donna Yates, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research - publications

Dr. Simon Mackenzie, Professor of Criminology at Victoria University of Wellington - publications

Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis,  Affiliate Researcher at Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research - publications

Anya Eber, MSc student at Collecting and Provenance in an International Context, University of Glasgow

Meg Lambert, PhD Candidate at Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow

Christine Weirich, PhD Candidate at Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow




Trafficking Culture -.org

Stolen Gods - .org

Anonymous Swiss Collector - culture crime site

Institute of Archaeology, Belize .org

Conflict Antiquities - blog
      ...The Human Rights of Subsistence Diggers by Sam Hardy - Chapter 14

US Department of State - Cultural Heritage Center

Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities in the World's Museums  .com


Original Recording of Week 1 Live Chat:


Peru

Huaquero -A person who clandestinely excavates at archaeological sites for the purpose of obtaining marketable antiquities. The term is derived from the Quechua word ‘huaca’ (also ‘wak’a’).

Huaca - Prior to the Spanish Conquest, a ‘huaca’ was anything that was sacred, with an emphasis on sacred places. Depending on the context, use of the term ‘huaca’ in modern times can imply that there is still a sacred quality to these sites and objects. Today the term is most often ascribed to archaeological sites.

Huaco - Usually means an ancient ceramic pot.

Huaquear - verb,  to illicitly dig at or loot an archaeological site.


Easter Week - Traditionally when huaqueros rob the ancient tombs of Peru’s north coast. There is a North Coast legend that during Easter Week artefacts rise to the ground's surface, becoming easy to find and one barely has to dig for them. Some sources claim that Good Friday is the preferred day for looting because ‘God is dead and doesn’t watch‘. Other sources claim that looting starts on Maundy Thursday when any outstanding curses that protect an archaeological site are lifted. Some believe that prior to the Spanish Conquest, occupants of archaeological sites are non-Christian ‘Gentiles’ who, in a sort of raising of the dead sense, cluster near the surface only during Easter Week so that they may be found by Christians. Archaeologist Walter Alva believes that this traditional Easter looting has no foundation in pre-Conquest cultural tradition, but was introduced by the Spanish and used as a means to rob graves.

Huaquero Mythology - Looting lore is filled with curses, spirits, riches, and legend. These beliefs became a cultural norm where all locals know of these stories. Below, are the lyrics of ‘Huaquero Viejo’ to which people dance the Marinera Norteña, the national dance of Peru: 

⬪ I am the old grave robber (huaquero) 

⬪ and I have come to loot pottery (huacos) 

⬪ from the highest ancient mound (huaca) 

⬪ to the lowest ancient mound (huaca)

[Translation by Dr. Donna Yates 2015]


Mali 

Looting to survive poverty

Timbuktu

Timbuktu, Mali is a UNESCO world heritage site. © Emilio Labrador via Wikimedia Commons 


Cambodia 

Cambodian Heritage Statues stolen by Khmer Rouge - The Returns

Keeling Attendants (x2) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York -returned 2013
Pandava Christie’s Auction House -returned 2014 
Bhima Norton Simon Museum, California -returned 2014 
Duryodhana Sotheby’s Auction House -returned 2014
Hanuman Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio -returned 2015
Rama Denver Art Museum -returned 2016 

Janus Figure: Leonardo Patterson

An antiquities legend in an 'intrinsically lawless' field - LA Times

Antiquities Dealer Leonardo Patterson Faces New Criminal Charges - NY Times

Infamous Antiquities Dealer Convicted of Smuggling and Forgery - Artnet

Maya ‘Fresco’ Fake - Trafficking Culture


Euphronios Krater

NY Times Euphronios Krater -search
                                                -clippings, clippings

Artnet: The Hot Pot -part I of VI


Apamea, Syria

Syria: Destroying the Past for the Future -Antiquity Journal

Culture Under Threat Map -Antiquities Coalition

Ancient History, Modern Destruction: Assessing the Current Status of Syria’s World Heritage Sites Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery -AAAS.org


What I learned this week: The antiquities black market is a gray area as a result of white collar crime.  ba-da-bum!


WEEK TWO:

Original Recording of Week 2 Chat:




The Scream 




4 Norwegians Guilty In Theft of 'The Scream' - NY Times

Scream Stolen from Norway Museum - BBC News

Stolen Munch Paintings Found Safe - BBC News

Munch Paintings 'can be repaired' - BBC News 

Edvard Munch's stolen Scream recovered in undercover sting - The Guardian Archive

‘The Scream,’ the Thief, and the 2 Million M&M’s - ARTNews

The Scream, 1893 - Norway National Museum

'The Scream' buyer is revealed to be financier Leon Black -  LA Times

Impressionist & Modern Art at Evening Sale - Sothebys 


Unsolved Gardner Museum Theft

Gardner Museum Theft - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - .org

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - Google Arts & Culture

If the Gardner Paintings Are Ever Found, How Damaged Will They Be? - WNPR

FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly - YouTube

Gardner Security Director Anthony Amore - YouTube

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauiers - YouTube

United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz - YouTube

1990 Gardner Museum Security Footage - YouTube  (the video is glitchy) 

National Portrait Gallery - The Portraits


Forgeries 

Han van Meegeren, the fabulous forger 


The Scientist and the Forger - World Scientific

Five tools used to detect art forgeries:

1.) Provenance Research
2.) Microscopy
3.) Mass Spectrometry
4.) X-Ray
5.) Infrared Reflectography

Street Art or Vandalism

Street artist Shepard Fairey wanted for felony vandalism in Detroit - LA Times

Banksy - site

Banksy's Kissing Coppers sold at US auction - BBC

'I remember when all this was trees': Banksy mural sells for $137,500 - USA Today

WEEK THREE:

Repatriation, Recovery, Return



G'psgolox Pole 

Haisla Nation site

A Monument Returned, an Earthshaking Event Kitimat Daily

G’psgolox pole returns home after 77 years, first totem ever to be repatriated from overseas Ecotrust

The Repatriation of the G'psgolox Totem Pole: A Study of its Context, Process, and Outcome Cambridge University Press


Kennewick Man 

New DNA Results Show Kennewick Man Was Native American NY Times

The Long Legal and Moral Battle Over Kennewick Man Indian Country

Kennewick Man, The Ancient One Burke Museum

Kennewick Man a debate not easily put to rest Seattle Times


Two Riders on the Beach

Reunion with looted painting is 'second victory against the Nazis'  The Guardian

Case Review: David Toren v. Federal Republic of Germany and Free State of Bavaria – Task Force Confirms Origin of Liebermann Painting itsartlaw.com

What Next for the Gurlitt Collection? | European Journal YouTube

Gurlitt Art Trove -German Lost Art Foundation site

Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets lootedart.com

Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art lootedart.com


Cuban Art 

Reclaiming Art Seized by Castro’s Government Will Be an Uphill Battle artnet

Cuba refuses to return seized art despite thaw in relations with US waybackmachine

Reclaiming Art Caught in the Cuban Revolution NY Times


Elgin Marbles

Mentor Shipwreck Underwater Excavation Continue archaeologywiki

The Parthenon Sculptures   The British Museum

The Parthenon Gallery  Acropolis Museum 

Elgin Recovered-
21 large figures that once filled the triangular spaces at the front of the temple known as pediments

75 of 160 metres of the famous Parthenon Frieze that adorned the temple’s inner chamber, the naos

15 of 92 carved panels known as metopes that once filled rectangular areas above the temple’s columns

Other misc. artefacts from other temples

No comments:

Post a Comment