Hot this week: Hobby Lobby’s hot Iraqi tablets
Receive ‘Culture crime news’ as a weekly newsletter! Sign up here
You can search the full Culture Crime News media database at news.culturecrime.org.
Africa
Administrative Prosecution refers 3 Ministry of Antiquities officials to trial over excavation fiasco (Egypt)
(8 July 2017; MENA Financial Network)
Related to the removal of a statue in Cairo’s Matariya that caught international attention.
In Lagos, lost treasures brings hope in artefacts repatriation (Nigeria)
(2 July 2017; The Guardian)
Returns as the result of building bridges to European museums.
Americas
Hallaron un documento de Sarmiento gobernador y la Casa Natal quiere conservarlo (Document of of Sarmiento governer found and the Casa Natal wants to keep it.; Argentina)
(5 July 2017; Diario La Provincia)
The museum contacted the federal police and court in charge of the case to have the document transferred.
Top collector cries foul on Nazi memorabilia trove uncovered in Buenos Aires (Argentina)
(5 July 2017; The Times of Israel)
Third Reich collectors question the authenticity of the Argentina Nazi stuff stash.
Palermo: robó reliquias en una iglesia y fue detenido (Argentina, Uruguay)
(9 July 2017; Diario Popular)
The Uruguayan man is accused of stealing a valuable monstrace.
First Nations heirlooms stolen from Vancouver Island family recovered (Canada)
(5 July 2017; CHEK)
“Stolen items included masks, rattles, blankets, aprons, headdresses, and drums”
Roban imagen del Niño San Salvador de Capachica (Statue of the Niño San Salvador stolen from Capachica; Peru)
(6 July 2017; Correo)
Taken from a church in the historic centre of Arequipa
La Libertad: Roban campana de Iglesia de Angasmarca (La Libertad: Bell from the church of Angasmarca stolen; Peru)
(2 July 2017; Correo)
The bronze bell was a meter high, 0.9 meters wide, and stolen by more than 4 people.
Roban campana de bronce de histórica iglesia de Santiago de Chuco (Bronze bell stolen from the historic church of Santiago de Chuco; Peru)
(3 July 2017; RPP)
The church is known as the Sistine Chapel of Peru
Another lobster statue stolen (USA)
(3 July 2017; Wicked Local)
“”t was Ed the Alzheimer’s Lobster,” he said. “It’s terrible.”
For lifting Buddhist temple statues, she gets no added jail time (USA)
(5 July 2017; My News LA)
“Trang Thu Pham of Santa Ana pleaded guilty to grand theft and vandalism of religious property.”
Aspen cops zero in on suspect in $3 million painting slashing (USA)
(6 July 2017; The Aspen Times)
Slashed piece was “Untitled 2004” by Christopher Wool
Have You Seen Washington, D.C.’s Missing Liberty Bell? (USA)
(9 July 2017; The Daily Beast)
The hope is that it isn’t stolen, just misplaced.
‘Harder slap than usual’: Punishment for importing stolen artifacts isn’t severe enough, experts say (USA, Iraq)
(9 July 2017; CBC)
“We have no real way to gauge that they’re gone except maybe a hole in the ground, and there’s a lot of holes in the ground,”
Hobby Lobby Agrees to Forfeit 5,500 Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq (USA, Iraq)
(5 July 2017; The New York Times)
The collector was advised by top experts to not make this purchase, but he did it anyway.
Hobby Lobby Busted for Illegally Importing Thousands of Iraqi Antiquities (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; Hyperallergic)
“In shipments that falsely described some contents as tile product “samples” manufactured in Turkey”
Hobby Lobby ignored ‘red flags’ about stolen Iraqi artifacts (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; PRI)
“There’s no place for it to come from in a legal way.”
Hobby Lobby’s $3 million smuggling case casts a cloud over the Museum of the Bible (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; The Washington Post)
“The federal complaint described many layers of suspicion surrounding Hobby Lobby’s purchase of 5,500 artifacts for $1.6 million in 2010”
Hobby Lobby’s Black-Market Buys Did Real Damage (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; The New York Times)
“The real issue here is the black market in looted antiquities…became especially visible during the first Iraq War and the period of regional destabilization that followed.”
The Scandal Over Hobby Lobby’s Purchase of 5,500 Smuggled Artifacts, Explained (USA, Iraq)
(7 July 2017; Artsy)
“After some of the packages were detained by customs, the government filed in March of 2011 to officially seize the pieces.”
Venezolanos son acusados del robo de una iglesia en Cúcuta (Venezuelans accused of stealing from a Cúcuta church; Venezuela)
(2 July 2017; Caracol Radio)
Robbery at the headquarters of the Fraternidad Apostólica de Cristo Sacerdote in Cundinamarca
Robaron relicario de la Virgen de Belén en Aragua (Reliquary of the Virgen de Belén stolen in Aragua; Venezuela)
(5 July 2017; La Patilla)
Five towers of the silver reliquary were stolen.
Europe
Indomitable champion of Cyprus’ cultural heritage (Cyprus)
(2 July 2017; Cyprus Mail)
On Tasoula Hadjitofi’s new book “The Icon Hunter”
3 Cases That Explain Why Restituting Nazi Looted Art Is So Difficult (General)
(5 July 2017; Artsy)
“Ethically clear-cut and yet persistently intractable”
The first glimpse inside a Nazi looted art collection (Germany, Switzerland)
(2 July 2017; Salon)
On the Gurlitt collection
Exhibitions offer a look at art stolen or bought by the Nazis (Germany, Switzerland)
(3 July 2017; Business Mirror)
250 of the Gurlitt works will go on display in Bonn in a show called “Dossier Gurlitt: Nazi Art Theft and Its Consequences”
First works from Nazi-era art hoard arrive at Swiss museum (Germany, Switzerland)
(9 July 2017; The Local)
Nearly 200 of the Gurlitt pieces were on show.
Looters strip Greek mountains of wild tea, rare plants (Greece, Albania)
(2 July 2017; The Daily Mail)
Albanians are being blamed for the looting of rare plants.
Rubato un quadro nel Museo Ferrucciano (Painting stolen from the Ferrucciano museum; Italy)
(4 July 2017; Il Tirreno)
Forced the front door of the San Marcello Pistoiese museum and stole the work.
«Corrimos la voz de que si aparecía el Códice Calixtino dejaríamos la investigación» (“We worked with the understanding that if the Codex Calixtinus appeared, we’d close the investigation”; Spain)
(4 July 2017; La Voz de Galicia)
Return of the stolen book was the judge’s priority.
Police appeal after art deco lamps worth £11,000 stolen from school (UK)
(5 July 2017; The Sentinel)
Stolen from Chancel County Infants School in Rugeley
Proposals for Margaret Thatcher statue near parliament turned down (UK)
(6 July 2017; The Guardian)
Neighbours feel it would attract vandals.
Oceania
Valuable Colin John McCahon painting stolen in Sydney (Australia)
(7 July 2017; BBC News)
“Comet (F13)” was taken as the owner moved house.
South and East Asia
Temple sculptures moved to prevent theft (Cambodia)
(6 July 2017; Khmer Times)
Moved from Barsaeth temple to a provincial museum
Man wanted in several robbery cases nabbed (India)
(2 July 2017; The Hindu)
Silver ornaments weighing 17.4 kg were recovered from the alleged thief.
Court allows US citizen, alleged to be antique smuggler, to travel abroad (India)
(3 July 2017; The Indian Express)
Accused idol smuggler Vijay Nanda is a US citizen and there are fears he may not return.
Eight gems missing from Padmanabha idol (India)
(3 July 2017; The Hindu)
“Forming part of the naamam (tilak) of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy idol in the eponymous temple in Thiruvananthapuram”
Two arrested in emerald lingam theft (India)
(4 July 2017; The Times of India)
They are accused of stealing the ligam from Suyambu Lingeshwarar temple near Thiruporur
ASI bans selfie sticks at 46 site museums (India)
(5 July 2017; The Hindu)
They are still allowed at the site, but there is a worry they will damage artefacts in museums.
Rag picker held in Kukatpally for temple thefts (India)
(6 July 2017; Telangana Today)
11 burglaries in different temples
21 places of worship burgled in four years (India)
(9 July 2017; The Indian Express)
Various types of objects have been targeted in sacred sites in Chandigarh
Paintings from Rs 200-crore collection go missing from Air India’s Mumbai headquarters (India)
(5 July 2017; India Today)
Loss discovered when artist Jatin Das was asked to authenticate a painting prior to sale and he knew it was meant to be with the airline.
Air India loot: Total value of missing paintings could go over Rs 750 crore (India)
(7 July 2017; India Today)
At one point Air India was said to have had 7000 but an audit has only located 3500 so far.
Group of ministers to decide fate of Air India’s huge art collection (India)
(9 July 2017; The Economic Times)
Following a theft, the collection is getting a disinvestment review.
Descendants of conquerors to return artifacts stolen during Anglo-Burmese War (Myanmar, New Zealand)
(4 July 2017; Coconuts Yangon)
Upon learning that the objects were taken from Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Bago and motivated by respect for Indigenous cultures, the NZ based possessor is returning them.
Norway returns stolen antique Buddha sculpture to Myanmar (Myanmar, Norway)
(6 July 2017; WQOQ)
Discovered by a Norwegian customs officer in 2011
Chinese Jade vessels, stolen by prolific thieves in 2005, recovered and sold at auction for 10 times their estimate (UK)
(5 July 2017; Art Daily)
Thieves targeted elderly art owners; these were IDd by the Art Loss Register.
West and Central Asia
Iraq accelerates work on its virtual national museum (Iraq)
(2 July 2017; Al Monitor)
To be a comprehensive database of Iraqi archaeological heritage online.
Syrian authorities seize four funeral busts in ISIS former centers in Palmyra (Syria)
(1 July 2017; ABNA)
Assumed to have been stolen from the tombs of the southeastern cemetery at the site.
Digitally Reconstructing The Faces Of Ancient Palmyra (Syria)
(5 July 2017; Forbes)
Reconstruction of heritage in Syria may include all sorts of reconstruction of Palmyrine faces.
Minister calls Ohio university to return missing artifacts (Turkey, USA)
(7 July 2017; Daily Sabah)
Bowling Green University is asked to return stolen bits of the Zeugma mosaics
In Other News
Sex, lies — and a stolen Stradivarius (General)
(8 July 2017; The Spectator)
Author muses on her teenage love for a violin thief.
Attica museums, ancient sites to be closed on Thursday morning due to walkout (Greece)
(3 July 2017; eKathimerini)
Over a dispute of pay and working conditions
Feather thief behind bars after CHF6 million museum raids (Switzerland, Germany, Austria)
(5 July 2017; SwissInfo)
Three-year jail sentence for stealing 10,000 feathers from museums over 10 years.
Whale graffiti artist also stole coccyx from Natural History Museum (UK)
(4 July 2017; The Times)
“Natural History Museum’s blue whale was also the victim of an audacious theft 80 years ago.”
Typo on Indiana Monument Honors Soldiers in the War on “Terriorism” (USA)
(4 July 2017; Hyperallergic)
Oh dear.
Hot this week:
Receive ‘Culture crime news’ as a weekly newsletter! Sign up here
You can search the full Culture Crime News media database at news.culturecrime.org.
Africa
Administrative Prosecution refers 3 Ministry of Antiquities officials to trial over excavation fiasco (Egypt)
(8 July 2017; MENA Financial Network)
Related to the removal of a statue in Cairo’s Matariya that caught international attention.
In Lagos, lost treasures brings hope in artefacts repatriation (Nigeria)
(2 July 2017; The Guardian)
Returns as the result of building bridges to European museums.
Americas
Hallaron un documento de Sarmiento gobernador y la Casa Natal quiere conservarlo (Document of of Sarmiento governer found and the Casa Natal wants to keep it.; Argentina)
(5 July 2017; Diario La Provincia)
The museum contacted the federal police and court in charge of the case to have the document transferred.
Top collector cries foul on Nazi memorabilia trove uncovered in Buenos Aires (Argentina)
(5 July 2017; The Times of Israel)
Third Reich collectors question the authenticity of the Argentina Nazi stuff stash.
Palermo: robó reliquias en una iglesia y fue detenido (Argentina, Uruguay)
(9 July 2017; Diario Popular)
The Uruguayan man is accused of stealing a valuable monstrace.
First Nations heirlooms stolen from Vancouver Island family recovered (Canada)
(5 July 2017; CHEK)
“Stolen items included masks, rattles, blankets, aprons, headdresses, and drums”
Roban imagen del Niño San Salvador de Capachica (Statue of the Niño San Salvador stolen from Capachica; Peru)
(6 July 2017; Correo)
Taken from a church in the historic centre of Arequipa
La Libertad: Roban campana de Iglesia de Angasmarca (La Libertad: Bell from the church of Angasmarca stolen; Peru)
(2 July 2017; Correo)
The bronze bell was a meter high, 0.9 meters wide, and stolen by more than 4 people.
Roban campana de bronce de histórica iglesia de Santiago de Chuco (Bronze bell stolen from the historic church of Santiago de Chuco; Peru)
(3 July 2017; RPP)
The church is known as the Sistine Chapel of Peru
Another lobster statue stolen (USA)
(3 July 2017; Wicked Local)
“”t was Ed the Alzheimer’s Lobster,” he said. “It’s terrible.”
For lifting Buddhist temple statues, she gets no added jail time (USA)
(5 July 2017; My News LA)
“Trang Thu Pham of Santa Ana pleaded guilty to grand theft and vandalism of religious property.”
Aspen cops zero in on suspect in $3 million painting slashing (USA)
(6 July 2017; The Aspen Times)
Slashed piece was “Untitled 2004” by Christopher Wool
Have You Seen Washington, D.C.’s Missing Liberty Bell? (USA)
(9 July 2017; The Daily Beast)
The hope is that it isn’t stolen, just misplaced.
‘Harder slap than usual’: Punishment for importing stolen artifacts isn’t severe enough, experts say (USA, Iraq)
(9 July 2017; CBC)
“We have no real way to gauge that they’re gone except maybe a hole in the ground, and there’s a lot of holes in the ground,”
Hobby Lobby Agrees to Forfeit 5,500 Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq (USA, Iraq)
(5 July 2017; The New York Times)
The collector was advised by top experts to not make this purchase, but he did it anyway.
Hobby Lobby Busted for Illegally Importing Thousands of Iraqi Antiquities (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; Hyperallergic)
“In shipments that falsely described some contents as tile product “samples” manufactured in Turkey”
Hobby Lobby ignored ‘red flags’ about stolen Iraqi artifacts (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; PRI)
“There’s no place for it to come from in a legal way.”
Hobby Lobby’s $3 million smuggling case casts a cloud over the Museum of the Bible (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; The Washington Post)
“The federal complaint described many layers of suspicion surrounding Hobby Lobby’s purchase of 5,500 artifacts for $1.6 million in 2010”
Hobby Lobby’s Black-Market Buys Did Real Damage (USA, Iraq)
(6 July 2017; The New York Times)
“The real issue here is the black market in looted antiquities…became especially visible during the first Iraq War and the period of regional destabilization that followed.”
The Scandal Over Hobby Lobby’s Purchase of 5,500 Smuggled Artifacts, Explained (USA, Iraq)
(7 July 2017; Artsy)
“After some of the packages were detained by customs, the government filed in March of 2011 to officially seize the pieces.”
Venezolanos son acusados del robo de una iglesia en Cúcuta (Venezuelans accused of stealing from a Cúcuta church; Venezuela)
(2 July 2017; Caracol Radio)
Robbery at the headquarters of the Fraternidad Apostólica de Cristo Sacerdote in Cundinamarca
Robaron relicario de la Virgen de Belén en Aragua (Reliquary of the Virgen de Belén stolen in Aragua; Venezuela)
(5 July 2017; La Patilla)
Five towers of the silver reliquary were stolen.
Europe
Indomitable champion of Cyprus’ cultural heritage (Cyprus)
(2 July 2017; Cyprus Mail)
On Tasoula Hadjitofi’s new book “The Icon Hunter”
3 Cases That Explain Why Restituting Nazi Looted Art Is So Difficult (General)
(5 July 2017; Artsy)
“Ethically clear-cut and yet persistently intractable”
The first glimpse inside a Nazi looted art collection (Germany, Switzerland)
(2 July 2017; Salon)
On the Gurlitt collection
Exhibitions offer a look at art stolen or bought by the Nazis (Germany, Switzerland)
(3 July 2017; Business Mirror)
250 of the Gurlitt works will go on display in Bonn in a show called “Dossier Gurlitt: Nazi Art Theft and Its Consequences”
First works from Nazi-era art hoard arrive at Swiss museum (Germany, Switzerland)
(9 July 2017; The Local)
Nearly 200 of the Gurlitt pieces were on show.
Looters strip Greek mountains of wild tea, rare plants (Greece, Albania)
(2 July 2017; The Daily Mail)
Albanians are being blamed for the looting of rare plants.
Rubato un quadro nel Museo Ferrucciano (Painting stolen from the Ferrucciano museum; Italy)
(4 July 2017; Il Tirreno)
Forced the front door of the San Marcello Pistoiese museum and stole the work.
«Corrimos la voz de que si aparecía el Códice Calixtino dejaríamos la investigación» (“We worked with the understanding that if the Codex Calixtinus appeared, we’d close the investigation”; Spain)
(4 July 2017; La Voz de Galicia)
Return of the stolen book was the judge’s priority.
Police appeal after art deco lamps worth £11,000 stolen from school (UK)
(5 July 2017; The Sentinel)
Stolen from Chancel County Infants School in Rugeley
Proposals for Margaret Thatcher statue near parliament turned down (UK)
(6 July 2017; The Guardian)
Neighbours feel it would attract vandals.
Oceania
Valuable Colin John McCahon painting stolen in Sydney (Australia)
(7 July 2017; BBC News)
“Comet (F13)” was taken as the owner moved house.
South and East Asia
Temple sculptures moved to prevent theft (Cambodia)
(6 July 2017; Khmer Times)
Moved from Barsaeth temple to a provincial museum
Man wanted in several robbery cases nabbed (India)
(2 July 2017; The Hindu)
Silver ornaments weighing 17.4 kg were recovered from the alleged thief.
Court allows US citizen, alleged to be antique smuggler, to travel abroad (India)
(3 July 2017; The Indian Express)
Accused idol smuggler Vijay Nanda is a US citizen and there are fears he may not return.
Eight gems missing from Padmanabha idol (India)
(3 July 2017; The Hindu)
“Forming part of the naamam (tilak) of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy idol in the eponymous temple in Thiruvananthapuram”
Two arrested in emerald lingam theft (India)
(4 July 2017; The Times of India)
They are accused of stealing the ligam from Suyambu Lingeshwarar temple near Thiruporur
ASI bans selfie sticks at 46 site museums (India)
(5 July 2017; The Hindu)
They are still allowed at the site, but there is a worry they will damage artefacts in museums.
Rag picker held in Kukatpally for temple thefts (India)
(6 July 2017; Telangana Today)
11 burglaries in different temples
21 places of worship burgled in four years (India)
(9 July 2017; The Indian Express)
Various types of objects have been targeted in sacred sites in Chandigarh
Paintings from Rs 200-crore collection go missing from Air India’s Mumbai headquarters (India)
(5 July 2017; India Today)
Loss discovered when artist Jatin Das was asked to authenticate a painting prior to sale and he knew it was meant to be with the airline.
Air India loot: Total value of missing paintings could go over Rs 750 crore (India)
(7 July 2017; India Today)
At one point Air India was said to have had 7000 but an audit has only located 3500 so far.
Group of ministers to decide fate of Air India’s huge art collection (India)
(9 July 2017; The Economic Times)
Following a theft, the collection is getting a disinvestment review.
Descendants of conquerors to return artifacts stolen during Anglo-Burmese War (Myanmar, New Zealand)
(4 July 2017; Coconuts Yangon)
Upon learning that the objects were taken from Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Bago and motivated by respect for Indigenous cultures, the NZ based possessor is returning them.
Norway returns stolen antique Buddha sculpture to Myanmar (Myanmar, Norway)
(6 July 2017; WQOQ)
Discovered by a Norwegian customs officer in 2011
Chinese Jade vessels, stolen by prolific thieves in 2005, recovered and sold at auction for 10 times their estimate (UK)
(5 July 2017; Art Daily)
Thieves targeted elderly art owners; these were IDd by the Art Loss Register.
West and Central Asia
Iraq accelerates work on its virtual national museum (Iraq)
(2 July 2017; Al Monitor)
To be a comprehensive database of Iraqi archaeological heritage online.
Syrian authorities seize four funeral busts in ISIS former centers in Palmyra (Syria)
(1 July 2017; ABNA)
Assumed to have been stolen from the tombs of the southeastern cemetery at the site.
Digitally Reconstructing The Faces Of Ancient Palmyra (Syria)
(5 July 2017; Forbes)
Reconstruction of heritage in Syria may include all sorts of reconstruction of Palmyrine faces.
Minister calls Ohio university to return missing artifacts (Turkey, USA)
(7 July 2017; Daily Sabah)
Bowling Green University is asked to return stolen bits of the Zeugma mosaics
In Other News
Sex, lies — and a stolen Stradivarius (General)
(8 July 2017; The Spectator)
Author muses on her teenage love for a violin thief.
Attica museums, ancient sites to be closed on Thursday morning due to walkout (Greece)
(3 July 2017; eKathimerini)
Over a dispute of pay and working conditions
Feather thief behind bars after CHF6 million museum raids (Switzerland, Germany, Austria)
(5 July 2017; SwissInfo)
Three-year jail sentence for stealing 10,000 feathers from museums over 10 years.
Whale graffiti artist also stole coccyx from Natural History Museum (UK)
(4 July 2017; The Times)
“Natural History Museum’s blue whale was also the victim of an audacious theft 80 years ago.”
Typo on Indiana Monument Honors Soldiers in the War on “Terriorism” (USA)
(4 July 2017; Hyperallergic)
Oh dear.