Hot this week: Afghanistan Speculation
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[Photo by Israel Antiquities Authority]
General
From Costa Rica to Iraq, keeping culture and history intact
(17 August 2021; Christian Science Monitor)
Antiquities smuggling still on the rise
(18 August 2021; The Wild Hunt)
Art attack: spot the forgery
(18 August 2021; E&T)
Africa
NY Met to repatriate two Benin Bronzes (Nigeria, USA)
(16 August 2021; The Boar)
Glasgow’s collection of looted Benin bronzes could be repatriated to Nigeria (Nigeria, UK)
(17 August 2021; The Herald)
Germany is to return Nigeria’s Benin Bronzes (Nigeria, Germany)
(18 August 2021; News 24)
Americas
Austria Should Repatriate the Mexica Headdress (Mexico, Austria)
(17 August 2021; Hyperallergic)
25 archeological treasures stolen 10 recovered (Panama)
(17 August 2021; MENAFN)
El retiro del guardián de Sipán (The Retirement of the Guardian of Sipán; Peru)
(15 August 2021; La República)
Sacred Indigenous Objects Returned to Southeast (USA)
(13 August 2021; {KINY})
Flattery or forgery? The Clark’s ‘Durer and After’ takes a close look at the fine line that separates the two (USA)
(13 August 2021; The Berkshire Eagle)
Art Forger Sells Over $1 Million in Paintings, Pleads Guilty (USA)
(14 August 2021; Inside Hook)
How 4 college students tried to steal rare books worth millions from a school library — and what got them caught (USA)
(15 August 2021; CNBC)
Indigenous people find legal, cultural barriers to protect sacred spaces off tribal lands (USA)
(16 August 2021; AZ Central)
Dozens of Nazi-looted artworks are exhibiting in New York (USA)
(17 August 2021; CNN)
New York’s Jewish Museum Unveils Exhibit Featuring Nazi-Looted Art by Picasso, Chagall, Matisse (USA)
(18 August 2021; The Algemeiner)
Artists repair Atascadero monolith after second act of vandalism (USA)
(18 August 2021; KSBY)
Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art (USA)
(18 August 2021; Time Out)
Restitution Experts Blast Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts for Refusing to Return a Painting Once Purchased for Hitler’s Museum (USA)
(18 August 2021; ArtNet News)
Europe
Denmark Now Has Two Little Mermaids. The Famous One Is Suing. (Denmark)
(17 August 2021; The New York Times)
Extremely rare Greek coin found in anti-smuggling operation (Greece)
(16 August 2021; Greek City Times)
Who will rescue the Parthenon sculptures from its British ‘saviours’? (Greece, USA)
(16 August 2021; Greek City Times)
Lost And Found: Rare Treasures Stolen From Museum Are Returned 50 Years Later (Iceland, Germany)
(13 August 2021; {The Florida Star})
Thieves attempt to steal $1.4M Monet painting in botched museum raid (Netherlands)
(18 August 2021; CNN)
‘Slap in the face’: Poland passes law effectively blocking Holocaust-era art restitutions (Poland)
(16 August 2021; The Art Newspaper)
A New Polish Law Will Make It Practically Impossible to Pursue Restitution Claims for Nazi-Looted Artworks (Poland)
(16 August 2021; ArtNet News)
Polish law on property stolen by Nazis angers Israel (Poland)
(18 August 2021; BBC News)
Swiss Police Seize Historic Painting Stolen From Serbian Castle In 1993 (Serbia, Switzerland)
(13 August 2021; Radio Free Europe)
Roban una campana de 120 kilos de una iglesia (120-kilogram bell stolen from church; Spain)
(15 August 2021; AS)
Police provide list of offences against heritage sites and assets (UK)
(16 August 2021; Dorset Echo)
Macclesfield community rallies behind Silk Museum after break-in (UK)
(18 August 2021; Cheshire Live)
Plea to respect Stonehenge research sites in Pembrokeshire (UK)
(19 August 2021; BBC News)
Newcastle taxi driver stole Goya portrait 60 years ago (UK)
(19 August 2021; The Northern Echo)
Oceania
The Stolen Star (Australia)
(18 August 2021; ABC Australia)
South and East Asia
Police in SW China’s Sichuan offer up to $7,718 in rewards to assist in search of stolen 1000-year old Buddha statues (China)
(17 August 2021; Global Times)
Toothless antiquities act and clueless custodians (India)
(14 August 2021; The New Indian Express)
UNESCO has estimated that India had lost some 50,000 artefacts until 1989 (India)
(15 August 2021; News in Asia)
Kakinada: Police crack Nandi idol theft case, arrest two (India)
(15 August 2021; Hans News Service)
Watchdog Group Links Rubin-Ladd Foundation, a Prolific Museum Benefactor, to Jailed Antiquities Dealer Subhash Kapoor (India, USA)
(18 August 2021; ArtNet News)
Tara: The Sri Lankan Deity At The British Museum (Sri Lanka, UK)
(18 August 2021; Nation)
Stolen Buddhist artefacts return to Thailand (Thailand, USA)
(19 August 2021; Bangkok Post)
West and Central Asia
The Taliban destroyed Afghanistan’s ancient treasures. Will history repeat itself? (Afghanistan)
(13 August 2021; National Geographic)
Will the Taliban destroy Afghanistan’s priceless treasures? (Afghanistan)
(16 August 2021; The Telegraph)
Amid Taliban insurgency, culture sector fears looting as Kabul descends into chaos (Afghanistan)
(17 August 2021; The Art Newspaper)
‘Do leopards change their spots?’: Taliban threat to heritage in Afghanistan could be worse than in 2001 (Afghanistan)
(17 August 2021; The Art Newspaper)
‘Hand over that sarcophagus, citizen!’ (Israel)
(17 August 2021; Israel Hayom)
Qatari sheikh loses battle over $5.2m ‘fake’ ancient artefacts (Qatar, USA)
(10 August 2021; The National News)
Turkey Arrests 78 in Operation Targeting the Illegal Antiquities Trade (Turkey)
(14 August 2021; OCCRP)
Stolen 16th-century Qur’an to be returned to Turkey (Turkey, UK)
(16 August 2021; Arab News)
In Other News
DeviantArt Is Now Using AI to Spot People Selling Stolen Art as NFTs (General)
(18 August 2021; Vice)
Sardinia’s seasonal crimewave of sand thieves (Italy)
(13 August 2021; The Guardian)
Saga over garment design copyright infringement ends with ceremonial fire (USA)
(13 August 2021; Juneau Empire)