From cho at savingantiquities.org Fri Dec 2 17:18:42 2005 From: cho at savingantiquities.org (Cindy Ho) Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:18:42 -0500 Subject: [CPProt.net] Petition in support of Susanne Osthoff's release Message-ID: SAFE | Saving Antiquities for Everyone has created an online petition for the safe and immediate release of Susanne Osthoff and her driver on http://www.savingantiquities.org/ . There's also a news feed with updated reports reports about the situation. Signatures are being collected to show support for Susanne Osthoff's release, please join in our efforts by linking to our petition, including it in any press releases and telling everyone to sign. Thank you, Cindy Ho President SAFE | Saving Antiquities for Everyone www.savingantiquities.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://duvel.te.verweg.com/pipermail/cpprot/attachments/20051202/0b5c136c/attachment.htm From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Dec 2 19:54:45 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 19:54:45 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] FW: British Museum returns African treasures for Kenyan exhibition Message-ID: <200512021855.jB2ItHS5040935@smtp-vbr15.xs4all.nl> _________________________ -----Original Message----- From: MLA Cultural Diversity Network [mailto:CULTURAL-DIVERSITY at JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Shiraz Durrani Sent: 30 November 2005 13:04 To: CULTURAL-DIVERSITY at JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: British Museum returns African treasures for Kenyan exhibition The question is why only "some" treasures are being returned? Why not all? Why only for the exhibition and not permanently? What about all the colonial records and files???? Questions, questions. Shiraz British Museum returns African treasures for Kenyan exhibition In a groundbreaking deal which could resolve decades of bickering over 'Britain's colonial plundering', the British Museum is returning some treasures from its eastern Africa collections, back to Africa, for a special exhibition which will open in Nairobi in the Spring. Independent, p15, 30 November http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article330201.ece Kila usiku una asubuhi yake! Jua utaliona tena! From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Dec 2 20:07:26 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 20:07:26 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] British Museum returns African treasures for Kenyan exhibition Message-ID: <200512021908.jB2J81xP083800@smtp-vbr2.xs4all.nl> British Museum returns African treasures for Kenyan exhibition Published: 30 November 2005 When the Kenyan curator Kiprop Lagat was invited in to the British Museum this year, he was given free rein to peruse all the 12,000 treasures in its vast eastern Africa collections. Now, in a groundbreaking deal which could resolve decades of bickering over Britain's colonial plundering, 140 of those items are going back to Africa for the first time for a special exhibition which will open in Nairobi in the spring. Visitors to the Kenyan show will get the chance to see wooden sculptures, silver and beaded jewellery and circumcision masks thousands of miles from their "home" in London - but much closer to the communities that made them. "There are things here I hadn't seen before, things that were collected in Kenya," Mr Lagat said at the British Museum yesterday. "It was very exciting." The unprecedented collaboration, announced yesterday, between the National Museums of Kenya and the British Museum, sees the British institution bidding to make its claim to be the treasure store of the world a practical reality. Neil MacGregor, the museum's director, said: "We hope it will be a model for the future. The British Museum is committed to developing these kinds of collaborations across the world to generate a deeper understanding of a global citizenship." With increasing numbers of claims for the restitution of cultural objects to the Third World, the museum has been rethinking its role to emphasise that it holds such heritage in trust. The new approach means there will be more loans and exhibitions, as well as training programmes for curators and support for conservation and research. A conference for museum professionals from across sub-Saharan Africa will take place in Mombasa next week with backing from the British Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which have pledged a total of ?1m between them towards the African initiative. Dr Farah Idle, director general of the National Museums of Kenya, said the deal was "an important stepping stone" which would help build a sustainable museum sector in Africa. "Rather than view the collections as belonging to one institution, the museum community should instead consider them as global heritage. This is the future for collaboration." The exhibition, Hazina - Traditions, Trade and Transitions in Eastern Africa, was "greatly awaited" in Nairobi, he added. Mr Lagat explained that hazina is a Swahili word for treasures, encapsulating ideas of beauty and value. "In this context, it denotes the rich cultural traditions of the people of eastern Africa," he said. The exhibition will explore themes such as trade, leadership and contemporary culture when it opens in March. For instance, only when the Akamba people of Kenya fought alongside the Zaramo people of Tanzania in the First World War, did they learn the skill of figurative carving for which they are now well known. The exhibition is set to be followed by similar shows in Ethiopia and Mali. Plans are underway for an exhibition with the National Museum of Ethiopia to celebrate the Ethiopia Millennium in 2007-08. The British Museum is also working with Mali on plans for an exhibition on gold in West Africa. And a show exploring Asante funerary practices is being planned with the National Museum of Ghana. When the Kenyan curator Kiprop Lagat was invited in to the British Museum this year, he was given free rein to peruse all the 12,000 treasures in its vast eastern Africa collections. Now, in a groundbreaking deal which could resolve decades of bickering over Britain's colonial plundering, 140 of those items are going back to Africa for the first time for a special exhibition which will open in Nairobi in the spring. Visitors to the Kenyan show will get the chance to see wooden sculptures, silver and beaded jewellery and circumcision masks thousands of miles from their "home" in London - but much closer to the communities that made them. "There are things here I hadn't seen before, things that were collected in Kenya," Mr Lagat said at the British Museum yesterday. "It was very exciting." The unprecedented collaboration, announced yesterday, between the National Museums of Kenya and the British Museum, sees the British institution bidding to make its claim to be the treasure store of the world a practical reality. Neil MacGregor, the museum's director, said: "We hope it will be a model for the future. The British Museum is committed to developing these kinds of collaborations across the world to generate a deeper understanding of a global citizenship." With increasing numbers of claims for the restitution of cultural objects to the Third World, the museum has been rethinking its role to emphasise that it holds such heritage in trust. The new approach means there will be more loans and exhibitions, as well as training programmes for curators and support for conservation and research. A conference for museum professionals from across sub-Saharan Africa will take place in Mombasa next week with backing from the British Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which have pledged a total of ?1m between them towards the African initiative. Dr Farah Idle, director general of the National Museums of Kenya, said the deal was "an important stepping stone" which would help build a sustainable museum sector in Africa. "Rather than view the collections as belonging to one institution, the museum community should instead consider them as global heritage. This is the future for collaboration." The exhibition, Hazina - Traditions, Trade and Transitions in Eastern Africa, was "greatly awaited" in Nairobi, he added. Mr Lagat explained that hazina is a Swahili word for treasures, encapsulating ideas of beauty and value. "In this context, it denotes the rich cultural traditions of the people of eastern Africa," he said. The exhibition will explore themes such as trade, leadership and contemporary culture when it opens in March. For instance, only when the Akamba people of Kenya fought alongside the Zaramo people of Tanzania in the First World War, did they learn the skill of figurative carving for which they are now well known. The exhibition is set to be followed by similar shows in Ethiopia and Mali. Plans are underway for an exhibition with the National Museum of Ethiopia to celebrate the Ethiopia Millennium in 2007-08. The British Museum is also working with Mali on plans for an exhibition on gold in West Africa. And a show exploring Asante funerary practices is being planned with the National Museum of Ghana. http://news.independent.co.uk/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:33:43 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:33:43 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] EUs criticized for trading Iranian stolen artifacts Message-ID: <200512030534.jB35YG3U047769@smtp-vbr15.xs4all.nl> EUs criticized for trading Iranian stolen artifacts Source:Iranmania LONDON, December 2 (IranMania) - An Iranian official criticized European officials for ignoring the trade of stolen Iranian artifacts in European markets. Head of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) Esfandiar Rahim-Moshaie made the remark in a meeting with the director of Louvre Museum, Henri Loyrette, IRNA reported. Rahim-Moshaie also said important centers such as Louvre Museum are expected to be careful while dealing with distortion of historical documents. According to Le Figaro and Le Parisien dailies issued late 2004, a number of valuable Iranian ancient objects dating back to thousands of years ago were exchanged in European markets, including that of Paris, secretly. Turning to an invaluable Iranian vase smuggled into France, Figaro said, 'On February 26, 2003, it was purchased by Louvre Museum from an antique store in Paris. The artifact unearthed in the historical area of Jiroft dated back to 3,000 BC. Besides, several other Iranian artifacts discovered at Jiroft were traded among the French owners of antique objects from June to November 2003.' The Iranian official also criticized some of the world research centers for referring to the Persian Gulf by an odd name. 'Such major scientific and research institutes as Louvre Museum are expected to be careful about employing fake words when referring to the historical name of the Persian Gulf,' he added. Rahim-Moshaie, however, expressed satisfaction over the joint steps taken by the French and Iranian museums for arranging an exhibition titled 'Iran in Safavid Era' marking the glory of the government during the period. The same exhibition dubbed 'Forgotten Empire: the World of Ancient Persia' is currently underway at London's British Museum. He also declared Iran's support for the request of Louvre Museum for arranging an exhibition to be dubbed 'Iran in Achaemenid Era' in Paris in 2008. Rahim-Moshaie welcomed Loyrette's proposal for holding a special exposition on Iranian artifacts at Tehran's National Museum and said given the scientific status of this museum, the officials in charge of Louvre Museum can support the research projects that help expand cooperation between the two countries. Friday, December 02, 2005 - C2005 IranMania.com From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:33:43 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:33:43 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Brisbane: Artist faces theft trial Message-ID: <200512030534.jB35YG3T047769@smtp-vbr15.xs4all.nl> Artist faces theft trial 03dec05 A BRISBANE artist has been committed to stand trial on charges of masterminding an elaborate painting theft that rocked Brisbane's art world. Richard Noel Dunlop, 44, was charged in August with the theft of three moth drawings by prominent artist Allyson Reynolds after a raid on his inner-city home. Police allegedly seized hundreds of paintings in the raid. Yesterday, Magistrate Jim Herlihy found there was enough evidence to commit Dunlop to stand trial at a date to be fixed. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:35:00 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:35:00 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Peru plans to sue Yale for artifacts. Seeks to retrieve relics taken from Machu Picchu Message-ID: <200512030535.jB35ZXW9095605@smtp-vbr6.xs4all.nl> Peru plans to sue Yale for artifacts Seeks to retrieve relics taken from Machu Picchu By Rick Vecchio, Associated Press | December 1, 2005 LIMA -- Peru is preparing a lawsuit against Yale University to retrieve artifacts taken nearly a century ago from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a Peruvian cultural official said yesterday. Peru in recent years has held discussions with Yale seeking the return of nearly 5,000 artifacts, including ceramics and human bones that explorer Hiram Bingham dug up during three expeditions to Machu Picchu in 1911, 1912 and 1914. ''Yale considers the collection university property, given the amount of time it has been there," said Luis Guillermo Lumbreras, chief of Peru's National Institute of Culture, in an interview with The Associated Press. ''This is something we do not recognize because the pieces were legally granted in a temporary loan," he said. ''That is the reason it will be necessary to air this in the courts and no longer simply on the level of diplomatic conversations." Peru's Foreign Ministry was preparing the legal case and would likely present it in Connecticut state court, Lumbreras said, adding that it was not clear when the lawsuit would be filed. Richard Burger, chairman and director of graduate studies at Yale's Council on Archaeological Studies, did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment. Tom Conroy, a spokesman for the university, said he was looking into Peru's assertion that the artifacts were on loan but did not immediately have an answer. Bingham's grandson, David Bingham of Salem, Conn., said he never heard of any promise to return the artifacts and said Yale has been a good caretaker. ''Yale has taken very good care of the stuff and it probably brought more visitors to Peru than almost any other thing because the exhibits at Yale are so famous," he said. But Bingham said there's no reason Yale and Peru shouldn't be able compromise, assuming the country can guarantee the preservation of the artifacts. He said there are enough items to create displays in both places. ''There's enough interest where you could have a permanent exhibit in Peru, on loan from Yale, but there would be somebody who would be responsible for it," he said. ''It seems to me there's certainly a place for that to happen. But it would be a disaster if a lot of stuff got shipped down there and wasn't properly cared for." Lumbreras said former President Augusto B. Leguia gave Bingham ''permission to temporarily export the objects for scientific ends," with the agreement that the artifacts would be returned after one year, and that the timeframe was later extended by 18 months. ''Theoretically, they should have been returned after Jan. 27, 1916," Lumbreras said. ''The fact is, they weren't returned." For decades, Peru did not pursue the matter, he said. ''It stayed that way for nearly 100 years," Lumbreras said. ''We believe it is time to return the collection." The Incas ruled Peru from the 1430s until the arrival of the Spaniards in 1532, constructing incredible stone-block cities and roads and developing a highly organized society that extended from modern-day Colombia to Chile. The reconstructed ruins at Machu Picchu, located on a craggy mountaintop above a lush valley about 310 miles southeast of Lima, are Peru's top tourist attraction. Bingham, the first foreigner to reach Machu Picchu, had multiple theories about it: that it was perhaps a religious estate, inhabited mostly by women, or maybe a last Inca stronghold that was abandoned as the Spanish invaded. Or perhaps the Inca's city of origin. Experts now say that Bingham was wrong on all counts. Machu Picchu was a summer estate for royalty, a sort of Camp David for the Inca ruler Pachacuti, Yale's Burger told the Associated Press in 2003. About 600 people, mostly royalty and their servants, are believed to have lived there during the summers. After his explorations, Bingham turned to politics. He served one day as Connecticut governor in 1925 before resigning to take a seat in Congress. http://www.boston.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:50:12 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:50:12 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Carrier's 'Swindler's List' draws attention Message-ID: <200512030550.jB35oieL056861@smtp-vbr17.xs4all.nl> Carrier's 'Swindler's List' draws attention Article online since 16 novembre 2005 The alleged Rouault, declared a forgery after a thorough examination by Isabelle Rouault, daughter of the artist and director of the Fondation Rouault, Paris, France. By Marilynn Vanderstay The business of art is for the most part unregulated in North America, making fraud and forgery an international billion-dollar industry. Fortunately Westmount fine art consultant Marc Carrier has become one of the definitive voices on forgeries, frauds and other flim flams. It all began in the late 1990s when Carrier's letter to an editor resulted in a libel suite. "Defamation laws can become de facto 'gag orders,'" said Carrier. "This has resulted in an atmosphere of 'libel chill' in the art world, where no one dares speak." Except Carrier, that is. He had just taken an early retirement from his career in communications and was so taken aback by the experience that he decided he should investigate the whole issue of art fraud and how to recognize it. Fueled by a passion for art, he took it upon himself to become an expert on the ins and outs, including how to recognize a forgery, how to recognize a swindler, and most recently, how to appraise real art. Today, in the presentations he gives to interested groups that have recently included McGill University, the Rotary Club of Westmount and the Women's University Club, he shares using humorous yet poignant anecdotes of art fraud, combined with up-to- the-minute research. Art fraud comes in different forms, from so-called investments in alleged Old Masters, to Internet sales of forgeries at too-good-to-be-true prices, to selling forgeries of Salvador Dali works on paper, a fraud Carrier says in itself is worth millions. Carrier has seen it all. And more. That experience has led Carrier to become a consultant for law enforcement, lawyers and directly with victims. Presently he is consulting with a U.S. art collector who appears to be the victim of a $1 million fraud. "I was recently called upon by an American collector to authenticate an alleged Rouault he had purchased for $50,000 US. The work ended up in the hands of a US appraiser who, fearing litigation, refused to release the painting until I got the police involved. The painting didn't feel right. If it was a fake, it was a good fake, but the palette felt wrong and the composition was not right. So I did what had to be done, and I submitted an excellent digital photo of the painting to the Fondation Rouault in Paris. Headed by the artist's daughter, the foundation is the ultimate authority in authenticating Rouaults. The answer came back pretty quickly: Fake. But it was not only a forgery; the members of the foundation had seen it before at least five times. They sent me a long pedigree of the work, explaining that a succession of American collectors had submitted it for authentication over the years. "Now, here's the big difference between France and North America: In France, assuming the work was owned by a French national, the Fondation Rouault as well as other authenticating individuals and committees with the droit moral would undoubtedly get a court to order the destruction of the fake painting. Here, the inviolability of ownership transcends the crime of forgery, and the foundation can only issue a warning. I'm willing to bet they'll see this particular forgery again and again." Carrier not only exposes art fraud. He also gives his audience the tools and the caveats to protect themselves. "Certificates of authentication, the painting's provenance or pedigree and appraisals must always be verified and confirmed when negotiating an art purchase," he says. "But the best protection is still the familiar maxim 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.'" Westmount art gallery owner Glenn Campbell, who owns A.H. Campbell Gallery with his brother John, agrees. He remembers growing up in the gallery with his father Ian and a couple of well-dressed business men coming into the gallery with a pile of Dali prints they wanted to sell. "My father felt there was something wrong so he didn't do business with them, but he was sure they went to galleries right across Montreal. "When a client comes in with a painting they want to authenticate, the first thing I do is turn it around and start checking the age of the piece starting with the frame. It is all about educating the customer. There are so many different kinds of prints, they need to know what to look for before purchasing." Campbell recommends and uses the book 'How to Identify Prints' by Bamber Gascoigne. To help educate the public, Carrier will be presenting 'The Swindler's Art' tomorrow, Friday Nov. 17, at the Visual Arts Centre, 350 Victoria Avenue at 5 p.m.. Tickets are $5 at the door. You can also consult his website www.carrierartappraisals.com or call him at (514) 715-7136. http://www.westmountexaminer.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:50:12 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:50:12 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] European Fine Art Collector, Insurer Discusses His Trials, Tribulations at Art Basil, Miami Beach Message-ID: <200512030550.jB35oieK056861@smtp-vbr17.xs4all.nl> European Fine Art Collector, Insurer Discusses His Trials, Tribulations at Art Basil, Miami Beach By Dave Kaiser November 30, 2005 The trials and tribulations of maintaining and insuring a well-known corporate art collection, from bombings by the IRA, to being stolen by builders and damaged when cleaners sprayed paintings with window cleaner, were described by Charles Dupplin, head of Hiscox PLC's Fine Art and Private Client Division at the Nov. 30 Fine Arts Committee Fund breakfast, one of the many events in advance of the kicking off the week-long Art Basil, Miami Beach, Fla. Art Basil, one of America's leading art shows. Hiscox PLC is one of Europe's leading fine-arts insurers. Dupplin told Insurance Journal each of the company's European offices has on display entire collections of wonderful paintings and fine art representative of each region. After joining the company in 1990, Dupplin ran Hiscox's network of Continental European offices from 1995 to 2000 and started its offshore insurance company in 1998. "We know about fine art from the viewpoint of the consumer and as an insurer," Dupplin explained. "Sometimes it's the old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg." Dupplin gave the board room full of collectors and industry experts, a slide presentation showing some of the best paintings, sculptures and pieces of furniture in Hiscox's collection. He described how Robert Hiscox became a world-renowned collector of fine art and became well-known as a member of the Tate Gallery in London and at the same time combed Europe for examples of its finest artworks. "The issue here isn't to buy art to make money," Dupplin said. "Hiscox has bought and sold fine art and often thinks of it as a living thing, it illuminates our offices and when our employees get bored with it, we sell it and replace it with something even better. "We can say from experience what collecting involves," he continued. "Art is interesting, it attracts money and can make more money?but our main motivation is art for art'sake." Dupplin said that right now the Contemporary Art market is terribly hot. He said thousands of art dealers, collectors and aficionados are now in Miami Beach for the world's most exciting Contemporary Art gathering. In his presentation to the fine arts committee, Dupplin explained that first, Hiscox is enthusiastic and has no hesitations or reservations about buying fine art. "Second, we only buy what we like, we have a common theme and try to maintain a very good eye in choosing fine art for our collection." Dupplin was accompanied at the event by Elliott McDonald, Hiscox's expert curator, who has been with the company for more than three years. "It's important to be passionate about art, and to know something about it as well," Dupplin said. "Everyone will make a few mistakes, but in our time our fine art collection has been through a number of threats and come through unscathed." Dupplin said fine art is sometimes hard to insure because it is improperly displayed, or even in some cases created on very delicate materials which are not meant to last a long time. "We also know that certain types of art are transient," he concluded, "but you buy them with full knowledge that they will degrade over time. Find this article at: http://www.insurancejournal.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 06:50:12 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 06:50:12 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Aparece en museo de EU obra de arte robada en la entidad Message-ID: <200512030550.jB35oieM056861@smtp-vbr17.xs4all.nl> Aparece en museo de EU obra de arte robada en la entidad November 29, 2005 Hans Islas Frausto uego de que en el a?o 2000 fuera robada la pintura del siglo XVIII "Ad?n y Eva arrojados del para?so", de la Capilla de San Juan Tepemazalco, en el municipio de Zempoala, la Procuradur?a General de la Rep?blica (PGR) descubri? que esta obra se encuentra desde el a?o 2002 en el museo de Arte de San Diego, California. En este sentido, los integrantes del Congreso local dar?n seguimiento a las investigaciones que los habitantes de la comunidad antes se?alada iniciaron por medio de una denuncia formal antes las autoridades competentes en el a?o 2000. Fue la diputada del PRI, Reyna Hinojosa Villalva, quien solicit? a sus compa?eros legisladores dar seguimiento a la investigaci?n en cuesti?n," ya que dicha pieza form? parte del patrimonio de la capilla de San Juan Tepemazalco, municipio de Zempoala". Por lo que las comisiones conjuntas de Educaci?n y Seguridad P?blica y Justicia, enviaron un oficio a la encargada de la Direcci?n General del Consejo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes, con la finalidad de solicitar copia de los registros, archivos y documentos relacionados con el ?leo antes citado. El documento enviado a Lourdes Parga Mateos, directora del CECULTAH, qued? signado bajo el registro 24/P.C.P.E/OCTUBRE/2005, el cual fue respondido por la dependencia gubernamental por medio del oficio CECULTAH / DG / 397 / 05, en el que se se?ala que esta obra pict?rica fue robada en el a?o 2000 de la Capilla de San Juan Tepemazalco, en el municipio de Zempoala. De la misma forma, el oficio de la dependencia cultural contiene las indagatorias de este asunto, "dado que el robo de bienes propiedad de la naci?n es un delito del orden federal". De la misma forma, CECULTAH asegura que durante estos a?os que han pasado desde su desaparici?n, se ha dado seguimiento puntual del proceso jur?dico que realiza la PGR, ya que es del inter?s del gobierno del estado reintegrar la obra, que es considerada patrimonio cultural de los hidalguenses, y en espec?fico de los habitantes de la comunidad de San Juan Tepemazalco, que son catalogados como leg?timos custodios de este bien nacional. De ah? que la devoluci?n de la obra de parte del Museo de Arte de San Diego California, se realizar? el pr?ximo 4 de diciembre al gobierno del estado, aunque todav?a falta definir los detalles de la entrega. Ante ello, los diputados de la Primeras Comisiones Permanentes conjuntas de Educaci?n y Seguridad P?blica y Justicia, estar?n al pendiente del cumplimiento de esta disposici?n. http://unomasunohidalgo.serveftp.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:05:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:05:30 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Petros Tatoulis steps up efforts to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece Message-ID: <200512030606.jB3663qu078396@smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl> Petros Tatoulis steps up efforts to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 10:48 am [Link] Representatives of 15 countries concerned about the Elgin Marbles have banded together to form a single international committee to persuade the British government to relinquish the marbles. Among the 15 countries (whose delegates met today after an invitation from Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis) were Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Sweden and the United States. The representatives met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and President Carolos Papoulias and visited the Acropolis and the site of the new Acropolis museum, due to be completed at the end of next year. According to the Greek authorities, the marbles were "stolen" in 1806 by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire which occupied Greece at the time. London maintains that the marbles were bought legitimately from the Ottoman authorities. http://www.ellada.co.uk/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:05:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:05:30 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy Lacks Proof Met's Antique Pots Were Looted, Papers Show Message-ID: <200512030606.jB3663qv078396@smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl> Italy Lacks Proof Met's Antique Pots Were Looted, Papers Show Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- As Italy presses the Metropolitan Museum of Art to return allegedly looted antiquities, it has little direct evidence that some disputed ancient pots in the museum's collection were excavated in Italy, court records show. The New York museum said it will return antiquities if presented with proof the objects were looted from Italian soil, making the strength of Italy's evidence crucial to winning repatriation. The Met's director, Philippe de Montebello, will brief the museum's board of trustees on the case later this week or early next, after he returns from a European trip that included talks with Italian officials, museum spokesman Harold Holzer said. The trustees would need to approve any settlement with Italy. ``He and the board truly want this looming embarrassment and continuing hassle to go away,'' said Thomas Hoving, who as the Met's director from 1967 to 1977 helped buy the disputed objects. Even without proof, a compromise is likely, he said. The lack of direct links between some pots and Italian excavations is a sticking point in Italy's talks with de Montebello, said Maurizio Fiorilli, a Culture Ministry lawyer. Italy is pressing the Met and other museums about looted antiquities as part of an effort to end collecting practices that encourage illegal excavation, he said. The objects at the Met under discussion are seven Greek-style vases and a 15-piece set of Hellenistic silver that Italian officials say was looted at Morgantina in Sicily. A compromise being considered by the Met and Italy would include the museum surrendering some items, Italy lending new ones back and the Met transferring ownership of other items to Italy while keeping them in New York as long-term loans, Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione said on Nov. 22. Smuggling For six of the seven pots, Italian evidence doesn't tie them to any clandestine digs or tomb robbers, according to a judge's conviction of Roman art dealer Giacomo Medici, who was charged with smuggling the pots. Italian negotiators are using evidence from his trial in their negotiations with the Met. For the seventh vase, a 2,500-year-old pot painted by the artist Euphronios, an allegedly incriminating journal found in an American art dealer's Paris apartment makes no mention of the object ever being in Italy. Instead, it surfaces in Switzerland. However, other evidence in the case does place the pot in Italy. For the silver, proof that it came from Italy includes an excavation site and conversations between police and clandestine diggers, said Malcolm Bell, an archaeologist at the University of Virginia who heads the official Morgantina digs. ``In the case of the silver, there is evidence,'' said Bell, who has pressed the Met to return the pieces. Italian Soil Italian officials said it should be assumed that the disputed pots came from Italy, even without direct evidence, as scholarship shows such pots could only have originated there. ``The proof is scientific,'' rather than legal, said Giuseppe Proietti, 60, head of the Culture Ministry's department of research, innovation and organization. The Italian evidence indicates the pots -- some unrestored and covered with dirt -- were unearthed in recent decades. Under Italian law, antiquities dug up in the country since 1939 are property of the state. To argue whether there's proof one of these pots came from Italy misses the point, said Colin Renfrew, 68, a Cambridge University archaeology professor and member of the U.K. House of Lords. ``It doesn't matter which country it came from, the Met has no business financing looting,'' he said. ``It's a bureaucratic question which country it gives it back to.'' Prison Sentence Medici, the accused smuggler, disagreed. He said that there's no proof of crime and that the Met should keep its pots. ``The Metropolitan Museum needs to hear the other side of the story,'' said Medici, 57, who in December 2004 was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy, and handling and illegal export of stolen antiquities, including the seven disputed pots. He says he's innocent, and is free while appealing the verdict, which isn't considered final until he exhausts two levels of appeals. Over a lunch of seafood salad, sliced steak and a pitcher of red wine at a Rome trattoria, Medici dissected the evidence for each vase, which is listed in a Rome judge's written sentence in the case. The first object Medici tackled was an amphora with red figures on a black background, the evidence for which is photos seized in a 1995 raid of his Geneva warehouse. Polaroids One set of photos, taken by Medici on a trip to New York, showed the amphora behind a glass display case at the Met. Another set, of three Polaroids, showed the same jar, dirty and unrestored. Medici said he photographed scores of objects in many museums, and doing so doesn't mean he smuggled them from Italy, as prosecutors charge. As for the Polaroids of the dirty pot, Medici said he couldn't recall ever handing the amphora. He also said he didn't know whether he shot the photos or if someone else did and then sent them to him to get an appraisal of the pot. ``I don't have an elephant's memory,'' he said. And, Medici added, nothing about the photos indicated the pot came from Italy. ``What does it prove?'' he asked. The evidence for the other pots is similar. Polaroids seized at Medici's warehouse show fragments of a psykter vase for cooling wine, painted with horsemen. The same vase is shown, restored, in photos Medici took at the Met. Other before-and-after photos are listed for a kylix wine cup, an oinochoe pitcher, a 2,300-year-old dinos mixing bowl by the so- called Darius painter and a 2,500-year-old amphora by the so-called Painter of Berlin. None of the evidence listed for those pots in Medici's conviction directly links them back to Italy. To contact the reporter on this story: Vernon Silver in Rome at vtsilver at bloomberg.net. Last Updated: November 29, 2005 21:21 EST From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:05:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:05:30 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Art Basel Security. Patrolling Picasso. Safeguarding your stock against sticky-fingered crooks Message-ID: <200512030606.jB3663qw078396@smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl> >From miaminewtimes.com Originally published by Miami New Times 2005-12-01 ?2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved. Patrolling Picasso Safeguarding your stock against sticky-fingered crooks By Carlos Suarez De Jesus Art Basel Security During Art Basel, local art dealers exhibiting works on consignment from domestic and international galleries are stocking inventories that include some staggeringly priced pieces and, with art crime statistics on the rise, are leaving nothing to chance by eagerly embracing a host of precautionary measures to safeguard artworks. Interpol ranks the trafficking of stolen art and cultural artifacts just behind drug-smuggling, illegal arms sales, and money-laundering in terms of major crime worldwide. Officials estimate art losses hit the eight-billion-dollar mark last year, and the FBI claims fewer than ten percent of all works reported stolen ? domestically and internationally ? are ever recovered. With Art Basel-fueled sales expected to top $400 million this year alone, buyers and sellers alike would be forgiven for being jittery. When it comes to protecting his Picassos, Warhols, and Mir?s, Miami's own Gary Nader feels confident his trump card will foil scum plotting to rob him. To protect his multimillion-dollar inventory, the art dealer has built a twenty-foot by twenty-foot reinforced concrete vault with a blast-proof steel door in his new Wynwood gallery. Like many other local galleries and collectors, Nader has come to rely on multiple layers of security to confidently cover his assets and has also installed a high-tech security system, including a mind-rattling alarm to discourage potential thieves. "My alarm will blow your ears off if you stay inside the gallery more than 30 seconds after triggering it," Nader says. However, these measures won't deter a persistent thief, advises Det. Don Hrycyk of the Los Angeles Police Department's Art Theft Detail, the only full-time squad of its kind in the nation. Founded in the mid-Eighties in response to a rise in art burglaries and a distinct lack of cases being solved, the unit now has two full-time detectives on its Picasso patrol. "Trying to turn your gallery into Fort Knox might not be enough," he adds. "I've seen determined thieves pry up floorboards or tunnel through walls after disabling alarms by cutting phone lines." Would-be bandits hoping to help themselves to some loot from Art Basel's showcase of works on display at the Miami Beach Convention Center might find themselves stymied by an impenetrable security net including armed off-duty police officers and private security at all entrances and exits. "We have thousands of pieces being shipped in and out of here and have never had an incident," a Basel spokesman reports, adding that even known gallery employees must present a photo ID when moving art on and off the premises during the four-day fair. Detective Hrycyk, whose detail has helped recover almost $70 million in stolen art since 1993, explains that art thieves, who run the gamut from suave con men to art-challenged morons, often can't resist the lure of making a quick score. "I've dealt with all sorts ? from your Thomas Crown-type arch-villains to lesser thugs," he quips. Local art insurance expert Seth Dolfi, whose clients include the Frost Museum, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, the Wolfsonian, and scores of South Florida collectors, asserts his clients have little to fear, citing that typical sneak thefts are usually the work of bumbling domestics or unscrupulous contractors. "What they should remain alert for are slimy opportunists who might try to walk off with something small during a big bash. The cojones on some of those people is shocking sometimes." Hrycyk recalls one case involving a flamboyant swindler who hoodwinked an elderly Hungarian couple out of a small painting depicting a rabbi, one they'd had in their family for 200 years. The con artist adopted the name Count Gabor Eordogh de Turul and tried to pawn off the work as a Goya, developing a Website for a sham entity called the Solo Goya Institute, where he hoped to peddle the purloined fake. During another investigation, Hrycyk nailed junkyard vermin Samuel Westscott Cunningham, who sold a $10,000, ten-foot-tall sculpture for scrap metal. "This guy didn't know what he was looking at after breaking into an artist's studio and got $9.10 for what he thought was a piece of junk," the art cop said. Professional galleries and well-known artists' studios are not the only targets, according to Stevan Layne, president of Layne Consultants International in Colorado and author of the Cultural Property Protection Manual. He says skittish private collectors are increasingly turning their homes into fortresses. "Thieves figure why bother robbing a bank for $2000 when they can snatch a painting off someone's wall worth $2 million. Collectors are installing microwave motion sensors and sophisticated biometric systems that scan retinas, fingerprints, or are voice-activated." "It's important to be careful, but what's the use being paranoid?" remarks Miami's Kevin Bruk. "I don't see the big deal; if someone wants to raid your house and steal your art, let him. You don't want to piss those types of people off so they end up shooting you, your wife, and dog. That's what insurance is for." Bruk admits, however, he stopped taking chances after someone filched a small Tao Ray painting from the bathroom of his old space in the Design District. He now keeps a tight lid on his Wynwood gallery ? as do many of his art dealer neighbors ? by way of constant video surveillance so he can monitor his collection from just about anywhere. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:05:30 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:05:30 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] The Medici Go-Round: Sotheby's & The Signed Euphronios Message-ID: <200512030606.jB3663qx078396@smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl> http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0512/S00017.htm Suzan Mazur: Sotheby's & The Signed Euphronios Thursday, 1 December 2005, 2:12 pm Article: Suzan Mazur Photos: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0512/S00017.htm The Medici Go-Round: Sotheby's & The Signed Euphronios By Suzan Mazur http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0512/S00017.htm L-R: Bob Hecht/Connoisseur - Sarpedon/Sotheby's - Giacomo Medici Sotheby's-Hunt Auction, June 19, 1990 -- Conditions of Sale: (sale code for auction: "Sarpedon" 6042) "On the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer, subject to fulfillment by such bidder of all the conditions set forth herein, and such bidder thereupon (a) assumes full risks and responsibility therefor, and (b) will pay the full purchase price therefor or such part as we may require . . . At our option, payment will not be deemed to have been made in full until we have collected good funds represented by checks, or, in the case of bank or cashier's checks, we have confirmed their authenticity." Proceedings resume December 5 in the trial of the dean of ancient art dealers -- Bob Hecht -- and former Getty museum antiquities curator Marion True. Will Sotheby's be called to answer questions about some of the items listed by Italian prosecutors as looted from Italy -- particularly the Euphronios pieces? The priceless Euphronios cup -- painted with the image of the fallen Trojan war hero Sarpedon -- is the earliest known work painted by the Athenian master, last seen intact publicly in New York in 1990 on the Sotheby's block as lot #6 selling for $742,000 and going to a "European buyer". Sotheby's press spokesman Matthew Weigman responded defensively and somewhat sarcastically when I called to inquire if Sotheby's was involved in the Rome trial, saying, "No, are you?" I considered it a relevant question, since the "European buyer" for the cup last week identified himself to the press in Italy as Giacomo Medici, a man convicted of antiquities smuggling and now appealing a 10-year sentence. Medici was named in Bob Hecht's memoirs seized by police in Paris, as the person who originally supplied the cup to Hecht, meaning it has come full circle and with the loveliest pedigree. Medici denies he sold it to Hecht. But Italian tomb robbers have backed up Hecht's claim that the pieces were looted from a necropolis near Rome. And that Medici was involved with Hecht. The Euphronios cup turned up in a 1997 police raid of several of Medici's warehouses in Geneva, the very one sold by Sotheby's at an auction held for Nelson Bunker Hunt, June 1990. In retrospect, the Sotheby's-Hunt auction, which I covered for The Economist, was far more controversial than reported at the time. According to Weigman, Sotheby's made a "collective decision" to hold the auction. He and current antiquities expert Richard Keresey are part of the original team from that time still working for Sotheby's. Sotheby's former chairman, Alfred Taubman and Diana Brooks, then in top management and later CEO, were sentenced for price fixing in 2002 to a year in jail, and six months home detention, respectively. Weigman told me that there never was a report to the public after Sotheby's conducted it's internal investigation a few years ago following British author Peter Watson's damning book, Sotheby's: The Inside Story: Books: Peter Watson about how ancient art makes its way to the auction block. But in light of developments surrounding the Hecht-True trial, that might not be a bad idea, as it now looks as if Sotheby's may have been a conduit for stolen antiquities once again in its handling of signed Euphronioses -- there was also a fragmentary Euphronios vase that sold for $1.7 million --and other "highly important vases". Should Sotheby's have realized that putting up for auction not one but two signed Euphronios pieces in the gee whiz way it did in 1990 would come back to haunt? Weigman, keeper of the gate, now says the auction house will not comment about specifics surrounding the Hunt sale. Are the Hunts excused? Bunker and brother Herbert were also ill-advised about the silver market and had to answer for it. But with the "highly important vases" now out of Bunker Hunt's hands, he says he won't answer questions either about his antiquities purchases from dealer Bruce McNall. McNall later went to jail for overvaluing ancient coins. McNall also sold the Hunts their Athena decadrachm which went for $572,000 in the Sotheby's auction -- probably since returned to Turkey. Medici, the man who placed the winning bid on the Euphronios cup was at the heart of an antiquities smuggling scandal that began to rock Sotheby's London in the mid 1980s, a controversy first exposed by Peter Watson in the London O bserver in 1985 and detailed in his above-mentioned book. The scandal resulted in a major court case with Sotheby's London employees resigning, one going to jail and one suicide. Alfred Taubman was at the reins as chairman of Sotheby's beginning in 1983 through the 1990s. Last week, Medici also told the Italian press that he was able to buy the elusive Euphronios wine cup (kylix) at Sotheby's because he was not known at the time. Not known to whom? To Sotheby's? That seems impossible considering the facts that follow (see chronology below). That Euphronios cup, circa 520bc, is the same one the Italian government claims was looted from an Etruscan tomb near Rome in 1971, along with the complete Euphronios vase (calyx krater) purchased by the Metropolitan Museum in 1972, which the Met has now agreed to return to Italy if Italy can provide "incontrovertible proof" it's theirs. The cup is painted with a similar theme as the Met's vase, the death of the Lycian prince Sarpedon, son of Zeus. It was shattered during the police raid on Medici's warehouses in Geneva in 1997, as reported by Bloomberg last week. Even so, Medici claims the masterpiece is worth $5million today. Vernon Silver, covering the antiquities trial for Bloomberg in Rome, sent an email with Medici's remarks after I'd emailed him my stories. [See Scoop.co.nz - Euphronios Ancient Art In Court The Provenance Of Bob Hecht] Silver: "He [Medici] said he was bidding in plain view, but that nobody knew who he was. (Next highest bid was Levy.) And Medici says he got a call a week or two later from Sotheby's saying that the Met wanted to get the kylix from him in a private sale, which he turned down." Again, Medici was named by dealer Bob Hecht in Hecht's memoirs seized by authorities in Paris in 2001 as the one he acquired the cup from for $25,000 in the early 1970s, although Hecht is now denying what he wrote. Hecht then offered the cup to the Metropolitan Museum in 1973 for $70,000; Met director Tom Hoving said no. But Medici's Sotheby's antiquities purchases apparently did not stop with the Euphronios cup. Among the items seized at his various warehouses in the Geneva freeport in January 1997 [See. Medici's Reply to "Geneva Seizure" (translation)], were several "highly important vases" from the same Hunt auction, as well as about 10,000 other antiquities: Photos: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0512/S00017.htm Attic Black-figure Kylix (circa 540-530bc) Attic Red-figure Stamnos (circa 480bc) Attic Red-figure Kylix (circa 490-480bc) Mark Rose, Executive Editor at Archaeology magazine, reminded me in an email about comments made in Medici's defense by New York dealer Fred Schultz. The magazine published Shultz's letter following its coverage of the raid of Medici's warehouses. Schultz recently spent a couple of years in jail for receiving stolen antiquities. Said Schultz: "Instead of proving that Mr. Medici is the secret smuggling connection from Italy, however, your website proved exactly the opposite, and proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. With the exception of the Ostia column capitals, every object of possible Italian provenience comes from a bona fide old collection." [See.http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/geneva/schultz.html]. Sotheby's author Peter Watson noted some objects seized at Medici's warehouse carried the Sotheby's label and "no other type". Watson wrote: "Medici may have bought these objects at Sotheby's, or he may have, as the Italian police believe, bought back his own objects, laundering them in the process, to show they had been through a reputable auction house." So many pieces of the puzzle are now coming together that it may be helpful to establish a timeline. ********** The Chronology: Early 1950s - Bob Hecht enters into a partnership with Romanian coin-expert Vladimir Steffanelli after WW II and Steffanelli's release from a Nazi concentration camp. Their New York-based company, Hesperia Arts, is kept going even though Hecht moves to Rome. Steffanelli becomes a coin curator at the Smithsonian. 1956 - Future Metropolitan Museum director Tom Hoving meets Bob Hecht while livng in Rome. Hecht had been attending the Amercian Academy there but left after "threatening a colleague" for making a pass at his wife, Elizabeth, according to Hoving. New York Times reporter John Hess in his book Grand Acquisitors also notes Hecht's bullying as an undergrad at Haverford College -- a Quaker school -- saying Hecht was feared. Hecht attempted to punch me, as well, following a story I wrote for The Economist mentioning him in relation to the 1990 Sotheby's-Hunt auction. 1971 - December 1971 - tomb at Cerverteri broken into. According to Hoving, Hecht buys contents. Probably brokered by Medici. Tom Hoving: "The Etruscan tomb near San Antonio de Cerveteri filled with Greek treasures, including the Euphronios cup, the complete Euphronios krater, a sphinx and a lion, was discovered in December 1971 and the contents bought by Hecht. The krater was restored by Buerki starting around January 1972." 1972 - February 1972 Hecht writes to von Bothmer about a complete Euphronios vase for sale with a compelling scene from Homer's Iliad, the death of Sarpedon, the Lycian prince and son of Zeus. The letter was preceded by Elizabeth Hecht, Bob Hecht's wife, calling Hoving at the Met in September 1971 about another Euphronios - a fragmentary vase belonging to Armenian dealer Dikran Sarrafian. Hecht follows up on details with Hoving. Hoving flies to Zurich in June 1972 to see the complete vase. Sarrafian and his wife are killed in a suspicious car accident in 1977. 1972 - Met purchase of the complete Euphronios vase is finalized. Storm follows. Met Ancient Near East expert Oscar White Muscarella opposes sale and is fired from the Met - takes battle to Met Board of Trustees and to court (seven-year court case); Muscarella is reinstated at the Met with less prestigious title. Nicholas Gage, the mafia-beat reporter for the NYT, tracks down Hecht in Rome and a man named Armando Cenere, a mason by profession, who claims he was the original tomb robber of the Euphronios pieces at Cerveteri and that the job took a week. Hecht denies all. 1973 - Hecht attempts to sell Euphronios cup to Hoving at the Met. Hoving declines. Early 70s - Press surrounding Euphronios sale causes Hecht to move to Paris. He also operates out of New York - a gallery called Atlantis Antiquities on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Mid 70s - Tom Hoving: "In the mid-1970s, Bruce McNall was Bob Hecht's secret U.S. partner. Hecht introduced me to McNall as such. Together in my office at the Met they both boasted to me of their partnership." Hecht sells various Greek vases to McNall, which McNall then sells to Bunker Hunt. Among them the signed Euphronios pieces. McNall also sells the Hunt brothers a collection of important ancient coins, including the celebrated Athena. In the 1990s McNall is convicted for overvaluing ancient coins. Mid 1970s - Italian government is unsuccessful in pursuing a case against Bob Hecht re the Euphronios, involving Hoving and Met Greek and Roman curator Dietrich "the Prussian" von Bothmer. New York grand jury says not enough for an indictment. 1983 - McNall interests the Kimball Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas in arranging an exhibition of the Hunt brothers' collection of ancient art. The show: "Wealth of the Ancient World" produced a catalogue with photos and descriptions by various curators and scholars. Most prominent is Dietrich von Bothmer ("There is no souce to a cup, a cup is a cup."), but also the controversial Jiri Frel, a former antiquities curator at the Getty. Von Bothmer ends his essay, "The Vases of Nelson Bunker Hunt," saying: "Nelson Bunker Hunt has demonstrated in the few years he took up collecting in earnest that the tree is strong and healthy. The many masterpieces that he has acquired are proof of a discriminating eye, and the spread of his collection -- from Corinthian black figure to South Italian red-figure -- is evidence of a broad outlook. No collection, of course, is ever "complete," and one of the greatest attractions of collecting vases is perhaps the chance of constantly adding to it. Some of the vases here described and now exhibited were acquired even while this introduction was being written, which I take to be an auspicious mark of the true collector." 1983 - Alfred Taubman takes over as Chairman at Sotheby's. He goes to jail in 2002 for price fixing. Sotheby's manager and later CEO, Dede Brooks, gets six months home detention. 1983-85 - Christian Boursaud the front for Medici, consigns for sale to Sotheby's London 248 pieces worth 640,000 British pounds. 1985 - Peter Watson writes an expose for the London Observer about Sotheby's London and the smuggling of antiquities from Italy. 1985 - July 3 - von Bothmer letter to Sotheby's London antiquities expert Felicity Nicholson about Christian Boursaud and Serge Vilbert (fronts for Giacomo Medici). What are the chances von Bothmer also wrote to Sotheby's New York? Von Bothmer tells Nicholson that an Attic black-figured amphora Sotheby's was offering at auction had been looted from a tomb near Rome, north of Civatavecchia, and sold to a dealer for 4 million lire. "This may get you or your would be purchaser in trouble should the Italian authorities read your catalogue and make the same identification." Sotheby's antiquities people investigate and withdraw the piece from sale, noting the piece had been consigned by a company called Christian Boursaud - largely a front for Medici -- along with over 100 other unprovenanced pieces. James Hodges, Sotheby's cataloguer who later blew the whistle on the auction house's smuggling activities knew of Medici's role at Boursaud. Sotheby's antiquities chief Felicity Nicholson admitted in court "Giacomo Medici was the force behind" Christian Boursaud which by 1986 had morphed into a company called Editions Services. Author Peter Watson went to Italy and interviewed the tomb robber who said Medici "used to visit him on a small motor scooter" but now drove a big car and and that he was now worth millions. The tomb robber Luigi Perticarari confessed while Watson's tape recorder was running. March 1986 - Boursaud closes his business, citing health reasons, and sends a letter to Sotheby's London antiquities chief Felicity Nicholson advising her not to sell any more pieces for him. March 1986 - Nicholson returns Boursaud's letter telling him she knows he'd been "acting as agent for the owner" -- the owner being Giacomo Medici. The revelation about Medici was the result of Nicholson's conversations with James Hodges, then administrative head of Sotheby's London antiquities and tribal arts. Hodges leaves Sotheby's in 1989 after he was visited and threatened by men associated with Boursaud, Vilbert and Medici. He spills the beans to authorities and to author Peter Watson about the smuggling ring. He was later convicted as part of the conspiracy and spent five months in jail. According to the Dutch website SECUMA on museum security, during the trial Hodges claimed that three months before leaving Sotheby's he'd also told Lord Gowrie, then-chairman of Sotheby's London, of his concern over the auction house's involvement with the smugglers. March 1986 - Following Boursaud-Nicholson letter exchange, Hodges and Nicholson believe Medici is point man behind Boursaud December 1986 - Medici begins using same inventory as Christian Boursaud, operating as Editions Services s.a. based in Geneva. Through the years - Hecht and Medici take Polaroids of themselves at various museums in front of pieces they've handled, which Italian prosecutors are now using as evidence in the antiquities trial that resumes December 5, 2005 in Rome. 1990 - The Hunt brothers are faced with paying off creditors as a result of their failed attempt to corner the silver market. They arrange an auction at Sotheby's New York. At the time Alfed Taubman is chairman, DeDe Brooks is top management and later becomes CEO. Dick Keresey is the expert in charge of antiquities. (Keresey and Sotheby spokesman Matthew Weigman still in same positions at Sotheby's in 2005). June 19, 1990 - The Sotheby's New York auction of Nelson Bunker Hunt's "highly important Greek vases" - the first time Sotheby's handles pieces signed by an ancient artist. Several of these go to Giacomo Medici (now appealing a conviction for antiquities trafficking). Among the pieces he says he bought are the earliest known Euphronios, a wine cup now in pieces in a cardboard box in the Villa Giulia museum in Rome. Three other vases from the Hunt collection are part of the hoard seized at his warehouses in Geneva. 1991 - Sotheby's London antiquities director Felicity Nicholson admits in court that Medici is behind Editions Services, a company holding much of the inventory previously held by Christian Boursaud. 1995 - Sotheby's and Christie's hatch price-fixing scheme. January 1997 - Police with cross-border search warrants break into Medici's warehouses in Geneva seizing 10,000 antiquities. Among them various pieces from the Hunt auction, several with Sotheby's labels. . 1997 - The Sotheby's London antiquities scandal continues through 1997. Sotheby's does not release details of its internal Investigation which followed Peter Watson's book. 2001 - Bob Hecht's Paris apartment is raided by police and his memoirs seized. In them Hecht says he purchased the Euphronios wine cup and complete vase in 1971 from an Italian dealer, Giacomo Medici. Hecht writes: "Medici became prosperous selling mainly to me." (Los Angeles Times 10/28/5) 2002 - Sotheby's Chairman Alfred Taubman imprisoned, age 78, for one year for price fixing; Guardian notes he's been described as an "out-of-touch" executive who would fall asleep in board meetings. Sotheby's CEO Dede Brooks, did not agree with this description of Taubman; she gets six-months' home detention. 2004 - Medici convicted in Rome of trafficking in looted art. Now appealing a 10-year sentence. 2005 - Former Getty museum antiquities curator Marion True gives deposition for her upcoming trial in Rome; she and dealer Bob Hecht are accused of trafficking ancient art. True: "Professor von Bothmer wanted me to be his successor at the Met. . . . And at one point I was in his office, and he had a photograph, an aerial photograph, which showed the necropolis of Cerveteri. And looking at the necropolis he pointed to a certain spot on the photograph, and he said this is the place where the Euphronios krater was found." True told prosecutor von Bothmer showed her a particular tomb. Von Bothmer denies (LA Times 10/28/5) 2005 - November 16 Hecht and True go on trial in Rome for trafficking in stolen antiquities. Hecht does not show up; at age 86 his lawyer says he's too old to appear. Under Italian law a defendant does not have to attend their own trial. ********** And the Medici carrousel whirls round and round . . . The Euphronios cup after being rejected by the Met's Hoving was snatched up by Nelson Bunker Hunt, who got it from Bruce McNall who got it from Bob Hecht who wrote in his memoirs that he got it through Medici. McNall arranged for it to be exhibited at the Kimball Art Museum where Met Greek & Roman curator Dietrich von Bothmer said nice things about it which were carried over into the Sotheby's catalogue. Medici then made the winning bid for the cup at Sotheby's. And the Euphronios kylix has come full circle. Medici gets to keep it if he successfully appeals his conviction - he gets two tries. At the time of the Sotheby's-Hunt auction, Medici seems to be a known quantity as the above chronology shows. He would have to have produced identification in order to bid. Weigman says this is an assumption. But in a conversation I had last week with Sotheby's "Client Accounting" about long-standing company policy, I was advised that clients have to either present government-issued ID before the day of sale or on the sale floor in order to get a paddle to bid. That would include Medici. "You have to have an account with Sotheby's in order to bid," Client Accounting representative Glen Clark told me by phone. "You get an ID. We would definitely be aware of who the client was." Clark, who's been with Sotheby's for several years, says things have gotten even tighter now with the Patriot Act. However, when I asked Clark if someone were a dubious buyer, a suspected smuggler, would Sotheby's have sold to them. He responded, "We're not policing," and that once the hammer comes down the piece is sold "unless the client fails to pay". How is payment made? Clark said by wire transfer, check or cash - only $10,000 of any sale can be paid in cash. The Sotheby's/Hunt catalogue reads regarding absentee bids: "buyers unknown to us are advised to make payment arrangements or supply credit references in advance of the sale date. If such arrangements are not made, purchases cannot leave our premises until checks have been cleared." So what were the chances Sotheby's knew they were selling the kylix to Medici? There doesn't seem to be any doubt that they considered Medici a "qualified purchaser". What then are the repercussions for Sotheby's for its "bad sale"? And for not really checking out the provenance of the cup? Bunker Hunt and the Kimball Art museum are not provenance, nor is Bruce McNall or Hecht. Italy now also wants back also the signed fragmentary Euphronios vase Sotheby's auctioned for Bunker Hunt, part of Shelby White's collection on loan to the Met. And to give a sense of how incestuous the antiquities crowd really is, Shelby White, for instance, is also on the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum, occasionally writing for the New York Times. The late publisher of the New York Times, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, served as chairman of the Met while he ran the paper and during the time the Euphronios vase was purchased by Hoving. It's impressive that Bloomberg news is covering the Rome antiquities trial, since Mike Bloomberg is also on the Met's Board of Trustees as mayor of New York. The Met sits on city-owned land -- Central Park - a private institution that receives public money . But that's a story in itself. For now, it does appear Sotheby's has questions to answer about some ancient pots. . . ************* Suzan Mazur's stories on art and antiquities have been published in The Economist, Financial Times, Connoisseur, Archaeology (cover) and Newsday. Some of her other reports have appeared on PBS, CBC and MBC. She has been a guest on McLaughlin, Charlie Rose and various Fox television news programs. Email: sznmzr at aol.com http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0512/S00017.htm From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:11:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:11:27 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Rome: Message to the Mafia: City wants its stolen Caravaggio returned Message-ID: <200512030611.jB36BxuT037943@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Message to the Mafia: City wants its stolen Caravaggio returned By Hilary Clarke in Rome (Filed: 27/11/2005) >From the cells of Italy's maximum-security jails to the auction rooms of the international art world, its whereabouts have been the subject of speculation for more than 35 years. Since Caravaggio's Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence disappeared from a church in Sicily in 1969, it is reported to have been glimpsed at a Mafia wedding, buried in a Sicilian chest, sold to an eastern European collector, or simply destroyed. Yet despite the combined efforts of the Italian police, Interpol and the FBI no trace has been found. Now the people of Palermo have taken matters into their own hands and launched an effort to persuade whoever has it to hand it back. Inspired by a recently-published novel by a local writer, in which the missing masterpiece is unearthed, more than 1,000 residents have signed a petition appealing to the underworld to tell all. "We want to send out the message that it won't do any harm to give it back and it might even do some good," said Riccardo Agnello, the head of the Palermo branch of the Italian Environment Fund, who is organising the campaign. The picture, which is estimated to be worth ?20 million, was painted in 1609, during one of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's last flourishes. His own turbulent circumstances perhaps explain the appeal of his work to Mafiosi collectors. On the run for murdering a young man after a fierce argument, he spent a year on Sicily before returning to the mainland. He died a year later in a manner never fully explained. The Italian police admits it has no strong leads, but officers believe that the painting passed into Mafia hands soon after it was cut from its frame. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:11:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:11:27 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Narcos_y_saqueadores_unidos_en_Guate?= =?iso-8859-1?q?mala=2E_Vigilantes_de_ruinas_denuciaron_v=EDnculo?= Message-ID: <200512030612.jB36BxuU037943@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Narcos y saqueadores unidos en Guatemala Vigilantes de ruinas denuciaron v?nculo Photo: http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=181&secid=192&ci d=746637#p The Associated Press GUATEMALA - Las autoridades encargadas de la conservaci?n de las ruinas mayas de Guatemala denunciaron que hay v?nculos entre narcotraficantes y saqueadores de sitios arqueol?gicos, as? como la falta recursos para combatir el robo de piezas, algunas con miles de a?os de antig?edad. Una gran mafia "Detr?s de los saqueadores hay una organizaci?n internacional que les da log?stica, compradores y recursos. No son simples campesinos de escasos recursos como ocurr?a en el pasado", declar? el martes el jefe del departamento de conservaci?n de monumentos prehisp?nicos del ministerio de cultura, Salvador L?pez. El oficial de polic?a Hector Garc?a asegur? que "la mayor?a de saqueos los hacen invasores de terrenos. Muchos de ellos est?n armados con fusiles de asalto y cuando hacemos alguna captura ellos toman a agentes nuestros como rehenes y tenemos que negociar con ellos". Garc?a es segundo jefe del Servicio de Protecci?n de la Naturaleza de la polic?a, una unidad que se dedica a proteger los recursos naturales y eventualmente colabora en la protecci?n de 425 sitios arqueol?gicos en el departamento de Pet?n, ubicado en el norte del pa?s. "Solo nos alcanza para darle seguridad a 40 sitios y de nada sirve porque por pol?tica del ministerio nuestros guardias no est?n armados y los saqueadores llegan con fusiles AK-47, como los de los narcotraficantes", dijo L?pez. Robos por cat?logo Agreg? que la forma en que est?n hechos los saqueos indica que los coleccionistas de arte precolombino piden por cat?logo y los saqueadores trabajan con base en pedidos. "Hemos visto que van a traer estelas espec?ficas o arrancan con sierras la parte que les interesa de las piedras talladas", dijo. La arque?loga Vilma Fiaklo, encargada del sitio arqueol?gico de El Naranjo, lament? los "saqueos sistematizados. Despu?s de que en los a?os 90 se conoci? la importancia pict?rica del sitio llegaron hombres armados con fusiles de asalto y nos sacaron. Tuvieron control del sitio durante cuatro a?os", dijo Fialko. Durante ese tiempo, los saqueadores hicieron 275 t?neles en busca de piezas arqueol?gicas. A la fecha, solo el 27 por ciento de los t?neles y trincheras excavadas por los saqueadores han podido ser estudiadas y documentadas por los arque?logos. http://www.univision.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:11:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:11:27 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy: ROMAN AND NURAGIC REMAINS DISCOVERED Message-ID: <200512030612.jB36BxuV037943@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> ARCHAEOLOGY: ROMAN AND NURAGIC REMAINS DISCOVERED (AGI) - Sassari, Italy, Nov 30 - Police in Porto Torres have recovered an imperial roman women's head inside private premises, described as being a "fine item". Experts believe the item was stolen from a museum, as indicated by the presence of pedestal marks on its base. The bust was recovered as part of a batch of 71 items. The remains were recovered in two parts of the city and are ascribable to two distinct settlements. Nuragic remains (2000 BC) including millstones, pestles and farming tools which would seem to prove the presence of a large organised settlement, and are seen to bear the scars of industrial farming; a fact which is at odds with the area's being subject to heritage listing which in theory bars farmers from using the land. The second batch of remains were the marble friezes of a imperial roman temple, coins and tombstones. http://www.agi.it/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:11:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:11:27 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Burglars steal 350 pieces of jewelry from Lebanon's presidential palace Message-ID: <200512030612.jB36BxuW037943@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Burglars steal 350 pieces of jewelry from Lebanon's presidential palace 15:57 2005-11-30 Burglars have stolen about 350 pieces of priceless jewelry, some dating back to the Roman era, from Lebanon's historical Beiteddine Palace, a security official said Wednesday. The robbery at Beiteddine, which is the summer home of Lebanon's president, occurred sometime between midnight Sunday and Tuesday morning. The official said the burglars broke in through a ground floor window of the palace's museum. They took some 350 pieces of jewelry, including gold bracelets and earrings, said the official, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Police have closed the palace for the investigation. On Wednesday journalists were not allowed to enter Beiteddine, which stands 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Beirut. Built in the early 19th century, Beiteddine is known for its terraces, courtyards and landscaped gardens. Its museum is a major tourist attraction as it contains a large collection of Phoenician works of art, weapons from the Middle Ages, traditional costumes and jewelry. The annual Beiteddine Festival has hosted artists such as the Spanish tenor Jose Carreras, the rock star Elton John and Lebanese diva Fairouz, reports the AP. I.L. http://newsfromrussia.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:11:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:11:27 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Berkeleyan arrested in art theft. Police recover part of photo collection that was stolen in San Rafael Message-ID: <200512030612.jB36BxuX037943@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Berkeleyan arrested in art theft Police recover part of photo collection that was stolen in San Rafael By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER Inside Bay Area BERKELEY - Police discovered a collection of stolen black-and-white professional photography prints valued at $6,500 in a Berkeley man's home late Monday, but 240 pieces of the collection remain missing, police and the artist said Tuesday. Gabriel Bernales, 32, of Berkeley was arrested on suspicion of keeping stolen property, a probation violation and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said. Police, including beat Officers Elizabeth Bashan and Samantha Speelman, tracked Bernales to his South Berkeley home after discovering parts of a stolen pickup truck, which was parked nearby on Sacramento Street, in his yard, said police spokesman Joe Okies. Bernales was not arrested in connection with the truck theft,but the investigation is ongoing, police said. Police are investigating how Bernales wound up with the stolen professional photographs by San Francisco artist Chris Honeysett. Police said Honeysett's prints were actually inside the back of a different vehicle - a 10-foot commercial utility truck - when it was stolen from San Rafael on Nov. 4. Honeysett, 40, said the truck was stolen the first night it was parked in front of his recently-purchased commercial art studio in San Rafael. The truck was recovered in Hayward two weeks later, but all the artwork - more than 300 pieces in all - and his set-up materials for festivals - were gone. The truck also had been damaged. "I feel violated," said Honeysett, who hopes someone will spot the artwork for sale at a flea market or on the street and alert police. "They really cleaned me out." Honeysett said replacing the photos is going to be costly and time consuming, but he plans on getting back on the festival circuit as soon as possible. The still-missing artwork, which includes scenes of the Golden Gate Bridge, oak trees in fog in Mendocino, and a pier in Inverness as well as shots taken in Spain, England and Prague, is valued at about $25,000, Honeysett said. "In my mind, I just keep thinking of what could become of my work," Honeysett said. "For it to fall into the hands of this negativity is disheartening because I produce the work from a place of love and positive energy." Still outstanding are 200 8-by-10-inch matted prints; 25 16-by-20-inch framed prints; 10 20-by-24-inch framed prints; and five 30-by-40-inch framed prints. The prints are of landscapes and architecture scenes and are signed and stamped with the artist's name. Honeysett said he is offering a reward for information leading to the recovery of his art. Anyone with information may e-mail him directly at mail at chrishoneysett.com or call the Berkeley Police Department at 981-5900. Tipsters may remain anonymous. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:20:32 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:20:32 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Met, Getty ready to talk about disputed artifacts Message-ID: <200512030621.jB36L4fh075710@smtp-vbr10.xs4all.nl> Met, Getty ready to talk about disputed artifacts Last Updated Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:00:57 EST CBC Arts Disputed artifacts displayed at two major U.S. museums could be returned to Europe in 2006, as the high-profile ownership battles continue. The Italian culture ministry said Friday that it had held "cordial" discussions in Rome last week with Philippe de Montebello, director of New York's Metropolitan Museum. Marion True, former antiquities curator for the Getty Museum, faces a number of charges, including involvement with stolen artifacts. (CP file photo) The two sides are working on an agreement that would see the possible return of more than 20 objects Italy says were stolen or illegally removed from its borders. The officials discussed late 2006 or early 2007 as possible dates for the return. In particular contention is a set of 15 silver pieces from third century BC and a prized 2,500-year-old Greek vase known as the Euphronios krater. In exchange, Italy would lend objects of equal value to the Met on a rotating basis. Any deal would also require the approval of the museum's board. Last month, Italy saw the return of three disputed artworks from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The return came as former Getty antiquities curator Marion True prepared to appear in a Rome court. She faces a number of charges, including being involved with the looting of European artifacts. Meanwhile, the man set to become director of the Getty in January has sent a letter to Greek cultural officials to discuss further artworks in dispute. Getty director-designate Michael Brand takes over as the museum's head next month. According to a statement from the Greek cultural ministry, the letter says Brand plans discussions about four antiquities the Greeks believe were illegally smuggled out of the country. "There wasn't a positive response to our request that the artifacts, which are at the museum illegally, be returned,'' the culture ministry said. "The ministry will retract its case only when the Getty truly decides to return the artifacts in their possession that belong to us.'' In November, the Greek government said it would take legal action to recover the disputed pieces dating from fourth century BC: a gold funerary wreath, a votive relief, an inscribed tombstone and a marble sculpture of a woman's torso. http://www.cbc.ca/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:35:38 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:35:38 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Die_entf=FChrte_Susanne_Osthoff_enga?= =?iso-8859-1?q?gierte_sich_gegen_den_Diebstahl_von_Kulturg=FCtern_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?im_Irak_/_German_hostage_in_Iraq_was_there_to_docum?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ent_the_looting_of_cultural_property?= Message-ID: <200512030636.jB36aBaC086419@smtp-vbr14.xs4all.nl> ?Wir wollten den Kunstraub im Irak dokumentieren? Die entf?hrte Susanne Osthoff engagierte sich gegen den Diebstahl von Kulturg?tern im Irak. War sie auch deshalb in Gefahr, Herr M?ller-Karpe? Das kann ich nicht ausschlie?en. Sicher ist jedenfalls, dass es manchen Kreisen nicht gefallen hat, wie sie sich gegen die Pl?nderungen von historischen St?tten eingesetzt hat. Es wurde mehrfach versucht, sie daran zu hindern. Ich selbst habe sie im Oktober 2004 in Bagdad getroffen. Damals beschlossen wir, gemeinsam in den irakischen S?den zu fahren, um dort die Zerst?rungen durch Raubgrabungen zu dokumentieren. Wir planten, mithilfe des gewonnenen Bildmaterials in Deutschland eine gro?e Kampagne gegen den Handel mit geraubten G?tern zu starten. Es kam jedoch nicht dazu, weil man uns im Irak signalisierte, dass jeder, der sich den Ausgrabungsst?tten n?hert, get?tet w?rde. Welche Ausma?e hat der Raub von Kulturg?tern im Irak? Die Kulturorganisation der Vereinten Nationen, die Unesco, hat k?rzlich eine Sch?tzung bekannt gegeben, dass weltweit ein Umsatz von sechs Milliarden US-Dollar mit geraubtem Kulturgut gemacht wird. Der Irak gilt derzeit als ein besonders drastisches Beispiel. Das liegt daran, dass im S?den des Landes praktisch Chaos herrscht. Die Regierung hat dort kaum Macht und auch die Alliierten sind haupts?chlich damit besch?ftigt, ihre eigene Haut zu retten. F?r den Schutz der arch?ologischen St?tten vor Ort fehlen die Kapazit?ten. Das hat bereits dazu gef?hrt, dass systematisch die Ruinen ganzer Gro?st?dte zerst?rt wurden, die 5000 Jahre nahezu unversehrt ?berdauert hatten ? nur, um ver?u?erbare Objekte herauszurei?en und damit einen nimmersatten internationalen Antiquit?tenmarkt zu versorgen. Wer sind die Abnehmer solcher Hehlerware? Die sitzen hier im Westen. Das sind Privatabnehmer, aber auch Museen. Inzwischen wird die Hehlerware auch zunehmend als Geldanlage genutzt. Anfang der 90er hat es Versteigerungen in Deutschland und England bei Sotheby?s und Christie?s gegeben, da sind mesopotamische Objekte binnen weniger Minuten f?r den zehn- bis zwanzigfachen Sch?tzpreis verkauft worden. Was unternimmt die irakische Regierung gegen diesen Handel mit Kulturg?tern? Sie unternimmt gro?e Anstrengungen, hat aber einfach nicht die erforderlichen M?glichkeiten. Zusammen mit Deutschland bildet sie Polizeikr?fte aus, die auch die Raubgrabungen verhindern sollen. Insofern macht die Forderung der Entf?hrer Sinn, Deutschland solle seine Unterst?tzung der irakischen Regierung einstellen. Allerdings f?gt jeder Tag, an dem die Entf?hrung in den Medien ist, der Raubgrabungs-Branche mehr Schaden zu, als es eine ganze Armee in Deutschland ausgebildeter irakischer Polizisten jemals tun k?nnte. Wenn Deutschland jetzt, unter dem Druck einer emp?rten ?ffentlichkeit, beschlie?en sollte, die Unesco-Konvention von 1970 zum Kulturg?terschutz zu ratifizieren und damit der Handel mit geraubtem Kulturgut hier zu Lande verboten w?rde, br?che damit einer der weltweit letzten M?rkte weg, in denen man solches Pl?ndergut noch legal absetzen kann. Insofern kann ich mir gut vorstellen, dass die, die seit 35 Jahren erfolgreich verhindern, dass Deutschland seine Grenzen f?r gepl?ndertes Kulturgut schlie?t, jetzt stillschweigend die geforderte L?segeldsumme nach Bagdad ?berweisen und ihre Hinterm?nner im Irak bitten, die Geisel so schnell wie m?glich freizulassen. Wie k?nnte hier in Deutschland der Handel mit Hehlerware besser unterbunden werden? Deutschland muss endlich eine Antikengesetzgebung schaffen, die den Handel mit Hehlerware aus den Ausgrabungsst?tten unterbindet. Vor allem sollte es endlich die Unesco-Konvention von 1970 unterzeichnen. Sie sieht vor, dass jedes Land die Gesetze, die andere L?nder zum Schutz ihres kulturellen Erbes erlassen haben, respektieren muss. Praktisch alle L?nder haben die Konvention ratifiziert, nur Deutschland nicht. Hier ist es nach wie vor legal, mit Objekten, die nach den Gesetzen des Iraks als Hehlerware zu bezeichnen sind, zu handeln. Der Arch?ologe Michael M?ller-Karpe ist beim R?misch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum in Mainz verantwortlich f?r Kooperationsprojekte mit dem Irak. Das Gespr?ch f?hrte Annabel von Heydebreck. http://archiv.tagesspiegel.de/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:35:38 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:35:38 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Treasure hunters or predators of submerged heritage. International UNESCO Convention to safeguard the submerged world heritage should be ratified by all nations Message-ID: <200512030636.jB36aBaB086419@smtp-vbr14.xs4all.nl> Treasure hunters or predators of submerged heritage ? Marine depths guard uncountable sunken ships that could shed light on periods in human history, but these treasures are at the mercy of looters and merchants ? International UNESCO Convention to safeguard the submerged world heritage should be ratified by all nations BY MIGUEL ANGEL ALVAREZ ?Special for Granma International JACQUES-Yves Cousteau, inventor of the aqualung, commanded the first submarine exploration using modern means in 1952 near Marseilles, in the Mediterranean. The team recovered Greek and Roman urns that had been submerged for many centuries leaving specialists perplexed. In his book The World of Silence, the French scientist admitted that at one point he was enchanted by the prospect of finding sunken galleons and pirate treasures. But in the end, his eyes opened to the infinite horizons engulfed in the marine depths beyond the chests full of coins and jewels. According to some experts, the ocean depths conceal nearly three million still undiscovered sites that remain intact, almost perfectly conserved. The number of known remains is impressive. The Northern Shipwrecks Database has registered, from 1500 to the present, 65,000 ships in North America alone, while the Dictionary of Disasters at Sea by Charles Hocking (1969) lists a repertoire of 12,542 sailboats and warships lost over one and a half centuries, from 1824 to 1962. Because in the distant past naval technology was little developed, commercial ships that hugged the coasts were exposed to the dangers of shallow waters, reefs, and storms. The coasts of many European countries, the Mediterranean and Asia Minor are infested with fabulous shipwrecks. Other interesting points are the submerged sites of Port Royal in Jamaica and the Neolithic villages under the North Sea. With the discovery and colonization of the American continent, the interminable voyages of fleets carrying riches extracted from the colonies contributed its quota of ships sunken by storms, accidents, pirate attacks, and other events. With the invention of the aqualung and other devices, and the improvement of immersion technology, sub-aquatic archeology has emerged as a science and its discoveries have filled museum halls, display cases and educational centers revealing previously unknown historic details of humankind and its struggle for dominance over the sea. But it has also unleashed the greed of unscrupulous adventurers, for whom the rapid enrichment at any price is all that matters. International expert Marc-Andr? Bernier, technician for the Canadian National Parks Service and director of numerous sub-aquatic archeology projects, commented that ?the illegal extraction of sunken ship treasures is threatening scientific investigation and seriously damaging the national heritage,? given that not all explorers take adequate safety and conservation measures, which leads to real disasters. Such individuals, pushed for time and by the high cost of submarine excavation work and faced with the possibility of having to respond to the law, are causing incalculable damage to archeological sites; sometimes even using dynamite. Generally they extract the sellable items and destroy the rest. These objects, not cataloged or registered, are dispersed in private collections around the world. Recently this activity has engendered a small industry, especially in the United States, where aficionado clubs and stores with modern accessories from metal detectors to sub-aquatic cameras and distance locators etc. abound. Many governments offer awards and prizes that can reach up to $30,000 for the discovery of a sunken ship, a figure sometimes impossible to pay due to complicated bureaucratic procedures. But hunters are not attracted by such offers, given that just one Grecian or Roman urn can fetch $1,500 on the illegal market. This new gold rush is leading to the destruction of entire chapters of human history. "The logic of profit rather than the will to increase our knowledge of history is what drives the treasure hunters," explained Mounir Bouchenaki, general deputy director of Culture for UNESCO. For John de Bry, a Florida archeologist, "this is no more than a modern form of piracy.? The biggest losers are the nations watching their heritage disappear. UNESCO CONVENTION The world-wide preoccupation to protect the submarine heritage within national boundaries is increasing. But there is no global legal jurisdiction for treasure in these waters and far less so for those in international waters, like the Titanic, within the reach of anyone who wants to loot it. Some 350 experts from more than 90 countries worked four years to finalize the Sub-Aquatic Cultural Heritage Protection Convention, which was ready in 2001 and has just been approved by the UNESCO General Assembly in October 2005. This mechanism calls on the signatory countries to apply restrictions and sanctions to the activities of treasure hunters in an effort to protect the sub-marine heritage and impede illegal trafficking and possession. The Convention goes into effect when it has been ratified by 20 states. Panama was the first nation to sign in May 2003, followed by Bulgaria in October of the same year, Croatia in December 2004, Spain last July 6, and then Libya, according to UNESCO. This matter covers many legal areas and has caused much controversy. For example, Spain has voiced concerns about property rights and is claiming its rights over all the sunken ships of its ancient Golden Fleet, while examining in detail all the laws pertaining to this issue. But meanwhile, time is passing. With great fanfare, the new pirates, some even with websites, boast of the profits, in many cases in the order of millions of dollars, obtained from their excavations. Even firms specializing in auctions such as Christie?s admit to having made fabulous profits from the sale of so-called "material recovered legally or under license originating from historic remains." Although recently, Christie?s has become a bit more cautious in view of the controversies and legal difficulties that these operations are provoking. Koichiro Maatsuura, UNESCO general director, has called on the countries of the world to support the Convention rapidly, so that this ?especially vulnerable cultural heritage? can be safeguarded. http://www.granma.cu/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:35:38 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:35:38 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Book_review=3A_Rembrandt_im_Rucksack?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=2E__Gerhard_Meuss=27_Krimi_=FCber_den_erdachten_Di?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ebstahl_des_Braunschweiger_Gem=E4ldes?= Message-ID: <200512030636.jB36aBaD086419@smtp-vbr14.xs4all.nl> Rembrandt im Rucksack Gerhard Meuss? Krimi ?ber den erdachten Diebstahl des Braunschweiger Gem?ldes Von Harald Likus Wenn das Bild aller Bilder geklaut wird, dann geht?s hart zur Sache. Wie aber f?hlt sich der Dieb, jawohl: der Klaus, der doch eigentlich ein ganz feiner Kerl ist? Dieser Frage hat Gerhard Meuss einen Krimi gewidmet. "Der Rembrandt-Coup" hei?t das Buch und erz?hlt die zum Gl?ck fiktive Geschichte, wie dem Braunschweiger Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum eines seiner sch?nsten, teuersten, eben wichtigsten Gem?lde abhanden kommt: Rembrandts "Familienbild". Gerhard Meuss kennt sich aus in Braunschweig. Einst war er Verwaltungsdirektor des Staatstheaters Braunschweig, dann schrieb er Gerichtsberichte f?r Zeitungen, heute lebt er bei Celle. Das Beachtliche an seinem Buch ist aber weniger die ortskundige Verankerung, auf die in dem oft so furchtbar ?den, allerdings t?chtig vor sich hin boomenden Genre des Regional-Krimis ja immer so viel Wert gelegt wird. (Wenngleich der Satz "Zu gern h?tte ich einmal einen Blick in die Braunschweiger Zeitung geworfen" an dieser Stelle nat?rlich nicht ganz ungern zitiert wird.) Nein, es ist schon die Anlage der Geschichte selbst, die Meuss gut gelungen ist. Wie der verkrachte, leicht versoffene Student von seinem sogenannten Freund mit der Coup-Idee infiziert wird, wie er sich aufrichtet an den Schwierigkeiten der Vorbereitungen, all dies ist schon spannend beschrieben. Ungl?cklicher ist, wie das ich-erz?hlende Kl?uschen immer wieder auf die eigene Schlichtheit hinweist. "In meinem Gesicht ist nicht schwer zu lesen" ? so etwas denkt doch kein Mensch! Au?erdem schl?gt sich der selbst erkl?rte Dummkopf ganz sch?n tapfer. Sowohl die Polizei als auch die Kriminellen lernen ihn f?rchten. Ob ihm das am Ende dieses respektablen, wenn auch nicht ?berragenden Krimis etwas n?tzt, wird nat?rlich nicht verraten. Das "Familienbild" aber, das plaudern wir schon mal aus, ?bersteht die Touren in Klausis Rucksack unbeschadet. Und wie findet der echte Museums-Direktor Jochen Luckhardt dieses Buch ?ber den Diebstahl der Zier seines Hauses? Er hat?s gar nicht gelesen. "Aber alle Braunschweiger sollten jetzt nat?rlich kommen und gucken, ob der Rembrandt noch da h?ngt", sagt er. Gut, also ab ins Museum ? ohne Leiter! "Der Rembrandt-Coup". Leda-Verlag, 157 Seiten, 9,90 Euro. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:35:38 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:35:38 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Stockholm: Four men charged with possession of stolen Rembrandt painting Message-ID: <200512030636.jB36aBaF086419@smtp-vbr14.xs4all.nl> Four men charged with possession of stolen Rembrandt painting Dec 2nd - 7:20pm Stockholm (dpa) - Four Swedish men were charged Friday over trying to sell a Rembrandt painting that was stolen five years ago from the National Museum in Stockholm, and recently recovered. Valued at 100 million kronor (12 million dollars), the 1630 Rembrandt "self-portrait" was stolen in December 2000 by three masked and armed robbers. The men entered the museum located on the waterfront in downtown Stockholm, snatched the self-portrait by the Dutch master, as well as two paintings by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir before escaping in a boat. The four men charged Friday were aged 24 to 29. Earlier this year they were in contact with a buyer in the U.S., and in September made arrangements to sell the stolen painting to a buyer at a hotel in Copenhagen, prosecutor Ronnie Jacobson said. One of the men transported the 12 x 15.5 cm work to Copenhagen where they met the potential buyer at a hotel. One of them received 245,000 dollars in cash and was secretly videotaped counting the money that was a deposit for the painting, the charge sheet said. The September 2005 recovery of the Rembrandt painting involved cooperation between Swedish police, the FBI in the U.S. and police in Denmark, Stockholm police spokesman Ulf Goranzon said. The self-portrait, which was undamaged, was returned to the National Museum on September 21 on the eve of the opening of an exhibition on Dutch masters. All three paitings stolen in December 2000 from the National Museum have been recovered but one Renoir, "Jeune Parisienne" (Young Parisian) still remains in the United States. "The FBI have had the painting since this spring but did not want to publish that information fearing it might harm the efforts to recover the Rembrandt," museum spokeswoman Lena Munter said. The other Renoir painting, "Conversation with the Gardener", was recovered in April 2001 in connection with a narcotics raid. Ten of 13 men charged with involvement in the December 2000 raid were sentenced in 2001. Two were sentenced to eight respective seven years for aggravated robbery, others received sentences of between two and four years. Two of the four men charged Friday were acquitted in 2001. The National Museuum theft was the largest in Sweden since 1993 when robbers cut through the roof of Stockholm's old Modern Museum in 1993 and stole eight works by cubist masters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:44:21 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:44:21 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] The J. Paul Getty Museum will consider Greece's request to return four antiquities to the country after its new director takes up his position next year. Message-ID: <200512030644.jB36is8Y044720@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/qtakes/cl-et-quick2.2dec02 ,0,6718275.story Getty puts Greece on hold >From Bloomberg News December 2, 2005 The J. Paul Getty Museum will consider Greece's request to return four antiquities to the country after its new director takes up his position next year. The Greek Culture Ministry said it had received a letter to that effect from Michael Brand, who takes over as museum director in January. But the ministry said in a statement that it wasn't satisfied with the response and would continue to press its case for return, by legal means if necessary. The contested antiquities are a gold funerary wreath, a votive relief, an inscribed tombstone and a marble sculpture of a woman's torso dating to 400 B.C. Greece claims the items were illegally smuggled from the country. Last month the Getty returned three artifacts to Italy that officials there said had been looted. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:44:21 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:44:21 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Hawaii: Groups Battle Over Buried Artifacts Message-ID: <200512030644.jB36is8Z044720@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Groups Battle Over Buried Artifacts Jim Mendoza - jmendoza at kgmb9.com For years, dozens of Hawaiian ancestral items have been hidden from view, buried in a Big Island cave by Hui Malama, a group that repatriates Hawaiian remains. "The cave is safe, the items are safe," said Edward Halealoha Ayau, the Hui's executive director. On Tuesday, lawyers for Hui Malama will appeal a judge's order to retrieve the artifacts. Two other Hawaiian groups oppose Hui Malama. They want the cave reopened and the artifacts returned. "The sooner that we recover them and check on them, the better off they'll be," said Laakea Suganuma of the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts. Hui Malama said unsealing the cave is dangerous. Opponents wonder if that argument is a smokescreen and if all 83 artifacts were put into the cave to begin with. "We've appealed several times to have the cave opened, nothing removed, but let's just ensure the safety and make sure they're there and they've absolutely refused," Suganuma said. "They all were there, the moepu and the iwi were all in the cave, placed there by our ancestors and they're there now," Ayau said. The Bishop Museum loaned the items to Hui Malama, who reburied them. Now the war of words is coming to a head. "They're basically ordering the theft, the taking of possessions of these ancestors, not us. The items don't belong to us," Ayau said. "These things need to be checked on and removed and put into an area where everybody can view them fairly," Suganuma said. After Tuesday's hearing before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, everyone should have a better idea if the artifacts will ever see the light of day again. http://kgmb9.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:44:21 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:44:21 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Wyoming: Museum draws flak over display. Critics fear private facility can't properly care for rare fossil Message-ID: <200512030644.jB36is8a044720@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Museum draws flak over display Critics fear private facility can't properly care for rare fossil By Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News December 2, 2005 Photo: http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4282668,00.ht ml A plan to display one of the world's best-preserved specimens of Archaeopteryx - the earliest known birdlike animal - in a small, privately owned Wyoming museum is drawing fire from paleontologists. Some critics say the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis lacks an adequate security system as well as the skilled workers needed to properly care for the precious 150 million-year-old fossil. Others say there's no guarantee that the nearly complete skeleton will be preserved for posterity or be available for future study. "There's nothing preventing it from being sold again in the future and then being removed from the scientific arena," said Mark Goodwin, assistant director of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley. "In the eyes of professional paleontologists, it's not a proper repository," Goodwin said. Only 10 of the feathered Archaeopteryx (ark-ee-op-tur-ix) specimens have been found. The Thermopolis fossil comes from limestone deposits in Bavaria, Germany. The magpie-size skeleton is described in today's edition of the journal Science. Features in its skull and feet add new evidence to the widely held idea that birds descended from carnivorous dinosaurs. The study's three authors include Burkhard Pohl, a former veterinarian who founded the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in 1995. The center's 12,000-square-foot exhibition area has more than 200 displays, including about two dozen full-size mounted dinosaur skeletons. Pohl brokered the deal that will bring the prized fossil to Thermopolis in a few months. The widow of a Swedish collector found the fossil after her husband died in the late 1970s, Pohl said Thursday in an e-mail message. Pohl located a donor willing to buy the limestone slab and put it on permanent display in Thermopolis. Pohl said Goodwin's concerns about the fossil's future are misplaced because the sale agreement includes a guarantee that the Archaeopteryx will remain in a museum forever. "In the event that the Wyoming Dinosaur Center should cease to exist, it is agreed that the specimen will be placed in another public collection," Pohl wrote. It took more than a year to seal the deal, and the new owner wishes to remain anonymous, said Scott Hartman, the center's science director. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center is not revealing the selling price, but a less-impressive Archaeopteryx fossil sold for $1.3 million in 1999, according to Science. Ken Carpenter, a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, said he knows Pohl and has visited the Thermopolis center. "The people in Thermopolis basically are gobbling it up because it gives tourists another reason to come to Thermopolis," Carpenter said of the center. The north-central Wyoming town, population 3,200, is best known for its hot springs. "I guess my only concern with the specimen going to Thermopolis is that the security is not all that great," Carpenter said. "And the chances of it being stolen, I think, are very high." Hartman said the center plans to "completely overhaul" its security system before the Archaeopteryx goes on display. "There are valid concerns that need to be addressed," he said. "We're going to do our best to address these concerns, and I hope our colleagues will see that." Berkeley's Goodwin, for one, remains skeptical. "There's a community of people who ride the coattails of paleontology for profit," he said. "And that definitely applies to Pohl." http://rockymountainnews.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:44:21 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:44:21 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy says New York Met may return disputed art Message-ID: <200512030644.jB36is8b044720@smtp-vbr1.xs4all.nl> Italy says New York Met may return disputed art Fri Dec 2, 2005 1:40 PM GMT By Silvia Aloisi ROME (Reuters) - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art may return disputed antiquities to Italy by early 2007 under a deal meant to resolve Italy's claims to some of the Met's most prized artefacts, an Italian official said on Friday. The culture ministry official said that as part of the possible agreement, which is still being worked out and requires approval by the Met's board, Italy would in exchange lend objects of equal value to the museum on a rotating basis. The compromise was discussed at a meeting between Italian officials and the Met's director, Philippe de Montebello, in Rome last week. "I think we can reach an accord fairly rapidly," said Giuseppe Proietti, head of the research and innovation department at Italy's culture ministry. The dispute with the Met involves more than 20 objects which Italy says were stolen or illegally excavated within its borders. Rome is particularly keen to recover the Euphronios krater, a 2,500-year-old Greek vase regarded as one of the most prized treasures in the Met's collection, and a set of 15 silver pieces from the third century B.C. Asked when the disputed antiquities might return to Italy, Proietti said: "We talked about late 2006 or early 2007." Proietti said the Metropolitan wanted to see the evidence supporting Italy's claims, but that did not mean that it disputed them. He described the Rome meeting as cordial. Last month the former curator of another respected U.S. art institution, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, appeared before a Rome court to face charges of knowingly acquiring stolen artefacts. A few days earlier, the Getty had returned three disputed art works to Italy. The trial has put the spotlight on the shady side of the global art business. Experts say international trade in stolen antiquities is worth billions of dollars every year and that the buying practices of many museums, particularly in the United States, are questionable. Both the Euphronios krater and the silver pieces were sold to the Met by Paris-based art dealer Emanuel Robert Hecht, the co-defendant in the trial of former Getty curator Marion True. Proietti said that the evidence in the hands of Italian investigators suggested that the Met had "acted in good faith". http://today.reuters.co.uk/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 07:50:39 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:50:39 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Colorado: Fish sculpture stolen overnight in Bemidji Message-ID: <200512030651.jB36pCx7068222@smtp-vbr17.xs4all.nl> Fish sculpture stolen overnight in Bemidji By Susanne Nadeau Herald Staff Writer "Busby's Walleye, " an irreplaceable sculpture on display in the city of Bemidji, was stolen overnight, according to authorities. The sculpture, estimated to be worth well over $100, 000, had stood on Fourth and Bemidji Avenue, in front of Freeberg & Grund Inc., for five years. Marty and Dr. James Busby donated it to the arts council in 2000. " Busby's Walleye" was commissioned piece created for the Busbys in 1998 by artist Lyle Nichols, from Palisade, Colo. The metal sculpture of a walleye about three feet long and 10 inches high, according to Suzi Ross, executive director of the Bemidji Community Arts Council. It weighs about 40 to 50 lbs. Right now, metal artwork by Nichols is selling for $100,000, while stone artwork by the artist is being sold at about $500,000, Ross said. The arts council in Bemidji also has a stone sculpture by Nichols, the "Victorian Street Lamp," which is housed inside Bemidji City Hall. The walleye sculpture was under careful watch, as it had been loosened from its base in the last few weeks, Ross said. "We welded it back on tightly," she said. "I don't know if there was anything else we could do." Although no suspects in the theft have been named, Ross said she hopes it was just a prank and that the sculpture finds its way back to the arts council. "We're working hard to bring art to the public; that's our big focus," she said. "When we get it back, we will probably end up putting it inside, which is really unfortunate, because I do believe art should be accessible to everybody." If you have any information about this stolen sculpture, notify the Bemidji Police Department immediately at (218) 751-9111, or call the Bemidji Community Arts Council at (218) 444-7570. http://www.grandforks.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:15:55 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:15:55 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] AUSTRALIAN INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES Message-ID: <200512030716.jB37GRiU054724@smtp-vbr12.xs4all.nl> AUSTRALIAN INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES Melbourne, 30 November 2005 (13:50 UTC+2) Australia is leading an international effort for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens from London's British Museum. The move is promoted by part of the Australian media offering significant coverage to the meeting held in Athens with the participation of heads of different Committees for the Return of the Marbles and the consequent establishment of a World Committee for the same purpose. The move for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens has the support of the federal government, the state governments and most of the political and literary world in Australia. The interest of the Australian media is heightened because the effort is headed by most talked about Australian David Hill who is married to a Greek Australian and has occupied very important positions in the professional arena. Among others, he was the general director of the Australian Radio and Television (ABC) and the president of the Australian Football Federation. Also, the Australian news agency (AAP) mentions that Australia will head an international effort for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens from the British Museum in London. http://www.mpa.gr/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:35:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:35:51 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] German hostage devoted life to Iraq archaeology Message-ID: <200512030736.jB37aOC1004894@smtp-vbr11.xs4all.nl> German hostage devoted life to Iraq archaeology 29 Nov 2005 17:49:38 GMT Source: Reuters By Louis Charbonneau BERLIN, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A German woman who has been abducted by gunmen in Iraq has devoted her life to uncovering Iraq's cultural treasures and fiercely criticised Washington for not preventing the looting of its archaeological sites. The hostage is Susanne Osthoff, a Bavarian archaeologist who spent decades studying and excavating sites in Iraq to uncover the mysteries of ancient Mesopotamia, often referred to as the "cradle of civilisation". In May 2003, two months after the United States and Britain invaded Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, Osthoff brought reporters to the site of the ancient city of Isin to show them how Iraq's most important sites were being stripped clean by looters. Osthoff had worked on a German excavation of the 4,000-year-old Isin from the mid 1970s until the late 1980s, when U.N. sanctions forced most foreign experts out of Iraq. "In two weeks, they have ruined all the work that was done over 15 years," Osthoff was quoted by the New York Times as saying at the time. In other media, she voiced disbelief that the U.S. and British invaders had virtually ignored the sites. A search on the online auction portal eBay shows it's not difficult to find what could be looted Iraqi artefacts up for sale. At 1600 GMT, three different cuneiform clay tablets purported to be from Mesopotamia or Sumer were being auctioned. Osthoff's mother, in an interview with Reuters Television, said Susanne gave Iraq and its culture her "body and soul". "She helped show the Americans what was happening to Iraq's cultural sites," Ingrid Hala said. Shortly after midnight, Hala received terrible news from Germany's Foreign Ministry -- her daughter had been kidnapped in Iraq and was being held by gunmen who were threatening to kill her if Germany did not end cooperation with Iraq's government. An image from a tape brought to German state broadcaster ARD showed two blindfolded people sitting on the ground surrounded by three armed, masked men, one holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher, another reading from a piece of paper. PARALELLS WITH MARGARET HASSAN? Germany's new Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to everything within her power to save Osthoff and her driver. One German official told Reuters that they did not want her to end up like Margaret Hassan, a British aid worker who was kidnapped and killed last year by militants in Iraq. Like Osthoff, Hassan spoke Arabic, had spent decades in Iraq and had devoted her life to the country. Hassan had also criticised both the pre-war U.N. sanctions and the invasion. Osthoff witnessed Iraqis suffering during and after the war, which prompted her to turn to relief work. A converted Muslim, she began working as volunteer in Iraqi hospitals. "She personally helped take care of the sick in the hospitals, day and night, work that she had never actually learned how to do," Susanne Osthoff's sister Anja told Germany's N24 news television. But like many foreigners in Iraq, where bomb attacks and kidnappings are commonplace, Osthoff lived in fear for her life and often travelled with armed guards. Germany's Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung daily said in a press release that Osthoff told the paper in October she had been threatened by people close to the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for the murder of numerous hostages in Iraq. "Of course she was afraid," Stephan Kroll, a professor of archaeology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and a colleague of Osthoff's, told Reuters Television. http://www.alertnet.org/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:35:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:35:51 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Malta's heritage watchdog understaffed Message-ID: <200512030736.jB37aOC0004894@smtp-vbr11.xs4all.nl> Malta's heritage watchdog understaffed James Debono The Cultural Superint-endence, who as Malta's heritage watchdog has "to fulfil the duties of the State in ensuring the protection and accessibility of Malta's cultural heritage," is seriously understaffed with just an active staff of ten people. An organisational review commissioned by the Tourism and Culture Minister and carried out by the Management and Efficiency Unit has confirmed the Superintendence requires more staff to conduct its mission. According to the ministry, this report was a first step to initiate "an urgently needed capacity building exercise" at the Superintendence, which is expected to start in the coming weeks. The Superintendent himself, Anthony Pace, is currently on study leave, reading for a PhD at Cambridge University. In his absence, Nathaniel Cutajar, who also serves as curator for archaeology, is the acting superintendent. His study leave was endorsed by the culture ministry as it was believed his research could be of direct benefit to his position. Just a few weeks ago, the Superintendence was in the news for failing to respond to a request by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority on a consultation on a proposed extension of the Hilton hotel in St Julians, which will be encroaching on a historical wall commissioned by Grand Master Pinto back in 1770. The Superintendence, which advises MEPA on planning permission on developments which concern cultural heritage, has told MaltaToday the erection of a block of apartments by the Hilton hotel just 1.3 metres away from the historical wall "would not be directly impinging on the physical integrity of the architectural features on the site." But sources attribute the Superintendence's silence to its shortage of staff, which is incapacitating this organisation. The Superintendence currently employs, apart from its acting Superintendent, an assistant, a curator, a principal and their assistant, two technical officers, a security officer and a messenger. The staff of ten are responsible for conducting all scientific investigation regarding cultural assets, fieldwork and archaeological excavation, both terrestrial and underwater. They establish policy, standards and guidelines related to cultural heritage and its regulation. The Superintendence is also entrusted with the role of evaluating art objects, objects of cultural value and the collections of such items, as well as the monitoring and control of the import and export of cultural goods. In April MaltaToday had alerted the Superintendence on the illegal trading of ancient Mesopotamian artefacts looted from Baghdad's national museum from Malta via the internet auction website eBay. jdebono at mediatoday.com.mt From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:35:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:35:51 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Malcolm Bell: The Getty's dubious purchases Message-ID: <200512030736.jB37aOC2004894@smtp-vbr11.xs4all.nl> Malcolm Bell: The Getty's dubious purchases By Malcolm Bell Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 29, 2005 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Paolo Ferri, the Italian prosecutor who is investigating the purchases of antiquities by major American museums, has hit hardest at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, which in recent decades rapidly built up an impressive collection of Greek and Roman art. The Getty's troubles -- compounded recently by legal action from Greece for the recovery of four works -- offer a useful lesson for museums and collectors. But it is unfortunate that a chief target of the prosecution is the Getty curator who has done the most to clean up the practices of her institution in this murky trade, Marion True. According to the Italian court, for two decades before 1995 the Getty bought many previously unknown antiquities that had been looted from archaeological sites. Such works were laundered by the antiquities market, and consequently almost nothing is known (at least by the public) about where they came from or what purposes they served. Some of these are among the most important discoveries of the period, and the loss of information about their origins is painful. The Getty's controversial "Morgantina Aphrodite" is an extremely rare example of the sort of cult statue that once stood within a Greek temple. While, as some have asserted, this remarkable work may come from Morgantina (a site in Sicily where I serve as co-director of excavations), no proof of its origin is known, and its subject is just as uncertain. The market destroyed the evidence. For this and countless works, many questions remain unanswered: Where were they found? What artists and patrons conceived them? When were they used? Most such works of art were clumsily excavated at night (the Aphrodite was badly damaged in the process, as must have been the spot from which it was taken), then absorbed into the art market stripped of their earlier history, including any record of ownership in antiquity -- just the sort of information about provenance that museums are expected to go to lengths to preserve. The recent revelations about the Getty's dubious purchases are old news to archaeologists who worked at classical sites in the Mediterranean in the 1980s and early 1990s; we regarded the museum as a powerful stimulus to the illegal market. For the last decade, however, the Getty has prohibited the purchase or acceptance as a gift of any work whose existence is not documented before 1995. Undocumented antiquities are very likely to have been pillaged. By adopting a concrete date before which the object had to be known, the Getty has distanced itself from the illicit market, and the distance will increase with time. The pre-1995 publication rule is vital because dealers have often invented fake pedigrees for the works they sell. The Getty's present acquisitions policy is owed to True, its former curator of Greek and Roman antiquities. The Getty policy is arguably the strongest of any major American museum, and as far as we know it has not been violated. Other museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and several major university collections (Princeton and Harvard among them) instead follow the policy adopted by the Association of Art Museum Directors, which allows the purchase of undocumented antiquities if the museum believes acquisition is justified. The problem here is that objects newly on the market with no known history are almost certain to have been recently pillaged. If dealers revealed the origins of such works they could not possibly be sold. Photographs seized in a 1995 police raid on the warehouse of one dealer, Giacomo Medici (who has already been convicted through the efforts of Ferri) show Italian soil still clinging to vases now in American collections, including the Metropolitan in New York. Most archaeologists, of course, would prefer an acquisitions policy that is even stronger than the Getty's -- one that would require proof that the object was documented much earlier than 1995. Some advocate the symbolic date of 1970, when the UNESCO convention on illicit trade in cultural property was approved. A more rigorous choice would be the date of the relevant legislation protecting antiquities in the country of origin (in the case of Italy, June 1, 1939). Either way, choosing a date is essential. The pillaging of the human past is a problem the world over, hardly limited to the Mediterranean. To reduce it, all countries that have antiquities at risk should police their historical sites effectively and create programs that teach citizens the value and community importance of local remains. The international trade can also be discouraged by import bans. The UNESCO convention allows the United States to sign bilateral agreements with countries where pillaging is rampant, banning entire categories of objects at risk. Nine such agreements are now in force with countries in Central and South America, Africa, the Mediterranean and Asia. (The agreement with Italy is up for renewal.) In the end, however, the law can do only so much, and as legitimate custodians of human achievement, the museums should adopt higher standards in building collections, cutting their ties with the illegal trade. Ferri's outrage at the looting of Italy's heritage is justified. By laying bare the archives and warehouses of major dealers, he has revealed corruption at the core of the market. But in prosecuting True, he has used decades-old evidence against a curator who brought needed reform to the Getty Museum, and I can only hope the Italian courts recognize the good she has done. If there is one major lesson to be learned from Ferri's investigations, it is that collectors and museums, in America and around the world, must take into account not just the aesthetic value of the objects they acquire but also the ethical and legal consequences of their acquisition policies. About the writer: Malcolm Bell III, a professor of art history at the University of Virginia, is the vice president for professional responsibilities at the Archaeological Institute of America. His comments appeared in the New York Times. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- http://www.sacbee.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:50:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:50:51 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] precious Buddhist scripture damaged when a cracked heating pipe flooded the basement archive of the Beijing Culture Palace of Nationalities Message-ID: <200512030751.jB37pOi7092572@smtp-vbr10.xs4all.nl> Damaged scripture hard to restore By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily) Updated: 2005-11-28 05:36 A precious Buddhist scripture, damaged when a cracked heating pipe flooded the basement archive of the Beijing Culture Palace of Nationalities, is hard to "restore to its original state," the Beijing News daily reported recently. The scripture, a 300-year-old woodcut known as the "Dazangjing," was one of the only three in the country. It was among more than 20,000 antique books soaked in the accident on November 15. After drying the book's pages, staff at the palace are now beginning to flatten them out, said Hao, an official with the palace, who declined to give his full name. "Somewhere between 45,000 and 60,000 pages of the Buddhist scripture were ruined during the accident." Some of the pages are damaged beyond repair, with writing blurred beyond recognition, palace officials said. Another 20,000 of the damaged books have been sent to cold storage for mould prevention. It will take the palace one or two years to fully recover the ruined archives, the officials said. Temperature and humidity systems at the palace have been repaired. Reports said the library would thoroughly disinfect and ventilate the archives. The accident is an example of the poor conditions at some of Beijing's museums, experts said. One investigation suggested 70 per cent of the capital's museums suffer from problems such as lack of temperature and humidity controls and limited storage space. The survey, conducted by Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, indicated that only 13 of 37 municipal-level museums have temperature and humidity control systems. To make the situation worse, only five of the 44 museums at district level have temperature and humidity control systems, the survey found. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of relics, such as paper, bronze and iron utensils and frescos, stored in the museums are exposed to erosion and damage, said the report. "It has become an urgent task for the city's museums to improve their situation," said the report. "If the erosion and damage continues, some of the collections will lose their value as cultural relics." More input should be pooled to protect the cultural relics because they represent and record the city's history, Mei Ninghua, head of the bureau, told China Daily. Cultural experts have called for more relevant standards and regulations to ensure the improvement of the situation. The accident at the Beijing Culture Palace of Nationalities happened at 10 am on November 15 when a hot water pipe broke, flooding the library and museum underneath the palace's theatre. Damage to electrical and stage equipment forced all performances scheduled over the following 20 days to be cancelled, sources with the palace said. By 8 pm, the leak had been stopped and the heating system repaired. The palace is in the Xidan downtown area of Beijing's Xicheng District and includes an exhibition hall, a library and an opera theatre. (China Daily 11/28/2005 page3) From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Dec 3 08:50:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 08:50:51 +0100 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy: Mafia informer help sought in art theft Message-ID: <200512030751.jB37pOi8092572@smtp-vbr10.xs4all.nl> Mafia informer help sought in art theft PALERMO, Italy, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Art lovers in Italy want a jailed Mafia informer to help them find a Caravaggio Nativity painting stolen in 1969 and believed worth $38 million. The painting, depicting Saints Francis and Lawrence, was stolen from the San Lorenzo oratory in Palermo, reports Britain's Guardian newspaper. Sicilian art lovers believe Francesco Marino Mannoia, who is serving a life-in-prison term, knows where the painting may be hidden. Mannoia, a heroin refiner whose mother, sister and aunt were killed by the Mafia after he turned a state witness, has admitted taking part in the theft, the report said. He has revealed that the painting was damaged but has never disclosed its location. "We cannot offer him anything for this information but we are appealing to his conscience. It is something he could do f