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February 6, 2014

Thursday, February 06, 2014 - ,,,, No comments

Lipinski Stradivarius Theft, Milwaukee: WTMJ-TV and Journal Sentinel report Milwaukee Police Have Found Violin

Ashley Luthern of Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel in "Stolen Stradivarius violin recovered, sources say":
The 300-year-old Stradivarius violin that was taken in an armed robbery last month has been found, law enforcement sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Milwaukee Police Department is scheduled to hold a news conference on the investigation at noon Thursday but had not publicly confirmed that the violin was recovered.
WTMJ-TV reported Thursday morning that the violin was recovered overnight on Milwaukee's east side and is said to be in good condition.
During a Wednesday news conference, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said there was a "good chance" the violin was still in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee police have arrested three suspects in connection with the theft and have referred the case to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. Charges are expected to be filed Friday, according to the district attorney's office.
The three suspects — two men, ages 42 and 36, and a woman, 32 — were arrested Monday morning at their respective Milwaukee residences and remained in police custody Wednesday. One of the suspects has been linked to a prior art theft.


Thursday, February 06, 2014 - ,, No comments

The Monuments Men: Museums Ride the Publicity Wave of the Monuments Men Action Film to Tell the True Story

The new George Clooney action movie The Monuments Men, inspired by the men and women who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section during World War II, is also energizing museums to reach out to their communities about the true story.

The Frick Museum's website has a section on "The Frick During World War II":
The Monuments Men were a multinational group of 350 men and women who volunteered for military service in order to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from destruction during World War II. In civilian life, many of them were museum directors, curators, artists, architects, and educators. These dedicated men and women tracked, located, and ultimately returned to their rightful owners more than five million artworks and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving Europe’s cultural treasures was without precedent. 
The Frick Art Reference Library in Wartime 
The story of the Monuments Men in Europe has become increasingly well known, but few are aware that another group of dedicated art historians were engaged in “the fight for art” on American shores. In 1943, William B. Dinsmoor, a Harvard professor and Chairman of the American Council of Learned Societies, established the Committee on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas. Made up of thirty volunteer American and European scholars, the committee was charged with creating (and distributing to the Allied armed forces) maps and lists of important monuments to be spared during bombing raids. Headquartered principally at the Frick Art Reference Library, which had been involved in the preservation effort as early as 1941, Dinsmoor’s committee was responsible for coordinating information gathered from myriad sources and compiling it into a master index that listed the historic buildings and important works of art in each occupied country. In 1943 the library closed its doors for six months — the only time in its ninety-three-year history that it has done so — in order to support the committee’s research and generate the photography required to prepare more than 700 maps. Even before the end of hostilities, the Frick staff and its resources also played a vital role in the research needed for the recovery of stolen and looted art, which became a top priority of Dinsmoor’s committee and its parent Washington-based Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe. Indeed, even today, researchers — with the help of the Frick Art Reference Library’s vast resources — continue to piece together information to help reunite works of art and their rightful owners.
 The Fine Art Museum of San Francisco is presenting an online Google talk tomorrow:
As part of the renewed interest in the heroic efforts of the Monuments Men, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are presenting an online Google Art Talk this Friday, February 7 with other experts discussing their real life connections to the feature film "The Monuments Men," opening Friday. Thomas Carr Howe, Jr. (1904-1994), the director of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco from 1939 through 1968, played a significant role in the events depicted in the upcoming film, which focuses on a group of museum professionals sent to Europe to save cherished art works stolen by the Nazis during World War II. 
Beginning Saturday, February 8 in Gallery 14, the Legion of Honor will exhibit a painting recovered by the Monuments Men. The painting, Portrait of a Lady (ca. 1620) by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) was at one time in the possession of Hermann Goering. It was later returned to its rightful owners and subsequently given to the Legion of Honor by the Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Collection. 
Read more at http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwart/article/Fine-Arts-Museums-of-San-Francisco-Present-Online-Google-Talk-27-20140206#gg1fMPKjeRXLeLxG.99

Thursday, February 06, 2014 - ,,,,,, No comments

Anniversary of the Ducal Palazzo Theft 1975: “Paintings stolen from palace” (Associated Press, 1975)

Associated Press headline “Paintings stolen from palace” on February 6, 1975 announced a robbery at the Ducal Palace in Urbino. This is what the Associated Press published on February 6, 1975:
URBINO, Italy (AP) – Three priceless paintings by the Renaissance masters Raphael and Piero della Francesca were stolen early today from the Ducal Palace in Urbino. Police said it was the “greatest art theft in modern Italy.” 
The police said the thieves climbed a scaffold erected on the palace wall for restoration work, broke a window and escaped with Raphael’s La Muta (The Mute Girl) and Piero della Francesca’s Madonna of Senigallia and The Flagellation of Christ. The canvases were taken from their frames, which were left behind. Officials said the value of the paintings could not be estimated since it had been years since a work by either painter has come on the market. Although Raphael is the more popular of the two, the paintings by Piero della Francesca were considered among the best examples of that 15th Century master’s work still in existence. Officials said the three paintings would be difficult if not impossible to sell since they are so well known. There were two theories: that the thieves had been commissioned by a collector who would keep the paintings for his secret enjoyment, or that they would try to collect ransom for their return. 
The Ducal Palace is now a museum. 
Bruno Molaioli, Italy’s former director-general of fine arts, said the stolen Raphael “is a masterpiece of the master’s Florentine period when the young Raphael was still under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci.” 
He said the two paintings by Piero della Francesca “represent two pillars in the painter’s brilliant career.” 
Raphael was born in Urbino in 1483. Piero della Francesca was born in San Sepolcro, in the Umbrian region of central Italy, around 1420. 
Italian art officials said recently that thefts of art from Italian museums, churches and private collections were averaging four or five a day. Last year the national police said a total of 2,420 art works were stolen in the first four months of 1973, and most of them are still missing.
The "Ducal Palace" (English) is identified as "Palazzo Ducale" (Italian) in Urbino in the region of Marche. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the hometown of Raphael.

Piero della Francesca's Senigallia Madonna was on display at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts through January 6, 2014. Here's a link to more information about the painting and the exhibit, including an 18-minute video on The Carabinieri Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage which recovered the paintings one year after the theft when the thieves could not sell the well-known artworks. 

Thursday, February 06, 2014 - ,,, No comments

Lipinski Stradivarius theft, Milwaukee: Three Suspects Arrested, Violin Not Found

Milwaukee Police twitter: "Chief Edward
Flynn announces arrests of 3 suspects in
Stradivarius violin robbery."
Local television station TMJ4 covered the "breaking news" and posted an 11-minute video which included the press conference held Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. led by Milwaukee's Mayor Tom Barrett, Police Chief Edward Flynn, and Acting Special Agent in Charge G.B. Jones. Mayor Barrett praised the cooperation between the Milwaukee Police Department and the FBI during the "ongoing investigation" into the theft of the violin. This is what Chief Flynn said:
At this event I wanted to notify everyone that the Milwaukee Police Department will be seeking charges against three individuals for the January 27th theft and robbery from the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra of his priceless Stradivarius violin. The suspects are a 36-year-old man, a 41-year-old man, and a 32-year-old woman -- all from the city of Milwaukee. They were arrested February 3 and all three remain in our custody. Now the Milwaukee Police Department will continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the District Attorney's Office. We emphasize that at this time, that although we have made arrests, we have not yet recovered the violin... This case came together rapidly in the city of Milwaukee and the leads were followed up with by our detectives who had invaluable help from the FBI, from their art unit as obviously they have a broad perspective. As we continue to search for this violin, I suspect that their assistance will continue to be invaluable. The important thing to stress is that within a week of this case our detectives made an arrest which we believe will result in these individuals being succesfully charged and convicted. Now, as I said, we do not have the violin. As is known, there is a substantial reward out for that violin and we urge the community to do what it can to develop information that can help us identify and locate and recover this priceless instrument.
Chief Flynn then gave phone numbers for lines to the police department and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and said that they have had 'valuable tips on these lines' and then opened up to the media for questions.

Is the violin in Milwaukee? Quick answer: "it's a reasonable supposition that it is still in our jurisdiction". The chief answered that the arrests were based on both information and physical evidence linked one of the suspects to this crime. Flynn answered another question that "at this time there is no indication that these three suspects were working for anyone but themselves". Chief Flynn would not speculate on motive, provide any information about results of a line-up, or the exact charges to be filed.

As for finding the violin, Chief Flynn said they would continue questioning the suspects and would be trying to illicit their cooperation -- he described them right now as "engaged in the process". The reward may have provided an "inducement" to some of the tips received. "We did get some calls and some of them were helpful," Flynn answered one journalist. And thanked another reporter for asking about the van which they are still seeking and asked the media to post the image of the van previously released. "The more information we can get, the quicker we can recover the van, and restore it to its owners," Flynn said. In answer to another question, he said that the case to the violin had been recovered within hours of the theft. The FBI representative Gibson said that they are pursuing leads outside of Wisconsin.

Here's a link to the news as posted by the Milwaukee Police Department "Suspects Arrested in Violin Robbery, Still Seeking Violin."

February 5, 2014

Wednesday, February 05, 2014 - ,,,,, No comments

Monuments Men Feature Film: George Clooney's new movie involves Nazi-looted art and seeing it is strictly professional

by Catherine Sezgin, ARCA Blog

Two more days until the new George Clooney movie on the Monuments Men. There are serious preparations to be done -- re-watch "The Rape of Europa" on Netflix; finish reading Robert E. Edsel's book on The Monuments Men (available in print, on audible, and in iBooks); peruse Lynn Nicholas' book The Rape of Europa (paperback and iBooks); and then watch tonight's show featuring ARCA founder Noah Charney on National Geographic, "Hunting Hitler's Treasures Stolen Treasures: the Monuments Men".

Nicholas' The Rape of Europa provides an overall view of the Nazi efforts to dominate and claim culture for the Third Reich, including the confiscation of "degenerate art" from German museums; theft from Jewish private collections; and the attempted obliteration of Slavic and Russian culture. Robert E. Edsel co-produced the film on Nichols' book and wrote Rescuing Da Vinci, a photographic essay on the Nazis' attempt to steal Europe's art.

Here's a link to an article published in the Harvard Gazette, "A monument to saved art: Harvard-trained conservators were key players in tracking, rescuing priceless works in World War II (written by Edward Mason, Harvard Correspondent)". The article, which covers a panel with Edsel and a Skype call from actor Matt Damon, points out that Clooney plays a fictional character.
The “Monuments Men” belonged to the U.S. Army’s Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section. Their ranks included Lincoln Kirstein ’30, the founder of the New York City Ballet; Paul Sachs, Class of 1900, a member of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas, which recruited many of the team’s members; and Stout. Born in 1897, Stout was a tall, dashing man with a pencil-thin mustache ­— not unlike actor George Clooney, who in the film plays the Stout-like team leader, Frank Stokes. Clooney also produced and directed the movie and co-wrote the screenplay. Stout helped pioneer the field of art conservation while a graduate assistant at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum. Long before World War II, he had the vision to see the risk aerial bombing and firebombing posed to art, Edsel said. Stout had spent the early ’40s pushing for a national art conservation plan. The Allies and Stout knew that bombs were hardly the only danger to art. The Nazis engaged in “premeditated, organized looting never before seen in war,” Edsel said. The hunger their leaders displayed for European art put Western treasures at risk.
Other articles to read while you wait for the George Clooney movie on Nazi-looted art and the team of middle-aged art professionals who tried to save Europe's culture:

Anna Goldenberg interviews MM's Harry Ettlinger in The Jewish Daily Forward.

"Monuments Men" is a popular phrase for the MFAA section, the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives, which did include women as this article by Tom Mashberg points out here in The New York Times.

February 4, 2014

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - , No comments

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Downtown Jeddah ('Balad') Throws 10-Day Historic Area Festival in an effort to gain protective status

Beat Nour Wali (Photo by Christiana
O'Connell-Schizas)
by Christiana O'Connell-Schizas

Last month, 16-25 January, Saudi Arabia held its first “Jeddah Historic Area Festival” (‘Kunna Kida’). The executive director of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in the Makkah province, Muhammad Al-Amri, stated that the ten-day festival was an opportunity for locals and expatriates to “closely relate to the tales of the past century.” This was achieved through theatrical performances, stand-up comedy shows, traditional competitions, heritage and cultural shows, a number of cultural competitions, family entertainment programs, antique car exhibitions and folk dances. The first day saw 40,000 attendees; over 750,000 people attended the festival. The event was held with the aim of successfully earning downtown Jeddah (known as ‘Balad’) the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Old Hijazi building in a relatively good condition still
 inhabited today. (Photo by author)
Jeddah, the largest city in the Mekkah Province, is located on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. The city pre-dates Islam and has always been the largest port in the Red Sea. It is also the gateway to the Two Holy Cities, Mekkah and Medina. Jeddah is Saudi’s city of arts and culture, a prime of example of this being its open-air sculptures commonly found on the roundabouts and along the Corniche.[i] However, according to UNESCO, Balad is the most important area in Jeddah, ‘due to its authenticity, distinguished planning, and unique architecture. It contains many historical landmarks and buildings such as: the Old Jeddah Wall and Gates, the old quarters (Al-Mazloom Quarter, Al-Sham Quarter, Al-Yaman Quarter, and Al-Bahar Quarter), there are also a number of historical mosques (Uthamn Ibn Affan Mosque, Al-Shafeey Mosque, Al-Basha Mosque, Ukash Mosque, AI-Meamar Mosque, and Al-Hanafi Mosque). The old Area also houses a number of old Souqs (Al-Nada Souq, AI-Khasequiyyah Souq, Al-Alaweey Souq, Al-Saghah (Jewelry) Souq) and a large number of heritage buildings that are all still in use.’[ii]

Beautiful example of the wooden lattices on the
windows. (Photo by author)
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. Balad meets a few of the criterion, such as criteria (iii) as it bears an exceptional testimony to cultural tradition. For example, at the festival, there was a boat display of the oldest boat models used in the past by Red Sea fishermen. Salama Idress Ali, whose father is a famous boat maker, explained that he inherited the profession. The boats they create are now obsolete for their original purpose but Ali continues to make them as decorative models whereby anyone can order one.[iii] Balad also fulfils criteria (iv) as it has outstanding examples of types of building and architecture that illustrate significant stages in human history. This can be seen through its unique assemblage of wooden lattices that cover windows, a common attribute to Hijazi architecture.

This is an example of one of the buildings currently being
renovated. (Photo by author)    
At a meeting of the International Heritage Committee in Bahrain in July 2011, Saudi’s bid to include Jeddah as a world heritage site was rejected. This was largely due to Balad’s state of neglect and the lack of public awareness of the importance and value of heritage sites. According to Ziyad Al-Dirais, UNESCO’s Saudi representative: “[Saudi has] to have a longer-term plan in order to be able to rehabilitate and maintain the historic locations. [They] hope to correct the situation and to nominate Jeddah once again with UNESCO as a potential world heritage site.”[iv] It is expected that Balad’s file will be submitted for voting at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha, 15-25 June 2014. Aside from the prestige from becoming a World Heritage Site, a country may also receive financial assistance and expert advice from the Committee to support activities for the preservation of its sites. To date, there are only two UNESCO Sites in Saudi: Mada’in Saleh and Al-Dariya.

One of the many buildings that recently collapsed.
To avoid another rejection, Saudi has allocated SR50 million ($13 million) to renovate Balad’s roads, lighting and buildings. Eighteen buildings were recently restored, one of which is being transformed into a ‘heritage hotel’ while the Jeddah municipality plans to renovate 34 more of the 350 odd historical buildings. (Over 200 houses were destroyed in floods and accidents while many simply collapse, the most recent of which was two weeks ago.) It also intends to continue holding a range of events and festivals as a means of promoting the city's culture and identity[v], such as “Jeddah Art Week”, 1-6 February, and “21,39”, 4-8 February. Such active involvement and growth in funding is at odds with the destruction of cultural heritage sites seen in Mekkah over last year as a result of the city’s expansion and modernization for the increasing number of pilgrims ("Essay: Can there be a balance between the expansion of Makkah and the preservation of cultural heritage", 6 Sept 2013).

Will raising awareness through its festival, active involvement and growth in funding persuade the World Heritage Committee to accept Balad as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Will it reject the application again due to Balad’s neglect? I leave you with a few photos I personally took of the area on 1 February for you can decide whether the historic town will be ready for the World Heritage Committee in four months.
More rumble from collapsed buildings and
disregarded  material that the Jeddah Municipality
has not cleared away.
Extremely dirty streets (Photo by Christiana O'Connell-Schizas)
Dilapidated building (Photo by
Christiana O'Connell-Schizas)
Entrance of building in previous photos.
Dilapidated building(Photo by Christiana O'Connell-Schizas)
Buildings in disrepair and more rubble.(Photo by Christiana O'Connell-Schizas)
Christiana O'Connell-Schizas, a solicitor, lived in Saudia Arabia for 18 years and returns frequently to visit. She took all of these photos last weekend in Jeddah.

Bibliography
Fareed, Saleh. "Festival Offers a Glimpse into Jeddah's past." Saudi Gazette. Saudi Gazette, 7 Jan. 2014. Available at <http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm/myfiles/Images/2012/01/02/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140107191734>. (last accessed 27 Jan 2014).

"Historical Area of Jeddah." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO, 28 Nov. 2006. Available at <http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5085/>. (last accessed 27 Jan 2014).

Khan, Fouzia. "Historic Jeddah Festival Spirit in Its Boom." Arab News. Arab News, 29 Jan. 2014. Available at <http://www.arabnews.com/news/517031>. (last accessed 2 Feb 2014).

Mohammed, Irfan. "Jeddah Heritage Festival Concludes Its 10-day Run." Arab News. Arab News, 27 Jan. 2014. Available at <http://www.arabnews.com/news/516026>. (last accessed 2 Feb 2014).

Shaw, Garry. "Heritage hopefuls renew their bids to Unesco” The Art Newspaper. The Art Newspaper, 23 Jan. 2014.

"UNESCO Refuses to Consider Old Jeddah a World Heritage Site." Arab News. Arab News, 12 June 2011. Available at <http://www.arabnews.com/node/380497?quicktabs_stat2=0>. (last accessed 27 Jan 2014).

"UNESCO Rejects Old Jeddah World Heritage Site Bid." Construction Week Online Middle East. Construction Week Online, 13 June 2011. Available at <http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-12784-unesco-rejects-old-jeddah-world-heritage-site-bid/#.UuJExWTfroA>. (last accessed 27 Jan 2014).

"The Criteria for Selection." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO. Available at <http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/>. (last accessed 27 Jan 2014).


[i] There are many sculptures along the Corniche, some by internationally renown sculptors, such as: César Baldaccini, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely
[ii] "Historical Area of Jeddah." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO
[iii] Khan, Fouzia. "Historic Jeddah Festival Spirit in Its Boom." Arab News. Arab News, 29 Jan. 2014.
[iv] "UNESCO Rejects Old Jeddah World Heritage Site Bid." Construction Week Online Middle East. Construction Week Online, 13 June 2011.
[v] Fareed, Saleh. "Festival Offers a Glimpse into Jeddah's past." Saudi Gazette. Saudi Gazette, 7 Jan. 2014.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - , No comments

2014 Schedule for ARCA's Postgraduate Certificate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage in Amelia, Umbria

Here is the 2014 schedule for ARCA's Postgraduate Certificate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage to be held in Amelia, Umbria:

May 30 - Students arrive in Amelia
May 31 and June 1 - Program Orientation and City Familiarization

Course I – June 2-4 and June 9-11 “Art Policing, Protection and Investigation”
Richard Ellis, Detective and founder of Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Squad (retired), Art Management Group Director

Course II - June 4-6 and June 11-13 “The International Art Market and Associated Risk”
Dr. Tom Flynn, London Art Lecturer, Docent and Art Historian

Course III - June 16-20 “Transnational Organized Crime and Art”
Dr. Edgar Tijhuis, Lawyer and Assistant Professor of Criminology at the VU University in Amsterdam

Course IV - June 23-27 “Art Forgers and Thieves”
Dr. Noah Charney, Founding Director of ARCA - Adjunct Professor of Art History, American University of Rome

June 27-29, Sixth annual ARCA Art Crime Conference weekend 

Course V - June 30-July 2 and July 7-July 9 “Art Crime in War”
Judge Arthur Tompkins, District Court Judge in New Zealand

Course VI – July 2-4 and July 9-11 “Art and Heritage Law”
To Be Announced

Course VII - July 12 -16 “Risk Assessment and Museum Security”
Dick Drent, Corporate Security Manager, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

July 17-22, Program Break for travel

Course VIII - July 23-25 “Insurance Claims and the Art Trade”
Dorit Straus, Vice President and Worldwide Specialty Fine Art Manager for Chubb & Son, a division of Federal Insurance Company (retired) 

Course IX - July 28-30 and August 4-6 “Unravelling the Hidden Market of Illicit Antiquities: Lessons from Greece and Italy”
Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, Forensic Archaeologist, Illicit antiquities researcher, University of Cambridge

Course X - July 30-August 1 and August 6-8 “Antiquities and Identity”
Dr. Valerie Higgins, Associate Professor and Chair of Archaeology and Classics at the American University of Rome

August 9-15, 2013 August Palio dei Colombi, Notte Bianca and Ferragosto festivities.

For application information and prospectus please write to education@artcrimeresearch.org.
March 1 is the deadline to apply to the program.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - ,, No comments

San Francisco Chronicle's Sam Whiting on Polish artist Moshe Rynecki's art work and the great-granddaughter's search for her legacy

"Artworks lost in Nazi era at the heart of the hunt" by Sam Whiting for the San Francisco Chronicle covers the subject of Elizabeth Rynecki's search for Polish artist Moshe Rynecki's artwork:
When Holocaust survivor George Rynecki died in 1992, he left a war memoir in the trunk of his car, bequeathing the family legacy to his only grandchild, Elizabeth. "It was like, 'Whoosh,' " recalls Elizabeth Rynecki, who is still feeling the blowback of 700 paintings by her great-grandfather that went missing after the war. She set out to find them, a search that has now taken 22 years and may take 22 more. To continue reading this story, you will need to be a digital subscriber to SFChronicle.com.
 Here's an update on the search as published in the ARCA blog.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - , No comments

2014 ARCA Sixth Annual Conference Call for Presenters

Amelia, Italy, June 28-­29, 2014

ARCA and the city of Amelia will be hosting its sixth-annual interdisciplinary conference this summer. The two-day conference aims to facilitate a critical appraisal of the protection of art and cultural heritage by bringing together academics, police, members of the art world, as well as the students in ARCA’s postgraduate certificate program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection.

The conference will be held in Amelia, Italy in the heart of Umbria where ARCA will present its annual Awards—chosen by ARCA’s Trustees and past award winners—to honor outstanding scholars and professionals dedicated to the protection and recovery of cultural heritage.**

Presenters

ARCA welcomes speaking proposals from individuals in relevant fields, including law, criminal justice, security, art history, conservation, archaeology, or museum management. We invite individuals interested in presenting to submit their topic of choice along with a concise 200 word abstract and current resume or CV to us at: italy.conference@artcrimeresearch.org

Presenters will be asked to limit their presentation to 20 minutes, and will be grouped together in panels organized thematically, which will allow time for brief questions from the audience at the conclusion of each panel. There are also plenty of opportunities for informal conversations at coffee breaks, a lunch on Saturday, and in the evenings.

Registration

To attend please email italy.conference@artcrimeresearch.org . There will be a small fee for the reception, lunch and dinner. If you have any inquiry about the conference format, or transportation to or from Amelia, please get in touch.

We hope to see many of you in Amelia in June!

Key Dates
Call for Presenters Deadline: May 1, 2014
Registration opens: Now Conference Dates: June 28-29, 2014  (There is a kick-off cocktail on Friday, June 27, 2014)

**Past Award Winners

Art Policing, Protection, Security and Recovery
Past winners: Vernon Rapley (2009), Francesco Rutelli (2009), Charlie Hill (2010), Dick Drent (2010), Paolo Giorgio Ferri (2011), Lord Colin Renfrew (2011), Stuttgart Detective Ernst Schöller (2012), Karl von Habsburg and Dr. Joris Kila (Jointly – 2012), Sharon Cohen Levin (2013), Christos Tsirogiannis (2013)

Eleanor and Anthony Vallombroso Award for Excellence in Art Crime Scholarship
Past winners:  Norman Palmer (2009), Larry Rothfield (2010), Neil Brodie (2011), Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino (Jointly – 2012), Duncan Chappell (2013)

Lifetime Achievement in Defense of Art Award
Past winners: Carabinieri TPC collectively (2009), Howard Spiegler (2010), John Merryman (2011), Dr. George H. O. Abungu (2012), Blanca Niño Norton (2013)

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - ,, No comments

Fair Observer's Will Calhoun publishes two-part interview with documentarian Brent E. Huffman on "The Race to Save Mes Aynak"

GILDED BUDDHA HEAD DISCOVERED AT MES AYNAK.
 COPYRIGHT © BRENT E. HUFFMAN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Will Calhoun interviewed Brent Huffman in the two-part article, "The Race to Save Mes Aynak" (Fair Observer, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2). Brent E. Huffman, an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, has been working on a documentary film about the site (see previous posts on the ARCA blog). Huffman has been awarded a grant from the MacArthur Foundation to complete his documentary, hopefully by this summer. What can people do? Huffman tells Calhoun that celebrity appeal would be helpful. Here's an excerpt from the interview:
Will Calhoun: Can you give us some background on Mes Aynak? How is the site significant? 
Huffman: I’ve described it as an ancient city of vast size. It was located at a major crossroad on the Silk Road. There are many layers of material. The top layer that archaeologists have done the most work on is a 2,000-year-old Buddhist site that’s over 500,000 square meters in size, or 98 football fields — so an enormous area. There are over 400 life-size or bigger Buddhist statues, ancient manuscripts, temple structures, just a wealth of discoveries and information. The Buddhists were mining for copper using ancient techniques, so archaeologists are really excited about the ancient mining and smelting that was done. Beneath that Buddhist site is a 5,000-year-old or older Bronze Age site, an enormous area filled with this treasure trove of Bronze Age material. 
Calhoun: When was the site first discovered? 
Huffman: That’s sort of when things get complicated. I’m sure the site was known about before this, but the first written evidence that the site was traveled to was in the 1960s by French archaeologists. I don’t know if there was any significant study of the site at the time. The site was left completely unprotected. No protection or way to visit the site was ever put in place, so Mes Aynak has been heavily looted since the 1960s.
The big irony is that when MCC arrived, they were unaware of the Buddhist site, so they signed the contract without knowing of the existence of the site above the copper deposit. When they came in they destroyed a local village to set up their camp, where they are currently staying. Initially they brought in 1,500 Afghan police officers to guard the mining compound and, in addition to guarding the compound, the officers were guarding the site. The Chinese have basically brought in this force that’s now protecting Mes Aynak really for the first time. Since the site is so famous, it is likely that it would be looted again if the Chinese were to leave, so it’s all quite complicated. 
Calhoun: Who is mainly doing the looting? 
Huffman: I would say that it is people from Pakistan who are crossing over, working with local people in Logar province who are very poor, starving to death, and have little employment. Selling these relics, unfortunately, makes sense for local people who have no other prospects. Looters from Pakistan return to the country and sell the relics. 
Calhoun: How has the Afghan government been involved in efforts to preserve the site, if at all? 
Huffman: In my opinion, the Afghan government has been part of the problem. There is massive corruption in the government, especially in the Ministry of Mines. When the deal was first signed in 2007, the rumor was that the minister of mines received a $30 million bribe from MCC. He denied accepting the bribe, but he did step down from his position. I think it is quite likely that he did accept the bribe. He has since been replaced, but I fear the same sorts of allegations of corruption are true within the new Ministry. Obviously they want mining to begin, and they want it to begin as soon as possible. I think the archaeological findings are a thorn in their side, delaying the time when they can extract copper.
[...]
Calhoun: How can people get involved in efforts to preserve Mes Aynak? 
Huffman: There’s a petition on my Facebook page with almost 70,000 signatures, but I think the best thing would be if a celebrity or politician would speak up and say that the US should work to preserve Mes Aynak. I think that would really rally support. I think if we could get hundreds of thousands of signatures — that would really save the site. The dream situation for me would be to save Mes Aynak and do a proper archaeological dig, save everything, and make it a tourist destination. But I think that will only happen with massive public support for the site, and UNESCO would have to come in and assist archaeologists. Sadly, when the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan, people were horrified and shocked and it really rallied them. However, it was too late. My fear is that the same thing will happen with Mes Aynak, that there will be silence until it is destroyed and then there will be outrage. But yes, people can come to my Facebook page and sign the petition. I’ve given money to the Afghan archaeologists to finally buy them computers and digital cameras.  They had been working for years with neither. The Afghan archaeologists are the unsung heroes in this story — they have been working in terrible and dangerous conditions, so people can also donate to the film to help the archaeologists.
 
Here's a link to the Brent E. Huffman's photographs which accompany the article in Fair Observer. 

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