The apparent insurability of their butts. War veteran Nigel “Spud” Ely was arrested for rescuing the buttock of one of the Saddam Hussein statues from being melted down for scrap metal in 2003 and importing it to the UK. Iraqi officials claim the buttock was illegally exported to the UK after the invasion of Iraq,… [Read more…]
January 24, 2012
The sudden removal of Viennese balls from UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list is the result of a review by an Austrian commission group, stating the ball has links to far-right politics. The commission alleged that far-right groups and politicians such as neo-Nazis dominate the annual Ball des Wiener Korporations Ringes (WKR) Ball. The ball, which… [Read more…]
January 23, 2012
Republican Senator Cam Ward has introduced a bill to amend the Alabama Cultural Resources Act, a law that requires underwater treasure hunters to obtain permits from the Historical Commission before exploring shipwrecks and relics. The amendment would allow permitted explorers to keep whatever treasures they find while searching state waters. While Alabama divers support the… [Read more…]
January 20, 2012
Want some nice wedding photos? Why not spring the $2,000 to rent the Acropolis? In their fight against national debt, Greece has elected to offer some of its most acclaimed archaeological sites for rent to advertising firms and demonstrators. Greece’s cultural ministry says the move is a logical way to facilitate access to the country’s… [Read more…]
January 17, 2012
On April 11, 2012, more than 5,000 artifacts from the Titanic shipwreck will be sold at auction in New York. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith ordered that the collection must be sold as a single lot, further requiring that the future owner to make the artifacts available for public viewing, historical review, scientific and… [Read more…]
January 11, 2012
UNESCO has placed the 11th century Bagrati cathedral in Georgia on the World Heritage in Danger List, but it’s due to its restoration rather that its deterioration. During a 17th century Ottoman invasion, the cathedral and its elegance were severely damaged, and the building has continued to weather, unused. Under pressure from the Orthodox Church,… [Read more…]
January 3, 2012
From the National Press Club in my hometown of Washington, DC: Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, investigative journalists and authors of “Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum” will join Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum and Arthur Houghton, a former curator at the Getty Museum, to discuss… [Read more…]
December 14, 2011
Between Monday 13th and Friday 17th February next year, Judge Arthur Tompkins, a faculty member at ARCA’s Summer Masters Certificate Program in International Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection Studies course in Amelia, Italy, will be presenting ‘Art Crime during Armed Conflict‘, as a 5-day summer course at the University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New… [Read more…]
December 5, 2011
At a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, UNESCO added 19 new demonstrations to the list of intangible world heritage, including mariachi music, French horseback riding, and Chinese shadow puppetry. UNESCO also added another 11 displays of intangible cultural heritage that are in “need of urgent safeguarding.” Yaokwa, a ritual of the Enawene Nawe people for maintaining… [Read more…]
December 2, 2011
The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, is renewing its efforts to keep track and prevent the loss of cultural artifacts. It announced on November 29 that there will be a consultation relating to a new idea of how to prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural items being removed from member-states. Other… [Read more…]
January 26, 2012
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