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New twist to Swiss saga over Aboutaam property
According to Le Temps, the Geneva Public Ministry has ordered the escrow to be lifted from nearly 5,000 antiques belonging to art dealer Ali Aboutaam. Almost all of the objects, suspected of illicit provenance, had been seized last year. A further 6,000 objects remain...
WCO report reveals the true picture about antiquities trafficking
For some time now, anti-trade campaigners, NGOs, politicians and even international law enforcement agencies have stated that trafficked antiquities are the third largest source of terrorist financing after trafficked drugs and weapons. These claims have always been...
Art businesses ill-prepared for GDPR, new EU data protection law
ADA adviser Ivan Macquisten has written a detailed analysis on the upcoming changes in data protection regulations for the EU for The Art Newspaper. This includes the Information Commissioner’s Office advice on what steps for businesses to take now. These changes will...
Latest Views
The problem with provenance and what we can do about it
TIMES HAVE CHANGED, BUT SO HAS THE ANTIQUITIES MARKET. ITS CRITICS NEED TO RECOGNISE THIS AND WORK WITH IT FOR A BETTER FUTURE By Joanna van der Lande The inclusion of the art trade in this debate is crucial, both to explain the complexities of dealing in often small...
Terrorism, Cultural Heritage and the Threat to Museums’ Public Missions
Collector Matthew Polk, a board member of the Committee For Cultural Policy and trustee of a number of museums, has written a detailed paper on how the war on terror has shifted cultural property policy from preservation to enforcement, with a number of unwarranted...
The art market’s triple whammy global challenge
The art market’s triple whammy global challenge
Perceived lack of regulation, the rise of art as an alternative asset class and Middle East conflict present a triple whammy for an unprepared art market, says Ivan Macquisten