Latest News
UK set to drop ENFORCEMENT OF EU IMPORT LICENSING REGULATIONS DOMESTICALLY
According to two well-placed sources, the UK will not be continuing with the new import licensing regulations for cultural property introduced by the European Union in 2019 and due to be enforced by 2025.
UNESCO marks 50th anniversary of 1970 Cultural Heritage Convention with fake campaign
Above: The UNESCO advert that sparked suspicion and led to the campaign being unmasked as fake. In what must be one of the most stunningly cynical attacks on the international art market yet, UNESCO has been caught out promoting a fake campaign to mark the 50th...
Time for UNESCO to stop using bogus figures about cultural property
In the latest of a string of baseless claims, UNESCO reports that the illicit trade in cultural property is estimated to be worth nearly $10 billion a year. It’s a handy figure to use as a headline to launch its 1970 Convention’s 50th anniversary conference and...
Latest Views
Fake’s progress – how misinformation gains traction over time Part 2
As can be seen by the tortuous byways of out-of-date reports and newspaper articles dating back almost 35 years and quoting myriad figures that have contributed to this misleading picture, the truth can be lost very quickly.
Why cultural property is the ultimate political pawn
Cultural heritage Memoranda of Understanding are useful for international diplomacy but can damage the rights of private citizens
Why is the Manhattan D.A.’s office publishing data it knows to be untrue?
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos has been head of Manhattan’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU) since 2018. He has understood since at least 2011 – and probably earlier – that claims of a multi-billion dollar market in looted and trafficked antiquities...