chasingaphrodite.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

While Debie is critical of practices that overlook provenance issues and supports the return of looted artefacts, he notes that the new EU regulation, set to come into law in June 2025, “forces collectors to prove something that is often impossible”. www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/09/c...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Case of the Day: The ornate and highly significant early Buddhist sculpture, Footsteps of the Buddha (Buddhapada) was smuggled out of Pakistan's Swat Valley in 1982. (1/4)

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

So excited to be in (Zoom) conversation with Beth Morrison on June 13, talking about - what else? - the #Voynich Manuscript, in the context of the @gettymuseum.bsky.social exhibit on medieval codes! Register here: www.getty.edu/calendar/art...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Oh hey, it's my thing! Looted text finds from recent war zones! You know, the thing I've been thinking about for, uh, checks notes about seven years now! I haven't found an easy answer that lets me sleep soundly, but apparently, some people have. Good for them. Allow me to add some thoughts.🧵

submitted 3 days ago • 4 comments

“In March, Pallot, who was the expert of the Galerie Didier Aaron, faced trial for commercial fraud, along with a carpenter and restorer, Bruno Desnoues, who admitted to fabricating the forgeries. The prosecutor asked for three years of prison time” www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/05/e... #forgery

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Should educators ever teach with materials obtained illegally or unethically? “As an archaeologist who teaches at Emory, I have decided yes: Learning with and from these objects can help amend their problematic acquisition—so long as that history pervades the lesson” www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Art Institute of Chicago director James Rondeau is under investigation after getting intoxicated and removing his clothes on a flight to Munich on April 18. He is now on leave and his job in jeopardy as the museum investigates the incident. news.artnet.com/art-world/ar...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

In 2011, @kathleenduval.bsky.social gave me my first chance to write for the public by helping me edit an op-ed and introducing me to her NYT editor. Today she won the Pulitzer Prize. And she has led with generosity and kindness her whole, amazing career. We are so proud of this Tar Heel historian!

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

India tries to halt auction of Piprahwa gems found with Buddha’s remains, which it says “constitute inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

Congrats to @kathleenduval.bsky.social on the Pulitzer Prize for history!

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

The National Endowment for the Arts withdrew and canceled grant offers to numerous arts organizations around the country on Friday night, sending a round of email notifications out just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency in his next budget. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

On May 19 a new book will be published open access that addresses some important topics. It’s called _ How Republics Die: Creeping Authoritarianism in Ancient Rome and Beyond_ Edd. by @davidrafferty.bsky.social, Christopher J. Dart, Frederik & Juliaan Vervaet: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isb...

submitted 7 days ago • 76 comments

[NEW VIDEO] Archaeology is under siege from popular anti-intellectual influencers. I document threats and harassment and provide actionable strategies for promoting public educational content Watch, like, comment, and share to boost visibility 🧪🏺 #AncientBlueSky youtu.be/F5PvwzgfKKw

submitted 8 days ago • 9 comments

Wealthy British descendants selling off the precious gems originally buried with the ashes of Buddha in India may not be illegal, but by today’s standards, the ethics of profiteering from colonial era appropriations are highly dubious. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

TEFAF NY starts May 9: Charles Ede will show 70 ancient objects at its booth this year, the priciest being an $850,000 Roman marble torso of a youth, and the most affordable being a Byzantine silver spoon (from the 4th to the 6th century B.C.) priced at $2,000. 🧐 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/a...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

News: The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is preparing to return to Thailand four significant bronze sculptures, part of the Prasat Phanom Rung group from Buriram province. www.nationthailand.com/life/art-cul...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

Our colonial-era provenance page has been updated with information about the Benin Kingdom gallery closing. There is also a linked PDF with the provenance of the loans that were returned. www.mfa.org/collections/...

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

Here's a great new pod with @anthropaulicy.bsky.social talking about her work tracking the online trade in looted antiquities with Amr al Azm @atharproject.bsky.social peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Reimagining Aphrodite | The Nerd Daily thenerddaily.com/bryony-pearc...

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

“This was not the outcome anyone wanted” Boston MFA’s promised collection of Benin bronzes will be returned to Robert Owen Lehman Jr., the wealthy scion and collector, rather than the people from whom they were stolen. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/a...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

Sudanese officials say tens of thousands of artefacts were destroyed or shipped off while the RSF was in control of central Khartoum "They destroyed our identity, and our history," Ikhlas Abdel Latif Ahmed, of Sudan's National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums www.bbc.com/news/article...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Greek police have arrested six suspected antiquities smugglers after a massive undercover operation on the island of Crete where they seized and recovered over 40 ancient artifacts the smuggling ring had been allegedly trying to sell on the black market. greekreporter.com/2025/04/24/g...

submitted 16 days ago • 2 comments

Barron’s: Antiquities, collectibles, and cultural objects have long been exempt from U.S. trade duties. But President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, announced April 2, may put some of those exemptions at risk. www.barrons.com/articles/ant...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has apparently been trying to work with the (son of the Lehman Brothers CEO) donor of the Benin Bronzes collection to transfer ownership back to Nigeria, but instead he's taking all the statues back and they're closing the gallery entirely.

submitted 18 days ago • 27 comments

IAA: A Dimona resident was detained for questioning after the search uncovered not only the archaeological treasures but also a cache of weapons, ammunition, and currency. www.jpost.com/archaeology/...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

DOGE descends on The National Gallery, a public-private partnership that is not part of any branch of government but receives funding from Congress for operations. The bulk of its support for acquisitions comes from a private trust. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Before 2015, Palmyra was considered one of the world's most intact ancient Roman sites. ISIS blew up many key monuments of this storied Silk Road city. Syrians hope restoration can begin now.

submitted 23 days ago • 52 comments

BIG: Qatari royal Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani won his lawsuit against Phoenix Ancient Art, which sourced items for his Al Thani Collection, over the false provenance of £4.1 million of ancient artefacts www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

Remember my post about the Sarajevo Haggadah from a few days ago? New MSI imaging & analysis undertaken by Alexandra Bucic, Catherine Albers-Morris, & Greg Heyworth has recovered the previously-illegible name of a 16th-c. owner! 🧵https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207424000773

submitted 24 days ago • 1 comment

Globe and Mail: Sudan museum curators get first devastating look inside after two years of warfare Since Khartoum’s recapture from paramilitary groups, curators have learned that the damage left behind is worse than anyone thought www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

The murder, the museum and the monument How the discovery of a long-lost monument shattered the trust between a Japanese American community and the museum built to preserve their history. www.hcn.org/issues/57-4/...

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Another failure of TEFAF’s “famously rigorous” vetting procedures: “He spotted the amphora when the gallery offered it last month at Tefaf Maastricht, one of the world’s foremost art and antiques fairs”

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Case of the Day: Duen Fubara This memorial screen (also known as Duen Fubara or the Kalabari Memorial Screen) was repatriated to Nigeria by Boston's MFA in 2014, along with eight other items. Internal MFA investigations began to raise questions about these item's ownership histories. (1/3)

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

As reported by @catherinehickley.bsky.social, the director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections has resigned amid a growing scandal over the handling of Nazi-looted art. A preliminary investigation by the Munich state prosecutor is now underway. www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/04/07/t...

submitted 33 days ago • 1 comment

An oil lamp leads customs to a 20 million treasure trove of trafficked antiquities Archaeological objects have been imported massively and illegally for years by the network. Taxes amount to more than 2 million. www.24heures.ch/trafic-une-l...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

The scope of N.E.H. cuts is becoming clearer: at a meeting Thursday staffers were told that upward of 85 percent of the agency’s hundreds of current grants were to be canceled. Cancelations letters said the money would be redirected to furthering “the president’s agenda.”

submitted 36 days ago • 1 comment

A few tips for NEH grantees: 1) if you've spent money on an awarded grant but have not yet drawn down the funds, make sure to submit the paperwork to drawn down funds ASAP. 2) the NYTimes article suggests that "DOGE" might cancel awards. If you receive an email from DOGE cancelling your NEH award,

submitted 38 days ago • 17 comments

"Some crimes hide in plain site - or in plain provenance" - conclusion to a very interesting talk (which was recorded for later)

submitted 38 days ago • 1 comment

The Art Institute is trying to have it both ways with the Buddha’s repatriation. It is seeking credit for having a provenance division and returning the Buddha, but is not disclosing the involvement of its own major donors, the Alsdorfs www.propublica.org/article/art-...

submitted 38 days ago • 1 comment

Leonardo Patterson, among the most prominent antiquities traffickers in Latin America, has died. Here’s our entry on his trafficking career and legal troubles: mola.omeka.net/items/show/2...

submitted 39 days ago • 1 comment