Archive for January, 2009
Saturday, January 31st, 2009
Sporting relics lost in fire
By Yoni Bashan
February 01, 2009 12:00am
TREASURED Australian sporting memorabilia, including priceless NRL artefacts, have been reduced to ashes after a fire gutted one of Sydney's oldest photographic studios.
Investigators spent yesterday at Melba Studios, on Victoria Rd, Gladesville, after a blaze started about 8.30pm on Friday. "There's ...
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Saturday, January 31st, 2009
SINKING FEELING: The boat builder statue
30 January 2009
By Richard Bean
A second statue has been stolen from Wigan Pier.
Leisure chiefs have been left devastated by the disappearance of the boat builder, days after the pit brow lassie statue vanished from the same site.
The evocative figure of a boat builder, positioned on ...
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Saturday, January 31st, 2009
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By ADAM BOWLES
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Jan 31, 2009 @ 12:07 AM
Last update Jan 31, 2009 @ 01:08 AM
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Norwich, Conn. — In 1994, someone carefully cut a large portrait of Abraham Lincoln from its Victorian frame, which hung in the entrance of Norwich’s City Hall across from the city manager’s office, and ...
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Saturday, January 31st, 2009
Martin Weigelt was at the centre of a controversy over a photo taken by Vancouver police following his arrest on Nov. 5, 2007. (CBC)
The RCMP paid $20,000 to a career criminal for key information that led to the safe recovery of art treasures stolen from a B.C. museum last year, ...
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Friday, January 30th, 2009
Aunohita Mojumdar: 1/30/09
A giant granite bowl standing in the entrance to the newly rebuilt National Museum in Kabul embodies the complexity and richness of Afghanistan's past. Literally layered with history, the bowl was carved during the Buddhist era and inscribed hundreds of years later, after the advent of Islam. On ...
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Friday, January 30th, 2009
Fate of 'stolen' Picassos on trial
By Thomas Zambito
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, January 28th 2009, 11:36 PM
A Manhattan federal jury will be asked to decide next week if two of the New York art world's most famous names have priceless Picassos with a Nazi past?
Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff has rejected ...
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Friday, January 30th, 2009
Dedham:
7:00am Friday 30th January 2009
A very modern security method has been used to protect a 15th century village church.
The parish church in Dedham, which dates back to 1492, has been given the digital SmartWater treatment to guard it against theft.
An all-weather colourless liquid, SmartWater contains a unique registered code which ...
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Thursday, January 29th, 2009
RESPONSE TO THE GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDSON OF LORD ELGIN.
Full text: http://groups.google.com/group/museum-security-network/browse_thread/thread/c470e1bfcb7a1dd8?hl=nl#
Dear Dr. Opoku
For quite some time I have read with interest your postings on MSN and elsewhere and closely followed the heated debate on looting, illegal trafficking and restitution since I was a graduate student in the 1990s. Your ...
Posted in Dr. Kwame Opoku writings about looted cultural objects | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Swedes hand stolen drawings back to Russia
Published: 28 Jan 09 13:49 CET
Five rare watercolour drawings stolen from a St. Petersburg museum in the early 1990s are finally heading back to Russia after turning up at a Stockholm auction house.
* Karin Bergöö Larsson: Mother, muse and artist (9 Dec 08)
* Stockholm ...
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Lauren Gelfond Feldinger | 28.1.09 |
JERUSALEM. After a 3,500-year history of invasions, the latest war on the beleaguered coastal strip of Gaza has once again put historic sites at risk.
The fragile ceasefire in force at the time of writing has allowed some information to emerge about the fate of Gaza’s ...
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Each of the 12in x 10in paintings is valued at more than £2000 and all concern the subject The Hardman's Face. Police said one of the unframed paintings was oil-based while the other three were pastels.
Police appealed for information from anyone who may have innocently bought them or who has ...
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
By Rene Bruemmer, The GazetteJanuary 27, 2009 1:01 PM
SQ chief inspector for economic crimes Michel Forget looks over one of several statues stolen from parks and building under construction. The accused, Richard McClintock, is also charged with being in the possession of 80 paintings he forged with a total value ...
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Greece to help Iraq cultural reconstruction
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, left, and his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis answer questions during a press conference after their meeting in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009. Bakoyannis said Greece has agreed to provide technical and financial aid to repair and reorganize Iraqi ...
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
16th-19th Century Stolen National Library Books Purchased Back in Peru
LIMA -- Historical books stolen from the Peruvian National Library, or BNP, among them one dated 1576, have been privately sold, the El Comercio newspaper and library officials said Monday.
The four books from the 16th and 19th centuries, three of them ...
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Artifacts Stolen From KCK Museum.
Police Arrest One Suspect, Seek Another.
January 26, 2009.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Police are looking for crooks who broke into a Kansas City, Kan., museum.
Officers said the thieves stole several thousand dollars' worth of items.
Police arrested one suspect in the case and recovered some of the museum's ...
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Monday, January 26th, 2009
P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News.
JEDDAH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), said Saudi Arabia was working hard to retrieve national antiquities within the framework of a comprehensive program.
“We have been assigned by higher authorities to retrieve these antiquities after locating them. ...
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Shipwrecks! Treasure! Gold, gold, gold! The hallmarks of treasure-hunting are the stuff of adventure stories, more than fun enough to make archaeologists, who are mounting increasing complaints against the pillaging of sunken ships, seem like wet blankets.
But more is at stake than just a few loose doubloons, they say. "The ...
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Trial Resumes for Former Curator
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO; Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Now into its fourth year, the trial of Marion True, a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and an American antiquities dealer resumed on Friday in Rome. Focus shifted to the dealer, Robert Hecht, who ...
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009
By Travis J. Tritten. Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, January 25, 2009
Photo gallery:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60207
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq — Shepherd boys scale the ancient tower at Aqar Quf with ease.
The ziggurat’s clay-brick walls have eroded into steep cliffs over the past 3,500 years, and the shepherds go hand over hand on a ...
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009
By Le-Min Lim | 2009-1-25
A PLANNED Paris sale of two Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) bronzes from the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent's art collection is raising the ire of many Chinese who say they may sue auction house Christie's International.
Liu Yang, who heads 67 volunteer lawyers, said ...
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Saturday, January 24th, 2009
The Tucson Police Department Fraud Unit and the Arizona Attorney General's Office are investigating a case of possible embezzlement at the Tucson Museum of Art.
Investigators say they believe between $200,000 - $300,000 is missing. Museum officials reported the money missing in mid-December.
Tucson Police say the only suspect in the case ...
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Saturday, January 24th, 2009
We will be seeking legal advice about this posting on Monday.
(Original text at http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-will-be-seeking-legal-advice-about.html )
The Portable Antiquities Scheme threatens, "We will be seeking legal advice about this posting on Monday." The Portable Antiquities Scheme standing at the awkward interface between archaeology and portable antiquity collecting is no stranger to controversy. ...
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Saturday, January 24th, 2009
Dear friends and colleagues,
I just returned from visiting David at the hospital, and have attached a picture of JJ McLaughlin (Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Protection Services) presenting him with the 2009 Robert Burke Award. As stated in an earlier email, this was something that David had always ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
22. Januar 2009, 02:52 Uhr
Drei Wochen nach dem spektakulären Einbruch in die Fasanengalerie in Charlottenburg sind jetzt 5000 Euro Belohnung für Hinweise zur Wiederbeschaffung der wertvollen Kunstwerke ausgesetzt worden. Staatsanwaltschaft und Polizei erhoffen sich davon endlich Fortschritte bei den Ermittlungen.
Bislang sind bei den Behörden nach Auskunft von Justizsprecher Michael Grunwald ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
From: Justin Perras [mailto:justin@dukaspr.com]
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 5:34 PM
To: toncremers@museum-security.org
Subject: On behalf of Phoenix Ancient Art
Mr. Cremers,
Below is a statement on behalf on Phoenix Ancient Art in response to the allegations made on Museum Security about Ali Aboutaam.
I would kindly request that you post the statement in its entirety ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Aboutaam and Google search
Also read:
http://www.museum-security.org/?p=1159
http://www.museum-security.org/?p=928
and
http://www.museum-security.org/?p=1159
More about the Aboutaams:
Ancient alabaster stele goes home to Yemen after criminal investigation
An ICE investigation of Phoenix Ancient Art and owners, Hicham and Ali Aboutaam, found that they were allegedly trafficking in illegally obtained art and antiquities, both violations of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Turist sai Tallinnast võileivahinnaga 6 miljonit krooni maksva ikooni
Pekka Erelt
150 000 KROONI: 1700. aastast pärinev ikoon kujutas prohvet Taanieli lõvikoopas ja stseeni loomisloost. Pärast pealmise värvikihi eemaldamist paljastus saladus. Vaata kõrvalküljele! (Renate Gerstenlaueri raamatust “Die Rach-Ikone”)
Tallinna antiigipoest umbes 150 000 krooniga ostetud ikoon varjas ülemaalitud 400 aasta vanust pühapilti. Saksamaal ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
By Zaynab Khudair.
Azzaman, January 22, 2009.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has drawn up a new plan to retrieve “all the antiquities that have been stolen,” according to the minister, Qahatan al-Jibouri.
Jibouri, whose ministry is in charge of the Antiquities Department, said the return of smuggled and stolen Iraqi relics ...
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Avignon, France – January 22, 2009 – Régine Elkan, a French national residing near Avignon, France, filed a large Holocaust-related art claim with the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research (Kommission für Provenienzforschung), an Austrian government body in charge of Nazi-looted art claims. The claim involves a prestigious ...
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Carnegie Museum guard admits defacing painting.
Thursday, January 22, 2009.
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A former security guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art has pleaded guilty to slashing a $1.2 million painting with a key.
Timur Serebrykov, 28, of Greenfield, will be sentenced April 7 on one count of institutional vandalism.
On ...
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Egypt demands artefacts' return
Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass said they were taken in an "illegal manner" by Swedish collector Otto Smith from locations like Saqqara and Luxor.
He said lawyers for the country's Council of Antiquities have contacted Sweden's Ostergotlands County Museum.
The museum confirmed Egypt was seeking to recover about 200 ...
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
By MICHAEL PETERSON Argus-Press Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:58 AM EST
DURAND - A water pipe that froze and burst flooded the more than 100-year-old Durand Union Station Monday.
Officials say, though, because of the Durand Fire Department's quick response and the help of others, a major disaster was averted.
The burst ...
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
http://www.dnevnik.bg/dnevnikplus/2009/01/20/618428_trafikant_na_antiki_zaloven_i_pusnat_u_nas_za_rekorden/?print=1
Последна промяна в 23:24 на 20 яну 2009, 1221 прочитания, 23 коментара
Български съд е отхвърлил искането на Египет за екстрадация на ливанския гражданин Али Абу Таам, осъден на 15 години затвор по обвинение в подпомагане на кражба и контрабанда на египетски антики и издирван от Интерпол, предаде Ройтерс в понеделник ...
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
Bulgarian prosecutor, art collector conspired to free controversial art dealer - journalist alleges
13:16 Wed 21 Jan 2009 - Petar Kostadinov
Bulgarian prosecutor Kamen Mihov and Bulgarian millionaire and art collector Vassil Bozhkov were alleged to have been involved in an elaborate scheme to let international art dealer Ali Abou'Taam escape extradition ...
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
Ali Aboutaam. Bulgaria rejects Egyptian extradition bid: lawyers
Tue Jan 20, 2009
ZURICH (Reuters) - A Bulgarian court has rejected an Egyptian request for the extradition of a Lebanese man sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on charges of helping an antiquities thief smuggle artefacts, the man’s lawyers said on Monday.
The Egyptian government ...
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
Dear Sir, Mdme,My name is Arthur Brand, Dutch investigative journalist and writer.In this email I am going to reveal quite a serious scandal, involving Bulgarian head prosecutor Kamen Mihov, worlds leading art dealer Ali Abou’Taam, Bulgarian billionaire Vasil Bojkov, the French, Canadian and American ambassadors to Bulgaria, and Homeland Security.
A ...
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Monday, January 19th, 2009
I listened with great interest to the lecture by Thomas Gaehtgens on Challenging the Encyclopedic Museum - Berlin's Museum Island at the Art Institute of Chicago.
His performance was quite remarkable. Even though he mentioned that the Russians had taken away artworks from Germany and that this constituted a problem between ...
Posted in Dr. Kwame Opoku writings about looted cultural objects | Comments Off
