The Ethics of African Art Provenance Research in Museums: A Work in Progress

The goal of this seminar series is to present the multifaceted, multidisciplinary nature of research investigating issues surrounding illicit antiquities – defining what illicit and licit antiquities mean, highlighting the ethical complexities of dealing with such objects archaeologically, including the legal, ethical, and political considerations involved. The series brings together scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds to discuss policies, data collection and publication, material analysis, and sociological modelling of trafficking networks, artefact status, and human agencies involved in dealing with looted material nationally, internationally and transnationally. Over a period of 10 weeks we will combine archaeology, museums studies, law, sociology, and heritage research to work towards a better understanding of the analysis, publication and display of global (il)licit antiquities and cultural objects. 

Mondays, from 4pm, via Zoom

• January 10: Sam Hardy (Research Fellow in Cultural Heritage and Conflicts, Norwegian  Institute in Rome, University of Oslo) - Cultural property crime and human security: organised crime and conflict financing
• January 17: Katie Paul (Co-director and founder, ATHAR project) - How Trafficking Networks and Tech Companies Profit from the Online Black Market in Antiquities
• January 24: Silvia Forni (Senior Curator of Global Africa in the ROM's Department of Art & Culture) - The Ethics of African Art Provenance Research in Museums: A Work in Progress
• January 31: Sophie Hayes (Detective Constable, Metropolitan Police Antiques and Arts Unit) - The Art of Organized Crime
• February 7: Jacques Schuhmacher (Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Provenance and Spoliation Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum) - Provenance Research, Due Diligence and Restitution’ or ‘The gold ewer: Provenance Research, Museum policies and Return
• February 21: Gail Boyle (Senior Curator - Archaeology & World Cultures at Bristol Culture, Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives) - Putting the archaeology back into antiquarian: the Dr Fawcett Collection of typology
• February 28: Christos Tsirogiannis (Associate Professor, Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies) - Academics’ responsibilities and the market in unprovenanced and illicit antiquities
• March 7: Emiline Smith (Lecturer in Criminology, University of Glasgow) - Title tbc 
• March 14: Morag Kersel (Associate Professor, DePaul College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences) - Licence to Sell. The Legal Trade of Antiquities in Israel
• March 21: Marcel Marée (Assistant Keeper, Ancient Egypt & Sudan in the British Museum) - Beyond the Circulating Artefacts project: Next steps towards improved art market monitoring

All welcome! Any enquiries about the series may be directed to Alice Stevenson. Summer Austin should be contacted for Zoom links.