Read on Twitter
I see the auction houses aren't the only ones laundering things:
The British press continues to launder the British Museum's reputation as a fighter against looted antiquities. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/sep/27/ancient-sculpture-put-up-for-auction-in-uk-to-be-returned-to-iraq
The British press continues to launder the British Museum's reputation as a fighter against looted antiquities. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/sep/27/ancient-sculpture-put-up-for-auction-in-uk-to-be-returned-to-iraq
Previous examples of the British Museum working with government agencies being hyped by British media
Note the juxtaposition when you access this Art Newspaper article from May now. A perfect symbol of the problem.
Meanwhile, the BM curator at the center of this cooperation has also been misleadingly suggesting that antiquities looting isn't really a problem anymore! https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1248687707016093703
In reality we get the sense that cooperation with authorities is an attempt by the British Museum to launder it's own reputation. https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1191886370194763778
One more point: it's odd to see the British Museum so concerned about looting at Tello (ancient Girsu) when in the 1920s and 1930s they acquired material looted from the site.
Earlier this year the BM organized a traveling exhibition centered on their Gudea statue, apparently looted from Tello
The exhibition was meant to showcase their Iraq emergency heritage scheme, whose real goal seems to justify their holding looted objects https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1223716046336614400
The exhibition was meant to showcase their Iraq emergency heritage scheme, whose real goal seems to justify their holding looted objects https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1223716046336614400
More from @ChasingAphrodit. This is right of course, we see this excuse all the time (we checked the Art Loss Register) -- dealers know nothing will turn up, but it does give a false veneer of due diligence and legitimacy https://twitter.com/ChasingAphrodit/status/1310247084600127488
This is a key observation & something I had missed when I read the story.
Is there *any* supposedly altruistic action of the BM relating to foreign cultural heritage that isn't really about self-promotion?
https://twitter.com/tamacahut/status/1310250589314527233
Is there *any* supposedly altruistic action of the BM relating to foreign cultural heritage that isn't really about self-promotion?
https://twitter.com/tamacahut/status/1310250589314527233
