Looted art

Ethiopian restitution claims at the British Museum: The museum responds

Update on requests for information regarding objects seized at battle of Maqdala

Ethiopian restitution claims at the British Museum: The Art Newspaper Investigates

British Museum holds collection of objects seized at battle of Maqdala

Iranarchive

36 arrested and 940 objects reclaimed as Iranian authorities apprehend antiquities smuggling ring

Iran has clamped down on illegal trade in antiquities, which has led to archaeological sites being promptly denuded post-discovery

Iran sentences Jiroft smugglers to death

It is the first time that Iranian courts have issued a harsh punishment for the illicit exportation of goods from an archaeological site

Iraqarchive

Zainab Bahrani, cultural advisor to Iraq's provisional government, resigns after three months

In an article Bahrani wrote for the Guardian, she stated “[We have seen the] active destruction of the archaeological and historical record of the land”

Newsarchive

Iran returns war booty to Kuwait

The works were seized in 1999 in western Iran, near the Turkish border

Iraqarchive

Iraq's Ministry of Culture takes reins from Coalition Provisional Authority as Zainab Bahrani is elected as senior consultant

The US-Iraqi academic has turned her attention to addressing the unauthorised excavation of archaeological sites

Iraqarchive

Sudden and draconian consequences of the Iraq war imposed by the United Nations to ensure objects illegally removed during the war are returned

If a person in the UK who has a cultural item of Iraqi origin in his possession does not immediately hand that item over to a “constable”, he may now be guilty of a criminal offence and liable to imprisonment, even if he has legal title to the object

Iraq's legacy of neglect and conflict: Interview with the Coalition Provisional Authority's senior adviser for culture, John Russell

The ambassador assesses the situation on the ground and recommends that swift action must be taken if cultural landmarks are to remain

How the contents of Iran’s Western Cave were dispersed

Many of the objects, some extant since the first millennium BC, were looted from the site and entered the international market

Antiquities dealer arrested for smuggling Iranian artefact from raided archaeological site into US

Hicham Aboutaam sold the antiquity to a New York buyer for $950,000; the US says it is part of a the looted Western Cave hoard

Cambodiaarchive

Looters search areas of archaeological importance in Cambodia after bomb disposal experts have de-mined them

Illicit excavations occur as de-mined areas often show no signs of the riches below the surface so authorities do not deploy heritage security teams

Looted tombstone from Jiroft returned to Iran following its seizure by London police

After the tomb was discovered, Iran's Ministry of Culture were unable to prevent civilians from systematically emptying them of artefacts, which were then shipped overseas

Iranarchive

London and Paris markets flooded with Iranian antiquities looted from newly discovered site at Jiroft

Before police intervened, thousands of objects were plundered by locals and sold on to Europe

Recent developments in restitution claims in Russia prove that some art theft is 'legitimate'; when it is committed by a government that is recognised by nations around the world

Unlike the heirs of Nazi victims, the descendants of collectors whose art was appropriated by the Bolsheviks are unlikely to have it returned

American troop opens fire on senior cultural adviser to Coalition Provisional Authority touring Iraq's archaeological sites

There on an official visit to gauge the level of damage done by looting, Pietro Cordone came out of the incident unscathed, although his interpreter was killed

The Springfield Museum sues Knoedler over spoliated Bassano

Knoedler's poor provenance research led to the return of a $3 million painting to Italy

Books: Restitution justice, American style

Two books reveal the complexities involved in restitution

Iraqarchive

Details of National Museum of Iraq looting emerge

While the Warka Vase has been accounted for, reports suggest that the cylinder seal collection has vanished

Philippe de Montebello on the sack of the Iraq Museum: “Is it sensible for all the eggs to be in one basket?”

The Art Newspaper speaks to the director of the Metropolitan about the historical significance of the Iraq Museum's plunder and how disasters of its kind can be dealt with

Iraqarchive

International outrage as Iraq's National Museum is sacked by civilians

American army says it was aware of the risks, but did not protect the building as Iraqi nationals overwhelmed staff who attempted to defend the collection

Newsarchive

Italian cathedral submits war-loot claim to British Library

The claim is for a bound 290-folio missal which appears to have disappeared in 1943

Furniture proves the next frontier in restitution as Fraenkel objects are tracked down

A claim brought against the Musée Carnavalet in Paris has an effect on US museums

British Museum Old Master drawings subject to restitution claim

Four drawings are being claimed by the heir of a Nazism victim

Unescoarchive

Long the hub of the illicit antiquities trade, Switzerland is moving towards ratification of the 1970 Unesco Convention

Switzerland also debating new national legislation to make the movement of art and artefacts more transparent

Cambodiaarchive

US imposes import restriction on certain Khmer artefacts

“The pillage of such items from Cambodia is an emergency”

Looted artarchive

Johnny Eskenazi on the cultural casualties of the Afghan war: An evening with Kalashnikovs and the Begram ivories

In 1996, the art dealer and scholar was taken secretly to the house of a Pakistani politician where he saw one of the greatest treasures from the Kabul Museum

Art marketarchive

Son of El Lissitzky files for return of another war loot Kandinsky

The dispute revolves around the work 'Improvisation No.10'

Looted artarchive

Art dealer Adam Williams found guilty after 11 years of litigation

Williams will not appeal French court decision, citing health reasons