Join us next week for "Leveraging the UNCAC to Combat Cultural Racketeering" at #COSP11. 📅 17 December, 5:00 pm (UTC+03:00) 📍 Special Event Room 2 / Online 🔗 Watch here: meet.google.com/dkq-oifc-vkg Featuring experts from the AC, UNODC, GITOC, @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social, #Egypt, and #Italy.

⛑️Sudan’s archeological heritage is in crisis. To track what’s been lost, Shadia Abdrabo is creating an online database of Sudan’s cultural treasures. Learn more: phys.org/news/2025-11...

🏗️Land Consolidation vs 🏺Archaeology ICAHM’s David Depraetere and Tom Debruyne will discuss conflicts and solutions with two cases from the Flemish hinterland. Wednesday, November 26 at 2 pm (GMT) Register for the Webinar: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

On this, the International Day Against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property, the AC recalls the human impact of #CulturalRacketeering. 📢Cultural plunder robs communities of their heritage, corrupts the archaeological record, and enables a range of organized crimes.

🖼️COMING SOON: An expert discussion featuring the AC's Tess Davis, @arguscpc.bsky.social, and @transparencyusa.bsky.social. Rogue Galleries: Tackling Illicit Finance in US Art Markets ⏰November 17, 2025 | 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. 📍Hudson Institute/Online → Register here: www.hudson.org/preview-link...

🚨ALERT—Thieves stole six Roman statues from Syria's national museum in Damascus earlier this week. Investigators are pursuing information about these lost cultural treasures. Learn more: apnews.com/article/syri...

📣Over 40,000 looted artifacts returned to #Iraq in just four years—a milestone achievement in cultural diplomacy and law enforcement cooperation. But the fight is far from over. Find out more: artdependence.com/articles/ira...

🖼️Five Years of Progress🖼️ On Sept. 24, 2020, the AC’s FCTF released its landmark report, 'Reframing U.S. Policy on the Art Market: Recommendations for Combating Financial Crimes.' → ow.ly/2Iy550X15p7 Stay tuned! In the days ahead, we'll share progress updates and insights from the FCTF.

How are Ukrainians fighting back against Russia’s assault on their cultural heritage? 🔊Find out—listen to this excellent discussion from the ‘Art in Brief’ podcast, featuring Roksolana Makar and Anastasiia Olexii. pod.link/1792885681/e...

📅Mark Your Calendar📅 On September 23, @unesco.org will host a webinar marking the launch of the third volume in the Oxford Commentaries on International Cultural Heritage Law—the focus: #Asia. 🔗 Register here: utsmeet.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🗺️From Burial to Battleground🗺️ The #Mariupol Bull Figurine—buried with a child 8,000 years ago, and excavated by a Ukrainian scholar later executed in Stalin’s purges—is now missing. → Explore our latest StoryMap, tracing its loss: ow.ly/pzNt50WTXtu

🖼️Dirty money is infiltrating the U.S. art market. The #ArtMarketIntegrityAct would fight back by expanding the Bank Secrecy Act—protecting legitimate businesses, while helping law enforcement track illicit financial flows. Let’s bust 4 myths we've seen circulating around the bill:

📅Mark Your Calendar! The U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee will meet Sept. 15-17 to review a new CPA request from #Cameroon and to renew agreements with #Colombia and #Türkiye, and extend emergency restrictions for #Afghanistan. Find Out More: ow.ly/39SS50WEV0B

🚨 New addition to our Ten Most Wanted Antiquities: The “Mariupol Bull Figurine,” one of more than 2,000 museum pieces that disappeared amid the chaos of Russia’s 2022 siege of Mariupol and the Kremlin’s broader campaign of cultural plunder. Learn more: theantiquitiescoalition.org/antiquities-...

The Art Market Integrity Act will deny illicit actors the opportunity to launder money through the US art market. Huge shoutout to @combatlooting.bsky.social for their work championing this important bill. See their full press release here: theantiquitiescoalition.org/congress-tak...

🌐Join us August 5, 2025 Together with the @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social Eurasia Center, we will announce the latest addition to the #TenMostWantedMissingAntiquities list and hear expert discussion on the Russian war on Ukraine’s cultural heritage. → Register here: ow.ly/PmeI50WwfgQ

🖼️A Bipartisan Bill to Stop #ArtCrime: The Art Market Integrity Act The newly released legislative proposal is essential to protect national security, economic integrity, and American businesses. → theantiquitiescoalition.org/congress-tak...

The AC congratulates the @manhattanda.bsky.social Antiquities Trafficking Unit for the restitution of three artifacts to #Indonesia and 28 antiquities to #Turkey. 🛡️Read More: manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-an...

📣 NEW on the AC Blog: The Lalitpur Call to Action—How Regional Leadership is Driving Global Solutions Against Cultural Racketeering. The AC commends @nhrcampaign.bsky.social's leadership in the fight for justice and cultural restitution. 🔸Read more: ow.ly/fj1Z50WmqiC

🇺🇸 🤝🇰🇭 The AC is proud to join an upcoming panel on "Insights from the U.S.–Cambodia Cultural Property Agreement." 📅 30 June 2025 📍 US-ASEAN Center (in-person and online) 🔗 Register by June 27: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

IN THE NEWS—Online antiquities trafficking spikes in #Syria following the collapse of Assad’s regime, reports researchers from the ATHAR Project. 🔍Learn more: ow.ly/2yZ150W6rPy ⛑️Want to help? Save and share ICOM's Red List of Syrian antiquities at risk: ow.ly/3fEF50W6rPx

❓Who is the rightful custodian of the Prakhon Chai Hoard? For AC’s Executive Director Tess Davis, the answer is clear: Fifty years later, it’s past time to return Thailand’s looted statues. → Read more: theantiquitiescoalition.org/acs-tess-dav...

The AC was proud to co-lead a session at #ICAHM2025 on plundering and the restitution of cultural collections. Key takeaways: 🔹 Legal gaps undermine repatriation 🔹 Soft law tools are critical—but need political will 🔹 Multilateral action is key 🔗 Read More: ow.ly/NQBB50VXsbT

Operation Pandora continues to see results: 80 arrests and more than 37,700 cultural goods seized. Other Key Numbers: 🔩 69 Metal detectors seized 🌏 23 countries involved in the operation ⚖️ 258 cases reported, with more arrests and seizures expected www.interpol.int/fr/Actualite...

TODAY the AC is honored to cosponsor a side event with Egypt, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, the UK, the EU, and UNODC to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property at #CCPCJ34 🛡️Join us May 22, 13:00- CEST/ 7:00 ET (in-person/online) www.unodc.org/documents/co...

On the final day of the #ICAHM 2025 conference in San Pedro de Atacama, discussions will focus on Sustainable Tourism and New Technologies, exploring how archaeology and its interpretation intersect with modern tools and contemporary goals.

In the afternoon, the AC was proud to co-chair a session on "Processes of Plundering and Restitution of Archaeological and Anthropological Collections." ED Tess Davis opened the session with an introduction on Understanding the Legal Framework to combat cultural racketeering.

⛰️ Day 4 of the #ICAHM 2025 Annual Meeting begins with a focus on Chile 🇨🇱 -- its archaeology, astronomy, and geoglyphs. Learn more about the Pintados Geolglyph Archaeolgoical Complex: www.monumentos.gob.cl/monumentos/m...

⛰️On day 3 of the #ICAHM 2025 Annual Meeting, all sessions are focused on Public Archaeology and Indigenous Peoples. The importance of this topic cannot be overstated, and the day's presentations feature critical insight from Indigenous representatives.

⛰️ Following yesterday's session on Strategies and Objectives for the Management of Archaeological Heritage, today's sessions dove deeper into management of sites amid development, emergencies, and climate change. Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K3m...

⛰️The Antiquities Coalition is honored to be joining the #ICAHM 2025 Annual Meeting in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, represented by Executive Director Tess Davis and Director of Programs @helenaarose.bsky.social, who chair the ICAHM Working Group on Illicit Trafficking.

Celine Dion’s 2018 Met look? A sculptural masterpiece. This Bronze Griffin head from 7th-century Greece? A looted masterpiece—now returned. #LooksVsLoot pairs couture with contested antiquities → 🎟️https://theantiquitiescoalition.org/22042-2/ #MetGala #MetGala2025 #TheMet #Superfine

🌟As stars walk the blue carpet, we're looking behind the curtain. #LooksVsLoot pairs Met Gala glamour with looted antiquities—now returned. 🎟️Because accountability should be on every guest list→ theantiquitiescoalition.org/22042-2/ #MetGala #MetGala2025 #TheMet #RedCarpet #Superfine

✨ This year’s #MetGala themed 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style', is making headlines for its stunning #fashion. But behind the scenes, another story unfolds at The Met.

📢 Your voice matters in the fight against #IllicitTrafficking. The Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) will meet online May 20–23 to review Cultural Property Agreements with #Chile, #Italy, #Morocco, and #CostaRica, and hear a request for a new agreement with #Vietnam.

💸The AC has long warned that the multi-billion dollar U.S. art market is a haven for financial crimes...

🚨 Just announced: AC Executive Director Tess Davis will speak at the International Forum on Cultural Heritage & Knowledge Development in Abu Dhabi, May 1–2! Join her Day 2 as she explores legal frameworks to protect heritage. 🎟 Register here: lnkd.in/dFcbFTXd

🕯️The Antiquities Coalition joins the global community in marking the loss of Pope Francis. While his life’s work is wide-ranging, Pope Francis repeatedly recognized the importance of cultural heritage and history, not just to honor the past, but to build a better future.

Happy World Heritage Day from the Antiquities Coalition! To us, heritage is a tangible link to our culture, history, and environment, helping us to understand who we are, who we have been, and who we may become. 🗿We want to know—what does heritage mean to you?

🌍 Who should safeguard Africa’s cultural heritage? New AC Commentary by Dr. Leslye Obiora argues that engaging traditional authorities—like Nigeria’s Oba in the Benin Bronzes case—can strengthen heritage protection. Read It Here: acthinktank.scholasticahq.com/article/1336...

THIS FRIDAY, the Wilson Center MEP will host a special screening of "Artifact War." 🏺A deep dive into the looting and sale of Syrian antiquities, this documentary exposes links between cultural racketeering and terrorist financing. Register here: www.wilsoncenter.org/event/docume...

ICYMI- Archaeologists Uncover Massive Tomb of Unknown Pharaoh in Egypt 🔗https://ow.ly/9WOi50VrBHo ⛏️This incredible new discovery reminds us: As long as there are tombs, there will be tomb raiders. Join us in the fight against #CulturalRacketeering —https://ow.ly/gnIl50VrBHp

So pleased to share this article coauthored for @combatlooting.bsky.social by me and Sudanese Heritage Professional Ali Nour on why now presents a unique opportunity to take action to protect Sudan's culture. www.linkedin.com/pulse/anothe...

📢 Hot Off the Press: AC Think Tank Re-releases Inaugural Policy Brief to Hold Antiquities Traffickers Accountable 📢 It’s been nearly a decade since Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire published his influential policy brief “How to End Impunity for Antiquities Traffickers."

🏺⛏️Amidst War, Cultural Racketeering Thrives in Sudan Heritage professionals on the ground in Sudan report, “We have illegal digging in many of the sites,” including in the heartland of the ancient Kush Empire. Accounts of Sudan’s heritage under siege: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/02/14/s...

Museum artifacts have “surprisingly few legal sources” — so criminals often “launder” smuggled treasures by inventing fake stories, a @combatlooting.bsky.social expert explains. @ARIJNetwork dives into one case surrounding a German sailor who may never have existed 👇 https://buff.ly/3EQ47fi

ICYMI— Investigation spotlights links between the Latin American #Cartels and #CulturalRacketeering — "The hidden stories of the cultural looting of Latin America" 👀Read more: memoriarobada.ojo-publico.com/investigacio...

The AC commends @manhattanda.bsky.social Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., his office, and investigative partners for protecting global heritage and ensuring that stolen artifacts are rightfully returned. 🏺Learn more: theantiquitiescoalition.org/manhattan-da...

IN THE NEWS— On February 21, 2025, @occrp.org featured Executive Director Tess Davis in an article highlighting the importance of #transparency and #accountability in the art and antiquities market. 🔎Dive Into the Case: theantiquitiescoalition.org/antiquities-...

📆Mark Your Calendar📆 "Trafficking and Terrorism of Antiquities"— an examination of the legal structures, challenges, and best practices for prosecuting cultural terrorism and antiquities trafficking. 📌March 5, 2025 🔗https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SfV1qONNS3K0xB20I0PvMg#/registration