ILLICIT TRADE IN CULTURAL ARTEFACTS: THE CASES OF EGYPT AND SUDAN

Name: ILLICIT TRADE IN CULTURAL ARTEFACTS: THE CASES OF EGYPT AND SUDAN
Start: 2025-09-27T10:30:00+01:00
End: 2025-09-27T18:00:00+01:00
Location: UCL Institute of Archaeology

Schedule

Sat Sep 27 2025 at 10:30 am to 06:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

UCL Institute of Archaeology | London, EN

We are privileged to have Dr Marcel Marée lead this important study day on a topic of great concern to us all. Over recent decades, archaeological sites in the Middle East and North Africa have seen a sharp increase in illegal digging. Artefacts excavated and exported without authorisation are flooding the international art market on an unprecedented scale. This is not just a product of the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Looters and traffickers of the 21st century exploit the new technologies of the internet, encrypted messaging, and social media, through which they trade largely unhindered with clients around the world. Subject specialists are slow to recognise that they have a critical role to play in counteracting this scourge. Therefore, in 2018, the speaker launched Circulating Artefacts (CircArt), a project for cultural experts to scrutinise the art market through in-depth provenance research. Initially focused on artefacts from Egypt and Sudan, CircArt has helped identify and recover thousands of smuggled antiquities.
The four lectures include:
1. Cultural Property and the Threats to Its Survival
2. Legal Framework and Workings of the Trade in Cultural Property
3. The Circulating Artefacts (CircArt) Project
4. How to Detect Illegally Sourced Artefacts
In addition to hearing four fascinating lectures, you will have plenty of opportunity to ask questions, and to socialise with the speaker over morning and afternoon refreshments.