Bulgaria has a rich archaeological history. But the country’s ruins are being looted. “The looters have the most up-to-date technology and good off-road vehicles. They are very mobile and extremely well informed.”
Category: visual
Iran Wins Case To Force Return Of Stolen Artifacts
“Iran won an important court ruling Friday in its bid to force an international art dealer in London to return 18 ancient artifacts that allegedly were stolen from the country’s tombs.”
Brazilian Museum Admits Stolen Picassos Were Uninsured, Unprotected
“Officials at Brazil’s top modern art museum where two prized paintings were stolen this week have admitted its collection is uninsured. The Sao Paulo Museum of Art also said there were major failures in the security system.”
Leonardo Papers Infested With Mould
The Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of drawings and writings by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci, has been infested with mould, according to Italian authorities.
State Defies Court Preservation Order, Destroys Historic Buildings
“The state agency overseeing the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center yesterday began tearing off the facades of two historic buildings on North Broad Street in defiance of a protection ruling issued Thursday by the state’s top preservation official.”
One Artist’s Project: Live Inside A Shopping Mall
“Michael Townsend and seven other artist-squatters established a makeshift apartment in an unused and apparently unnoticed 750-square-foot storage space within the building’s bowels. Beginning in 2004, the group’s members lived in their apartment-in-a-mall for weeks at a time, surviving on takeout from the food court.”
Three Museums Face Identity Crisis
The Whitney, the Dia, and the Smithsonian museums all face issues that could redefine what they’ll be…
Have Today’s Star Architects Ruined Architecture?
John Silber argues that “a few shamelessly self-aggrandizing architects, most prominently Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry, have hijacked an otherwise pragmatic field and, out of naked self-interest, have fostered an ‘absurd’ school of design that fails the functional, aesthetic and economic needs of those it is meant to serve.”
America To Get Glimpse Of Afghanistan’s Best
“A selection of Afghanistan’s ancient artistic treasures — from a dagger hilt carved with a Siberian bear to Greek coins from an excavated city called Woman of the Moon — is scheduled to come to Washington next May and continue on a 17-month national tour.”
Russian Art Loan On Again, With Caveats
Russia will reverse course and permit paintings from its museums to travel to London once newly proposed legislation in the UK is in force. Russian officials “would not say whether the exhibition would open on schedule in London, saying it will be up to organizers to decide whether they could ship the paintings quickly enough.”