Author Archives: Mieke

Venus of Willendorf

Art World The Venus of Willendorf and Other Voluptuous Ancient Figures May Have Been ‘Ideological Tools’ to Shape Body-Image Norms The Ice Age figures may have been worn as amulets to help achieve weight gain. Sarah Cascone, December 4, 2020 Europe’s prehistoric Venus figurines, dating from the Upper Paleolithic, are one of the world’s oldest art forms.

DISCOVERY AT SAQQARA

  Egyptian archaeologists make the ‘biggest discovery of 2020’ More than 100 painted coffins have been found at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo GARRY SHAW 18th November 2020 10:30 GMT The discovery was announced at a press conference last week © Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt Egyptian archaeologists have announced the

Unesco under fire

Unesco under fire for using Met objects in anti-trafficking campaign Advertisements said that the works were recently looted, but Met documentation shows that they have a much longer provenance NANCY KENNEY 13th November 2020 20:28 GMT trafficked art. UNESCO has pulled back images from an advertising campaign intended to highlight international trafficking in looted artefacts

ANCIENT KUSH SITE DESTROYED

A Band of Illegal Gold Miners Have Completely Destroyed an Ancient Kush Settlement in Sudan Archaeologists found the excavation site unrecognizable. Sarah Cascone, August 26, 2020 Archaeologist Habab Idriss Ahmed, right, and Mahmoud al-Tayeb, inspect stones at Jabal Maragha in the desert of Bayoudas. Photo by Ebrahim HAMID/AFP/Getty Images. Jabal Maragha, an ancient archaeological site in

STONEHENGE

From The Art News Paper, August 5, 2020 Origins of Stonehenge’s giant slabs revealed in new research Sample taken in 1958 was key in discovering ancient site’s “geochemical fingerprint” GARETH HARRIS 31st July 2020 photo: Sally Wilson THE MYSTERY OF WHERE STONEHENGE’S GIANT SLABS CAME FROM MAY NOW BE SOLVED Scientists at the university of

TRADE IN LOOTED ANTIQUITIES EXAGGERATED

Extent of trade in looted antiquities is exaggerated, report claims New research conducted by US non-profit RAND suggests illicit market is less extensive and organised than is commonly believed RIAH PRYOR 27th July 2020 © Ap Photo/Samir Mizban colonel Matthew Bogdanos (left) and former Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi at Iraq’s national museum in 2003 A

Biennale Venice

From Art News Paper Daily, May 19, 2020 By Gareth Harris VENICE ART BEIENNALE The Venice Biennale will now take place 23 April to 27 November 2022 Following the decision by biennial officials to postpone the Architecture Biennale until May 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The world’s most prestigious biennial was initially due to

IADAA Newsletter May 2020

BM fake claytablets RAND Corporation report demolishes current thinking on antiquities trafficking A major report by one of the most respected independent research organisations in the United States claims that current thinking on the trafficking of antiquities is mostly wrong. Its findings have prompted it to propose a radical change in direction in the search