Behind every object, a history worth investigating.
ARCA brings research, education, and international
cooperation to the protection of art and cultural heritage.
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH.
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.
We are a research civil society organisation working across disciplines and borders to understand art crime, strengthen professional practice, and advocate for the responsible stewardship of cultural heritage.
WHAT WE DO
Knowledge put to work.
01 / RESEARCH
Art crime &
provenance
ARCA examines the illicit trade in art and antiquities, traces ownership histories, and analyses the evidence behind disputed acquisitions, producing research that supports investigations, informs restitution, and strengthens the protection of cultural heritage.
02 / EDUCATION
Postgraduate
programmes
ARCA’s postgraduate programmes combine rigorous interdisciplinary study with instruction from leading scholars and practitioners, equipping participants with the knowledge and practical skills to investigate art crime, research provenance, and address the challenges of cultural heritage protection.
03 / PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Specialist training
& capacity building
Learning tailored to the needs of heritage professionals, public officials, and law enforcement, ARCA’s bespoke training combines specialist expertise with practical exercises to address specific institutional challenges and strengthen responses to art crime and cultural heritage threats.
04 / COLLABORATION
Cultural heritage
protection
ARCA brings together cultural heritage professionals and specialists across allied disciplines to investigate cultural property crime, share expertise, and strengthen international cooperation in the protection of the world’s cultural heritage.
05 / PUBLICATIONS
Research in print
& online
ARCA publishes the Journal of Art Crime twice a year, alongside books on art and antiquities crime, making scholarly research, investigative reporting, and informed analysis accessible to specialists and the wider public.
06 / PUBLIC OUTREACH
The Amelia
Conference
ARCA’s art crime conference brings researchers and practitioners together to exchange findings, debate emerging challenges, and develop collaborations that advance the study and prevention of cultural property crime.
Is art and heritage crime understudied? Yes, but ARCA is changing that.
For more than 15 years, ARCA has been a world leader in specialist training in art crime and cultural heritage protection, bringing together people across disciplines and borders to understand how these crimes happen and develop the skills to confront them.
Taught by leading scholars and experienced practitioners, our programmes connect rigorous academic study with the demands of investigations, provenance research, and heritage protection. Participants learn to question ownership histories, assess evidence, and apply their knowledge to the challenges facing the art and heritage sectors.
Explore our programme offerings and join an international community putting research and expertise to work in the protection of cultural heritage.
Testimonials
See What People Are Saying
"ARCA is a transformative and signature institution that uniquely combines a passion for art with the pursuit of justice. I admittedly attended with extremely high expectations, and yet those expectations were exceeded by the quality of the programme, the knowledge of its faculty, and the passion to fight for art and heritage that is delivered in every course. Nowhere else can you find such a dedicated group of educators for the future leaders in the fight against art and heritage crime!”
Lionel Doe
Detective Constable Lionel Doe, Toronto Police Service, Canada
Dima Ashker
Office of the Director General of Antiquities & Museums, Syria
“I truly enjoyed every minute that I spent studying with ARCA. It was the most important experience of my career.
I have no doubt that this rare expertise will give me a unique professional edge and enable me to make meaningful contributions to the field in the future.”
“ARCA transformed my interest in art crime into a veritable passion. I love sharing all the knowledge I have acquired with my students and colleagues who are now almost as fired up about fighting art crime as I am! I am eternally grateful to ARCA for opening up this whole new world to me.”
Suzette Scotti
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, USA