Session Dates
Session I: Monday, March 13, 2023 at 18.00 – 19.30 CET
Session II: Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 18.00 – 19.30 CET
Session III: Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 18.00 – 19.30 CET
NOTE: Due to a malfunction in our course purchase software (that we are working on), if you would like to enroll in this course, please send as your email address to education@artcrimeresearch.org and we can manually invoice you for the course fee. Once your fee has been paid, we will send you a Zoom link for the first session.
Course Description
This three-session, 4.5-hour, low participant-to-instructor ratio, eCourse will provide an introduction to the problems of looting and trafficking of antiquities in the Middle East and North Africa. The course’s sessions will focus on areas of conflict and post-conflict with illustrative examples from multiple countries, from Afghanistan in the East to Libya in the West.
Key concepts covered include
➣ How the pillage of ancient artefacts contributes to the destruction of what we know about the past and ancient civilisations by removing artefacts from their context, making interpretation difficult.
➣ How many factors, motives, and actors within the source and transit countries, contribute to the problem.
➣ What factors contribute to crime in source and transit countries.
➣ What factors contribute to crime in market countries.
Participants will come away with a solid introductory understanding of art and heritage crime in conflict and post-conflict countries and how admirers of art sometimes contribute to the destruction of the very thing they love.
Course Lecturer
Dr Samer Abdel Ghafour is a Syrian cultural heritage specialist and the founder of ArchaeologyIN – the Archaeology Information Network. Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the focus of his research and academic teaching has been on safeguarding cultural heritage and countering the illicit trafficking of art and antiquities in conflict and post-conflict zones.