News

Professor Shawn Graham and his team worked alongside Dr Donna Yates to design a machine-learning model that helps researchers to uncover previously unknown possible connections by using known, established facts about the illegal antiquities trade. Read all about their work here: https://carleton.ca/fass/story/connecting-the-digital-dots/

Dr Donna Yates will participate in Round Table ‘Science Diplomacy: As a tool for tackling cultural property illicit trafficking’, May 25 and 26, 2023. The event aims to foster greater understanding about the links and possibilities of interaction between Science Diplomacy and scientific research, in relation to the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, by providing a variety of...

Dr Donna Yates is speaking at a regional conference on use of AML/CFT in Investigation of Art & Antiquities Criminality in Mexico. Conference is taking place from 9–11 May, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico. The Conference aims to strengthen the capacity of the public and private sectors to share information, exchange best practices, identify problems and create solutions to this type of crime.

Donna Yates was featured in the New York Times article “For U.S. Museums With Looted Art, the Indiana Jones Era Is Over”. Full article can be read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/arts/museums-looted-art-repatriation.html...

New book titled Art Crime in Context edited by Naomi Oosterman and Donna Yates is out now! “This book brings together empirical and theoretical case-study research on art and heritage crime. Drawn from a diverse group of researchers and professionals, the work presented explores contemporary conceptualisations of art crime within broader contexts. In this volume, we see ‘art’ in its...

Dr Donna Yates was participate in public lecture series “RES(T)ITUIEREN: Provenienz, Sammlung, Verantwortung” (RES(T)ITUTE: provenance, collection, responsibility)  by kgi. Dr Yates will give a lecture titled “Provenance Beyond Objects: New directions and other criminal flows in the global illicit antiquities trade” on 2nd of November. Lecture series will take place: from...

Diāna Bērziņa will speak at 28th EAA Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 31 August – 3 September 2022. Bērziņa will participate in session #237 Protecting the Past Is the Key to the Future: Rights of Archaeological Heritage Stakeholders and Social Justice taking place on 2 September, 2022. Full programme and more details are available here:...

Dr Donna Yates will teach at Summer School: Contested Heritage and the Role of Provenance Research, taking place from 29 Aug to 1 Sep 2022 at the Leiden University Campus, the Netherlands. The summer school will focus on contested cultural objects and the role of provenance research.The programme is curated by Dr. Evelien Campfens (Leiden University) and Dr. Naomi Oosterman (Erasmus University...

Dr Donna Yates will speak at Foro Rumbo a Mondiacult 2022 conference taking place from 8 to 10 August 2022. Dr Yates will participate in session titled “Tráfico Ilícito: búsqueda de una nueva ética mundial”. For more details on the talks and speakers, have a look at the attached programme.

Dr Donna Yates will give an in-person talk “Illicit Antiquities: A Global Criminal Market” at Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture & Research, Kingdom of Bahrain  on 30th of May, 2022. For more details, please visit: https://shaikhebrahimcenter.org/en/event/illicit-antiquities-a-global-criminal-market/#

Dr Emiline Smith was interviewed on NewsFirst Sri Lanka. Dr Smith talked about looting, illegal export, and protection of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage. The full interview is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9AMrBXxpd4 

Article “The Ongoing Looting of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Heritage” written by Dr Emiline Smith has been published on Hyperallergic. “Artifacts stolen from the Kotawehera Rajamaha temple in Sri Lanka are the latest victims of longstanding looting and trafficking,” writes Smith.  Read the full article...

Dr Donna Yates wrote a piece titled “Violence as a Value Enhancer in the Art Market” for the Social Science Research Council’s “Where Heritage Meets Violence” series. In this piece, Dr Yates look at the market for Pacific cultural heritage: The sale of heritage from the Pacific is entangled with colonial narratives that sensationalize cultures of the...

Neil Brodie and Donna Yates gave a keynote presentation titled “Money Laundering and Antiquities” at UNESCO/EU Workshop on the Role of the Financial Sector in the Fight against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, which took place online on 27 January 2022. The workshop brought together leading experts and professionals in the field. Lecturers, researchers, representatives of the...

Dr Donna Yates made an appearance on “What Are Museums For” podcast by Fitzwilliam Museum, Colnaghi Foundation and Athena Art Foundation. Dr Yates appeared on episode 4 titled “Restitution”. Fitzwilliam Museum Director Luke Syson and Athena Art Foundation Director Nicola Jennings talk with Professor Nicholas Thomas and Dr Donna Yates about institutional and community...

Neil Brodie and Donna Yates will give a keynote presentation titled “Money Laundering and Antiquities” at UNESCO/EU Workshop on the Role of the Financial Sector in the Fight against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, which will take place online on 27 January 2022. The workshop will bring together leading experts and professionals in the field. Lecturers, researchers,...

Dr Donna Yates will give a lecture titled “The antiquities trade: Defining a grey market?” at online summer school Cross Border Transfer of Cultural Objects: the Law, Challenges, and Practice.  The summer school will take place online from 23 – 26 August 2021. The programme is curated by Evelien Campfens (Leiden University) and Naomi Oosterman (Erasmus University Rotterdam). “The Centre...

Dr Donna Yates will participate in roundtable Session #376. “Expanding Horizons: Decolonisation, Contested Ownership of Archaeological Material, and the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property” at the 2021 annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. The session will be held entirely online and will take place at 14:30 – 17:30 CEST, 8 September 2021. The content of the...

The European Research Council-funded “Trafficking Transformations” project is hosting an online conference “The Power of Things: Understanding relationships between objects and crime. The conference will take place on 6 May 2021. This conference takes an “object-focused” approach to understanding aspects of crime and crime prevention. The goal of this conference is...

Dr Donna Yates will be one of the key speakers at an introductory webinar “Criminal networks trafficking antiquities: can we disrupt the market ?” organised by EU AML/CFT Global Facility. This webinar is the first of a series of regional events where international experts and law enforcement agencies will discuss approaches to disrupting criminal networks involved in trafficking...