Conferenza XXXVIII

The Illicit Trade in Antiquities as a Challenge for Research: Social Sciences and Humanities Facing a Contemporary Issue.

13 novembre 2025
Ore 18.00
École française de Rome
Piazza Navona 62

The looting and trafficking of antiquities is a long-standing phenomenon that separates objects from their context and robs societies of their history. Today, it is exacerbated by recent political and military crises, which have created new circuits, leading to an unprecedented, but mostly hidden, marketization of cultural heritage. The development of digital media has also increased the capacity for commercialization and distribution, making the phenomenon global. Archaeology, art history and other fields of research are affected by the contemporary development of looting, both in their methods and in the definition of their objects of study. The protection of cultural heritage is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, along with climate change and the environment. It is also a promising field of research, bringing together the humanities, social sciences and technologies, and an ally of citizenship and democracy through a better understanding and strengthening of the link between people and heritage. For these reasons, it is urgent not only to be aware of the non-renewable nature of cultural heritage as a resource, but also to find new answers and implement pragmatic solutions to protect cultural heritage from contemporary looting and trafficking. The lecture will be based on the experience of two European projects carried out over the last ten years.

Véronique Chankowski, Directrice de l’Ecole française d’Athènes, Professeur d’histoire grecque de l’Université Lyon 2.

Conferenze Dell’Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia in Roma