Cultural Heritage Crime Conference 2022
The Cultural Heritage Crime Conference (CHCC) is a global festival composed of locally hosted sessions designed to shine a spotlight on heritage crime issues. In England, Historic England estimates that 200 heritage crime occur each day. Heritage crime is linked to organized crime and arms, narcotics, and human trafficking. Recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, highlight the dangers to culture during conflict. There is an urgent and global need to address heritage crime in its many forms.
The first year of CHCC was 2021 and thousands of participants joined sessions based at Cranfield University from around the world. In 2022, the conference will consist of sessions run in Australia, Canada, and UK. Coordinated by Cranfield University, each partner organization will plan, organize, and hold their sessions with locally based experts. Working together, these global conference sessions will engage and educate the public, while providing a platform for raising local voices by practioners, heritage managers, museum works and archivists, academics, military, and law enforcement.
CHCC 2022 will address contemporary issues in heritage crime including repatriation, trafficking, culture during conflict, social media and digital art, and security and protection of heritage sites. The conference is free and available online, or in person at certain partner institutions.
Day 1 – August 1, 2022
Session 1. Opening and Europe Session
Session Link: https://cranfield.zoom.us/j/81969660817?pwd=M2FvNjVmekNQME9LRGlnY01rS3Q1QT09
Organised by Peter Campbell and Alice Farren-Bradley at Cranfield University, UK
15:00-17:00 GMT+1
15:00-15:05 Welcome and introduction by Alice Farren-Bradley (Cranfield)
15:05-15:20 When a Pandemic Hobby Becomes a Heritage Crime: Profiles and Patterning in Illicit Magnet Fishing by Peter Campbell (Cranfield)
15:20-15:35 Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict by Elke Kellner (ICOM Austria)
15:35-15:50 Archaeological Representation, Ethics and Player Desensitisation in Simulation Video Games by Jessica Elleray (Oxford Archaeology)
15:50-16:05 Pedagogy in Investigation of Heritage Crime by Alice Farren-Bradley (Cranfield)
16:05-16:20 Panel Discussion and Questions
Day 2 – August 2, 2022
Session 2. Australasia Session: Selling Yourself to Sell the Past: Manipulation in the Antiquities Trade
Session Link: https://cranfield.zoom.us/j/81763211853?pwd=ZDduR0VLTzB4a0M4WUNCUWtMSXdjZz09
Organised by Damien Huffer at the University of Queensland, Australia
1:00-3:00 GMT+1/10:00-12:00 AEST
10:00-10:30 AEST – You can put it on After-pay: A Snapshot of the Online Trade and Trafficking of Australian Lithics by Fiona Mathieson (University of Queensland)
10:30-11:00 AEST – “Forging Antiquity”: An Overview of the Project by Malcolm Choat (Macquarie) and Rachel Yuen-Collingridge (Macquarie)
11:00-11:30 AEST – A Marketplace for 2,000-Year-Old Manuscripts? Evaluating YouTube’s Role in the Illicit Antiquities Trade by Evie Handby (Macquarie)
11:30-12:00 AEST – The EFEO, André Malraux and Douglas Latchford: Khmer Art for Sale by Lia Genovese (Independent)
12:00-12:30 AEST – “Vintage from Before 1700:” Cultural Production on Etsy and the Role of Language in Laundering Antiquities by Charlotte Looram (University of Western Australia)
12:30-13:00 AEST – Panel Discussion and Questions
Session 3. Africa Session
Session Link: https://cranfield.zoom.us/j/89966394266?pwd=K0hPazdWMkVDYnl4Vk0xRVkydGpKUT09
Organised by Kodzo Gavua at the University of Ghana
14:00-16:00 GMT+1/13:00-15:00 GMT
13:00-13:05 GMT Introduction by Kodzo Gavua (University of Ghana)
13:05-13:20 GMT World Cultural Heritage Site and Security Issues by Konstantinos-Orfeas Sotiriou (Hellenic Organization for Cultural Resources and Development)
13:20-13:40 GMT Rescue Archaeology and Dams in Conflict Areas: Potential technical solution based on radar and optical satellite imagery for documenting and monitoring the impact of large-scale water infrastructures on cultural heritage by Federico Zaina (Politecnico di Milano) and Deodato Tapete (Italian Space Agency)
13:40-13:55 GMT Silent Heritage “Canoe Series” of Opobo Kingdom by Bell-Gam Obiesigha (African Photojournalism Database, World Press Photo)
13:55-14:10 GMT Restitution and Reparation of Cultural Objects: An African Perspective by Kodzo Gavua (University of Ghana)
14:10-14:20 GMT Panel Discussion and Questions
Day 3 – August 3, 2022
Session 4. Culture During Conflict Session
Session Link: https://cranfield.zoom.us/j/86785132025?pwd=U2VrSTZaTVZ3S20vWklWTWRkcjJ1dz09
Organised by Alice Farren-Bradley and Peter Campbell at Cranfield University, UK
11:00-14:00 GMT+1
11:00-11:05 Introduction by Alice Farren-Bradley (Cranfield)
11:05-11:30 Cultural Property Protection in Theory and Practice: The Work of the Blue Shield by Peter Stone (Blue Shield International)
11:30-11:55 Heritage in the Crossfire by Lisa Mol (University of the West of England)
11:55-12:20 The Role of Heritage for Peace by Isber Sabrine (Heritage for Peace)
12:20-12:45 A Protocol for Safeguarding World Cultural Heritage Sites at Risk by Giuseppe Maino
12:45-13:00 Panel Discussion and Questions
Session 5. North America Session and Closing
Session Link: https://carleton-ca.zoom.us/j/94684370941
Organised by Shawn Graham at Carleton University, Canada
16:00-18:30 GMT+1/11:00-13:30 EST
11.00-11.05: Opening Remarks by Shawn Graham (Carleton)
11.05 – 11.25: “Truth shall spring out of the Earth.” How Indigenous History in Iowa is Being Stolen by a Pseudoarchaeological Quest to Prove A Fringe Book of Mormon Theory True by Steph Halmhofer (Alberta)
11.25 – 11.45: The Forgotten People in Heritage Crime: Human Remains by Heather Gill-Frerking (NTK)
11.45 – 12.05 : Vatnik Coppers, Genocide Denier-Advocates and Anti-migration Migrants: Looting of Antiquities and the Rule of Law by Sam Hardy (Heritage Management Organization)
12.05 – 12.25: How Tech Companies and Antiquities Traffickers Profit from the Unregulated Digital Black Market by Katie Paul (ATHAR)
12.25 – 12.45: Crime or not crime? Beyond the law, Latin American countries ask for their heritage back by Pierre Losson (Independent)
12.45-1.30 Panel Discussion and Questions
Conference Closing