Idanthyrsus
@idanthyrsus.bsky.social
Art/tech/int'l law focused | Late Antiquity and Silk Road art history obsessive
It's interesting that in quoted article the Egyptian government takes a more restrained view of repatriation, knowing the issues such claims face. Only the 'influencers' and grifters quoted in this article, like Bassam el-Shammaa, are making such aggressive, clueless claims.
November 8, 2025 at 5:32 AM
It's interesting that in quoted article the Egyptian government takes a more restrained view of repatriation, knowing the issues such claims face. Only the 'influencers' and grifters quoted in this article, like Bassam el-Shammaa, are making such aggressive, clueless claims.
I've banged on about this a lot, see the nesting threads below. It seems insane to me that the major US lobbying org for 'protecting' heritage supports, profits from, and collaborates with the state engaged in largest heritage destruction campaigns of the 21st century.
bsky.app/profile/idan...
bsky.app/profile/idan...
This is blatant even from the @combatlooting.bsky.social, Lehr gives unadulterated praise of the Chinese gov't with no mention of the intentional destruction of Tibetan and Uyghur cultural heritage. No one should take this organization seriously.
www.scmp.com/opinion/chin...
www.scmp.com/opinion/chin...
Opinion | China’s safeguarding of cultural heritage signals its global ambition
For China, the protection of antiquities is not just about safeguarding objects of its past – it is about defining its place in the future.
www.scmp.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I've banged on about this a lot, see the nesting threads below. It seems insane to me that the major US lobbying org for 'protecting' heritage supports, profits from, and collaborates with the state engaged in largest heritage destruction campaigns of the 21st century.
bsky.app/profile/idan...
bsky.app/profile/idan...
Unlike the Sheffield case, intimidation isn't needed when profit is possible, and Lehr has personally profited mightily from her Chinese state connections. The same capture has been noted about the World Monuments Fund and ICOMOS, who remained silent about Xinjiang.
www.aspi.org.au/report/cultu...
www.aspi.org.au/report/cultu...
Cultural erasure - ASPI
Tracing the destruction of Uyghur and Islamic spaces in Xinjiang This report is supported by a companion website, the Xinjiang Data Project. What’s the problem? The Chinese Government has embarked on a systematic and intentional campaign to rewrite the cultural heritage of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). It’s seeking to erode and redefine the culture of […]
www.aspi.org.au
November 4, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Unlike the Sheffield case, intimidation isn't needed when profit is possible, and Lehr has personally profited mightily from her Chinese state connections. The same capture has been noted about the World Monuments Fund and ICOMOS, who remained silent about Xinjiang.
www.aspi.org.au/report/cultu...
www.aspi.org.au/report/cultu...
Do we know what happened to the statue since repatriation, or has it suffered a similar fate as the Venus of Cyrene? Perhaps not the wisest choice to immediately send a statue back to country in a cold civil war that lost another important repatriated Cyrene sculpture less than a decade prior.
October 28, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Do we know what happened to the statue since repatriation, or has it suffered a similar fate as the Venus of Cyrene? Perhaps not the wisest choice to immediately send a statue back to country in a cold civil war that lost another important repatriated Cyrene sculpture less than a decade prior.
Even if they were products of colonialism, that is not grounds for such justification. Unlike the baseless claims here, we know the Benin Bronzes were made of the literal profits of slavery. Yet it would be ridiculous to downplay their looting on that basis.
www.livescience.com/benin-bronze...
www.livescience.com/benin-bronze...
Benin Bronzes were made from metal mined from Germany that was used to purchase slaves, study reveals
The Benin Bronzes were made from rings used to purchase slaves in Africa. Now, scientists have found that most of the metal was mined in western Germany.
www.livescience.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Even if they were products of colonialism, that is not grounds for such justification. Unlike the baseless claims here, we know the Benin Bronzes were made of the literal profits of slavery. Yet it would be ridiculous to downplay their looting on that basis.
www.livescience.com/benin-bronze...
www.livescience.com/benin-bronze...
This opportunism also ironically mirrors the most anti-repatriation types, who use every theft, destruction, or looting in a museum in the developing world as proof why Western museums should never repatriate. Using fresh heritage crime for ideological point scoring is grotesque no matter the side.
October 22, 2025 at 10:49 AM
This opportunism also ironically mirrors the most anti-repatriation types, who use every theft, destruction, or looting in a museum in the developing world as proof why Western museums should never repatriate. Using fresh heritage crime for ideological point scoring is grotesque no matter the side.
What's sad is that there are repatriation discussions to be had about some colonial-era items in the Louvre. However, behavior like this will only hurt those discussions. No museum would want to listen to such a bad faith actor who only see opportunity in that museum's misfortune, nor should they.
October 22, 2025 at 10:34 AM
What's sad is that there are repatriation discussions to be had about some colonial-era items in the Louvre. However, behavior like this will only hurt those discussions. No museum would want to listen to such a bad faith actor who only see opportunity in that museum's misfortune, nor should they.
It's revealing how she delegitimizes the stolen items, claiming they are the direct products of colonialism. Dr. Smith offers no specific evidence, but makes the claim hoping the reader cannot cut through the academic rhetoric. This sort of 'expertise' is unfortunately all too common in the field.
October 22, 2025 at 10:34 AM
It's revealing how she delegitimizes the stolen items, claiming they are the direct products of colonialism. Dr. Smith offers no specific evidence, but makes the claim hoping the reader cannot cut through the academic rhetoric. This sort of 'expertise' is unfortunately all too common in the field.