Angela S Chiu
@chiuangelas.bsky.social
Independent scholar of the market for Asian antiquities, especially Khmer and Thai. PhD Buddhist art and literature of Thailand. Author of The Buddha in Lanna (U of Hawai'i Press, 2017)
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months.
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
The U.S. was a leader in cultural heritage investigations. Now those agents are working immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases.
www.denverpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months.
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
What are SNCF lobbyists doing?
And why?
#lootedart #Holocaust #France
@nicolasberrod.bsky.social
www.tabletmag.com/sections/new...
And why?
#lootedart #Holocaust #France
@nicolasberrod.bsky.social
www.tabletmag.com/sections/new...
Still Covering Their Tracks - Tablet Magazine
France’s national railway carried Jews to death camps. Now it’s lobbying against Holocaust restitution.
www.tabletmag.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:35 PM
What are SNCF lobbyists doing?
And why?
#lootedart #Holocaust #France
@nicolasberrod.bsky.social
www.tabletmag.com/sections/new...
And why?
#lootedart #Holocaust #France
@nicolasberrod.bsky.social
www.tabletmag.com/sections/new...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Four minutes after we published this I had to edit to add in another theft this week of gold and silver pieces from the musée de la Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot.
The Louvre museum is not the only museum which has been robbed of its gold and jewel finery, here are 16 others.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/10/fran...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/10/fran...
October 21, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Four minutes after we published this I had to edit to add in another theft this week of gold and silver pieces from the musée de la Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot.
Thank you to the Antiquities Coalition @combatlooting.bsky.social for interviewing me on Douglas Latchford's "first big heist," of Thailand's Prakhon Chai bronzes, and how he successfully marketed them by exploiting particular art world practices theantiquitiescoalition.org/inside-the-h...
Inside the Hunt for the Prakhon Chai Hoard: AC Interviews Dr. Angela Chiu - Antiquities Coalition
New evidence about the Prakhon Chai Hoard reveals the origins of one of the world’s most notorious antiquities trafficking rings. How did Douglas Latchford—who for decades was a “one-man supply-and-de...
theantiquitiescoalition.org
October 19, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Thank you to the Antiquities Coalition @combatlooting.bsky.social for interviewing me on Douglas Latchford's "first big heist," of Thailand's Prakhon Chai bronzes, and how he successfully marketed them by exploiting particular art world practices theantiquitiescoalition.org/inside-the-h...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
New Case: Goddess of Transcendent Wisdom
In 2021, the Denver Art Museum returned this statue and several other Khmer artifacts to Cambodia after investigators revealed they had been trafficked by Douglas Latchford.
In 2021, the Denver Art Museum returned this statue and several other Khmer artifacts to Cambodia after investigators revealed they had been trafficked by Douglas Latchford.
September 28, 2025 at 11:16 PM
New Case: Goddess of Transcendent Wisdom
In 2021, the Denver Art Museum returned this statue and several other Khmer artifacts to Cambodia after investigators revealed they had been trafficked by Douglas Latchford.
In 2021, the Denver Art Museum returned this statue and several other Khmer artifacts to Cambodia after investigators revealed they had been trafficked by Douglas Latchford.
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
NEWS: The Manhattan DA has issued an arrest warrant for a California antiquities collector, Aaron Mendelsohn, alleging he knowing bought a bronze sculpture looted from Bubon, Turkiye and conspired with prominent experts to disguise its illicit history.
A thread...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/a...
A thread...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/a...
Arrest Warrant Says Buyer of ‘Nude Emperor’ Bronze Knew It Was Looted
www.nytimes.com
September 9, 2025 at 9:01 PM
NEWS: The Manhattan DA has issued an arrest warrant for a California antiquities collector, Aaron Mendelsohn, alleging he knowing bought a bronze sculpture looted from Bubon, Turkiye and conspired with prominent experts to disguise its illicit history.
A thread...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/a...
A thread...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/a...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
A Still Life in Buenos Aires: Misattribution, Mystery, and (more) Nazi-Era Shadows.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/09/once...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/09/once...
September 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
A Still Life in Buenos Aires: Misattribution, Mystery, and (more) Nazi-Era Shadows.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/09/once...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/09/once...
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a segment on looting of Cambodian artefacts and efforts to recover them from foreign collections. Hear from former looter "Blue Tiger" as well as restitution team members Brad Gordon and Thida Long. Starts around 19:20: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
August 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a segment on looting of Cambodian artefacts and efforts to recover them from foreign collections. Hear from former looter "Blue Tiger" as well as restitution team members Brad Gordon and Thida Long. Starts around 19:20: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Museums are hilarious
"Yes, we stole it, why don't YOU reflect on that?"
"Yes, we stole it, why don't YOU reflect on that?"
A gobsmacking amount of stolen Indian treasures in the stunning Ancient India exhibit at the British Museum. Many have a caption saying effectively ‘stolen by the East India Company and transferred to the BM when their museum closed down’. And yet they feature this quote without irony…
August 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Museums are hilarious
"Yes, we stole it, why don't YOU reflect on that?"
"Yes, we stole it, why don't YOU reflect on that?"
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
An amazing story.
“I knew nothing about my family history until then...Nobody ever spoke about it.” But that day, she explains, she knew she wanted to find the truth, no matter how dark and shameful.
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
‘I tracked down the family of the estate my Nazi great grandparents looted. Here’s what I told them’
After discovering a hidden family history – and some stolen furniture – one woman was determined to make amends
www.telegraph.co.uk
August 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM
An amazing story.
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
"What isn't at the V&A?" — new from me in @artreview.bsky.social on enduring colonialism, art-washing working class heritage, and a museum without labels
artreview.com/what-isnt-at...
artreview.com/what-isnt-at...
What Isn’t at the V&A Storehouse
You can’t escape it: this is the same colonial museum we know, in a shiny new suit
artreview.com
August 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"What isn't at the V&A?" — new from me in @artreview.bsky.social on enduring colonialism, art-washing working class heritage, and a museum without labels
artreview.com/what-isnt-at...
artreview.com/what-isnt-at...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
✒️🏺new special thematic issue - Caring for Culture. #openaccess #archaeology #heritage www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 🏺👏
August 14, 2025 at 9:27 AM
✒️🏺new special thematic issue - Caring for Culture. #openaccess #archaeology #heritage www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 🏺👏
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Gift NYT article on how museums are lobbying against proposed restitution law barring technical time limit defenses which museums have been using to dismiss claims
HEAR act #law #artlaw #Holocaust
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/a...
HEAR act #law #artlaw #Holocaust
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/a...
Museums Lobby Against Strengthening a Holocaust Art Recovery Law
www.nytimes.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Gift NYT article on how museums are lobbying against proposed restitution law barring technical time limit defenses which museums have been using to dismiss claims
HEAR act #law #artlaw #Holocaust
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/a...
HEAR act #law #artlaw #Holocaust
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/a...
The Priprahwa Buddhist gem relics will return to India, via sale to an Indian company. "Should ex-colonised countries be required to purchase their own heritage taken from them in colonial contexts? Should Buddha relics be bought at all?" -Prof Ashley Thompson www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Ancient Buddha jewels return to India after legal threat
The nearly 350-piece collection has been purchased by an Indian businessman in what is being described as a "public-private partnership" with the Indian government.
www.abc.net.au
August 1, 2025 at 6:58 AM
The Priprahwa Buddhist gem relics will return to India, via sale to an Indian company. "Should ex-colonised countries be required to purchase their own heritage taken from them in colonial contexts? Should Buddha relics be bought at all?" -Prof Ashley Thompson www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Sacred Buddha Gems Pulled From Sotheby’s Sale Are Returned to India
news.artnet.com/art-world/bu...
news.artnet.com/art-world/bu...
Sacred Buddha Gems Pulled From Sotheby’s Sale Are Returned to India | Artnet News
After global backlash to their planned sale at Sotheby's, the sacred Piprahwa Buddha relics have been repatriated to India after 127 years.
news.artnet.com
July 31, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Sacred Buddha Gems Pulled From Sotheby’s Sale Are Returned to India
news.artnet.com/art-world/bu...
news.artnet.com/art-world/bu...
The US is now formally implementing import restrictions on Indian archaeological and ethnological materials, enforcing the US-India Cultural Property Agreement signed in 2024.
What Does the US's New Import Law Mean for India's Cultural Heritage? | Chennai News - Times of India
The United States has implemented import restrictions on Indian archaeological and ethnological materials, enforcing the US-India Cultural Property Ag
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
July 30, 2025 at 8:10 AM
The US is now formally implementing import restrictions on Indian archaeological and ethnological materials, enforcing the US-India Cultural Property Agreement signed in 2024.
Project Brazen, producer of the “Dynamite Doug” podcast, has published 3 letters illustrating some of the historic collaboration between London dealer Spink & Son and indicted trafficker Douglas Latchford. There are many interesting details. Here are a few. (Thread)
shorturl.at/jabhT
shorturl.at/jabhT
Explosive Rockefeller Letters Expose Met Museum's Looted Harihara
At Whale Hunting, we illuminate hidden worlds and expose closely-held secrets. Today, we’re pulling back the velvet curtain on one of the world’s most prestigious museums: the Met.
Our latest investi...
shorturl.at
July 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Project Brazen, producer of the “Dynamite Doug” podcast, has published 3 letters illustrating some of the historic collaboration between London dealer Spink & Son and indicted trafficker Douglas Latchford. There are many interesting details. Here are a few. (Thread)
shorturl.at/jabhT
shorturl.at/jabhT
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Tomorrow, 28 June 2025, marks the official implementation date of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/regu...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/regu...
Regulating the Past: The EU’s Cultural Goods Import Controls Enter into Force June 2025
"A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."
art-crime.blogspot.com
June 27, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Tomorrow, 28 June 2025, marks the official implementation date of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/regu...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/regu...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Many art dealers pressed the US authorities to return to business as usual as soon as WWII ended, regardless of the millions of looted objects scattered about war-torn Europe.
plundered-art.blogspot.com/2025/06/fren...
plundered-art.blogspot.com/2025/06/fren...
French masterpieces for sale in postwar Germany
by Marc Masurovsky From a business standpoint, art dealers do not run charities. They buy, sell, trade works and objects of art to make mone...
plundered-art.blogspot.com
June 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Many art dealers pressed the US authorities to return to business as usual as soon as WWII ended, regardless of the millions of looted objects scattered about war-torn Europe.
plundered-art.blogspot.com/2025/06/fren...
plundered-art.blogspot.com/2025/06/fren...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
At the same time, the Met describes itself as taking a more “proactive” approach to repatriation. Yet even a simple search for “Kathmandu” in its collection brings up objects linked to Doris Wiener, an antiquities dealer long associated with trafficking networks.
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
June 25, 2025 at 7:47 PM
At the same time, the Met describes itself as taking a more “proactive” approach to repatriation. Yet even a simple search for “Kathmandu” in its collection brings up objects linked to Doris Wiener, an antiquities dealer long associated with trafficking networks.
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Thailand to seek return of additional 16 artefacts from US museums www.nationthailand.com/life/art-cul...
Tracking return of 16 Thai artefacts from US museums to Thailand
Thailand is actively pursuing the return of 16 valuable Thai artefacts currently held in US museums, strengthening efforts to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage.
www.nationthailand.com
June 15, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Thailand to seek return of additional 16 artefacts from US museums www.nationthailand.com/life/art-cul...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
Crime Pays in Versailles: Bill Pallot’s Fake-Chair Scandal and Its Broader Lessons.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/crim...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/crim...
Crime Pays in Versailles: Bill Pallot’s Fake-Chair Scandal and Its Broader Lessons
"A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."
art-crime.blogspot.com
June 12, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Crime Pays in Versailles: Bill Pallot’s Fake-Chair Scandal and Its Broader Lessons.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/crim...
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/06/crim...
Four 7-9th-century Buddhist statues of the looted 'Prakhon Chai hoard' will soon be returned from San Francisco's Asian Art Museum to Thailand www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/...
Thailand readies homecoming for stolen ancient statues located in US museum
San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum is set to return four bronze statues from Thailand’s looted Prakhon Chai hoard.
www.aljazeera.com
June 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Four 7-9th-century Buddhist statues of the looted 'Prakhon Chai hoard' will soon be returned from San Francisco's Asian Art Museum to Thailand www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/...
Reposted by Angela S Chiu
A Slap on the Amphora: After 17 years of court filings, only mild sentences in Greece’s landmark antiquities trafficking case. art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-sl...
A Slap on the Amphora: After 17 years of court filings, only mild sentences in Greece’s landmark antiquities trafficking case
"A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."
art-crime.blogspot.com
May 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
A Slap on the Amphora: After 17 years of court filings, only mild sentences in Greece’s landmark antiquities trafficking case. art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-sl...