News

MEDIA ALERT – Immediate Release, April 2, 2008

The Looting of Iraq – Five Years Later, Antiquities Under Siege

Contacts: Richard Melcher / rmelcher@mtconsultants.com / 312-795-3550; Wendy Norris, Cultural Policy Center, University of Chicago / wnorris@uchicago.edu / 708-369-4248

What: The Looting of Iraq – Five Years Later. The release of a major new book, Antiquities under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq, and policy briefing by experts in archaeology, law, foreign affairs, and the military.

When: April 9, 2008; 9am–11am. Discussion/Q&A of key findings of the book – what went wrong, the ongoing looting, what needs to be done in Iraq and beyond. The briefing coincides with the five-year anniversary of the looting of the Iraq Museum.

Where: The National Press Club, First Amendment Lounge, 13th floor. This is a free event. RSVP requested: culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu; 773-834-3986.

Why: The briefing brings together policy experts and analysts to examine the criminal activity that continues to erode the traces of history buried in the desert of Iraq and the international policy failures that contributed to the ongoing tragedy. The destruction of museum records and the looting of archaeological sites around the country continue to generate concern around the world. The museum has not reopened on a regular basis, and many of the looted artifacts have been sold illegally throughout the world. Panelists will pinpoint how to prevent future looting of cultural heritage during wartime.

Who: The briefing is organized by the University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center, whose scholars have been leaders in calling attention to the global problem of wartime looting and the illicit market in antiquities. Panelists will provide first-hand accounts of what happened at the Iraq Museum, what went wrong, and what must be done to protect antiquities. Panelists include: Donny George Youkhanna, former director-general of the Iraq Museum; Matthew Bogdanos, assistant district attorney in Manhattan and colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves, who received the 2005 National Humanities Medal for his work recovering Iraq's treasures; McGuire Gibson, professor of Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Chicago, who has led excavations in Iraq; Patty Gerstenblith, DePaul University law professor and president of the Lawyers. Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation; Lawrence Rothfield, faculty director of the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago and editor of Antiquities Under Siege; and Corine Wegener, assistant curator of decorative arts, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and former Arts, Monuments, and Archives officer for the 352nd Civil Affairs Command in Baghdad.