Noah Charney's Q&A with Geore H. O. Abungu in the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of The Journal of Art Crime

George Abungu is the winner of the 2012 ARCA Award for Lifetime Achievement in Defense of Art. Dr. Abungu, a native of Kenya, has served as Chairman of the International Standing Committee on the Traffic of Illicit Antiquities since 1999, and as Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya from 1999-2002. Among his many projects, he was involved in the return to Kenya of looted vigango (traditional grave markers). For more information on him, see the article on ARCA Award winners in this issue.

1. How did you bring the vigango back to Africa from the United States?

Many greetings from Nairobi. I will now try to answer some of the questions you raised. First let me recognize the good work ARCA is doing, and to thank the membership for the award that I feel is a great privilege to me and to Africa as a whole. As an archaeologist and a heritage professional, I have spent a lot of my working life in museum and museum-related fields. I have dealt with the protection of works of art as a field archaeologist working on the Kenyan coast, as head of Coastal Museums Programmes, as Deputy Director of the National Museums of Kenya and, subsequently, from 1999-2002, as Director General of the National Museums of Kenya. The museum, apart from hosting the Gallery of East African Contemporary Art, was also in charge of all other heritage in the country, including the Mijikenda Kayas, where many of the vigango were stolen from in the past. 

I got involved with the vigango issue when I was still at the Coast of Kenya, working as the Coastal Archaeologist as well as Head of the Museums there. During that time we had to deal with thefts not only of the vigango but also the illegal sale and purchase of Swahili cultural materials such as chairs, doors and jewelry — all that qualify as works of art. With the cooperation of law enforcement agencies, we managed to apprehend a number of dealers who, unfortunately, due to the leniency of the law, often managed to get away with only small fines by way of penalty. However it was a lesson to others. 

As for the return of the vigango to Kenya, this happened after I left the museum. However I started the process of the return by working with two scholars from the USA who had worked on the Kenyan coast and knew the vigango and the families from whom they had been stolen. We basically blew the whistle, as well as contacted these institutions during my time at the museum, to inform them that we knew they had these items and, as a country, we wanted them back. As my successors at the museum continued to follow up through official channels with the institutions, I continued to write articles using these as examples of illicit and immoral acquisitions. In the end, both the Kenyan government, as well as the concerned institution, took the action to return two vigango. Since then, many have been returned.

You can continue reading this interview in the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of The Journal of Art Crime.

George Abungu is the winner of the 2012 ARCA Award for Lifetime Achievement in Defense of Art. Dr. Abungu, a native of Kenya, has served as Chairman of the International Standing Committee on the Traffic of Illicit Antiquities since 1999, and as Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya from 1999-2002. Among his many projects, he was involved in the return to Kenya of looted vigango (traditional grave markers). For more information on him, see the article on ARCA Award winners in this issue.

1. How did you bring the vigango back to Africa from the United States?

Many greetings from Nairobi. I will now try to answer some of the questions you raised. First let me recognize the good work ARCA is doing, and to thank the membership for the award that I feel is a great privilege to me and to Africa as a whole. As an archaeologist and a heritage professional, I have spent a lot of my working life in museum and museum-related fields. I have dealt with the protection of works of art as a field archaeologist working on the Kenyan coast, as head of Coastal Museums Programmes, as Deputy Director of the National Museums of Kenya and, subsequently, from 1999-2002, as Director General of the National Museums of Kenya. The museum, apart from hosting the Gallery of East African Contemporary Art, was also in charge of all other heritage in the country, including the Mijikenda Kayas, where many of the vigango were stolen from in the past. 

I got involved with the vigango issue when I was still at the Coast of Kenya, working as the Coastal Archaeologist as well as Head of the Museums there. During that time we had to deal with thefts not only of the vigango but also the illegal sale and purchase of Swahili cultural materials such as chairs, doors and jewelry — all that qualify as works of art. With the cooperation of law enforcement agencies, we managed to apprehend a number of dealers who, unfortunately, due to the leniency of the law, often managed to get away with only small fines by way of penalty. However it was a lesson to others. 

As for the return of the vigango to Kenya, this happened after I left the museum. However I started the process of the return by working with two scholars from the USA who had worked on the Kenyan coast and knew the vigango and the families from whom they had been stolen. We basically blew the whistle, as well as contacted these institutions during my time at the museum, to inform them that we knew they had these items and, as a country, we wanted them back. As my successors at the museum continued to follow up through official channels with the institutions, I continued to write articles using these as examples of illicit and immoral acquisitions. In the end, both the Kenyan government, as well as the concerned institution, took the action to return two vigango. Since then, many have been returned.

You can continue reading this interview in the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of The Journal of Art Crime.

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Workshop in Australia: Contemporary Perspectives on the Detection, Investigation and Prosecution of Art Crime

by Dr. Saskia Hufnagel

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS) at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia will hold a workshop gathering international and Australian scholars and experts in the field of art crime detection, investigation and prosecution to discuss contemporary issues on 1 and 2 of May 2012. The workshop has been organised by Dr Saskia Hufnagel (CEPS), Prof Duncan Chappell (University of Sydney) and Prof Simon Bronitt (CEPS). It is directed in particular at assessing the areas of art theft, fraud, and illicit trafficking of cultural property, which have so far not received significant attention in the field of Australasian criminal law and policing research and practice. It attempts to uncover the nature and scope of the art crime problem in an Australasian context and examine how such crime is currently dealt with by criminal justice agencies within this region.

To inform this assessment the workshop applies a comparative perspective from Europe and North America regarding law enforcement and legal methods used to detect, investigate and prosecute art crime. It combines international academic and practitioner perspectives on the art crime problem to foster collaborative present and future research and linkages. The ultimate aim of the workshop is to address similarities and differences between the different regions and determine whether similar problems exist and common solutions can be identified.

The workshop is of particular significance not only because of the apparent lack of systematic scholarly research and practice in the field of art crime in Australia and the region but also because European and North American studies reveal that art crime is becoming a broadening and highly profitable area of criminal activity. Thus it needs to be determined whether art crime has become similarly significant in the Australasian region. Particular questions which require analysis include whether Australasian art crime is linked to money laundering and other forms of organised crime including the financing of terrorism. A further topic that has not been dealt with in most other regions of the world, but which is of particular concern in Australia, is fraud and illicit trafficking associated with indigenous art.

While the academic perspectives gleaned from this workshop will be invaluable, practitioner inputs are believed to be crucial to its success. The workshop will therefore also include representatives from Australian police services, the Australian Crime Commission, prosecutors and judicial officers; Australian customs and border protection officials; the insurance industry, museums and art dealers. Key note speakers include Prof Neil Brodie, Prof Ken Polk, Prof Duncan Chappell, Prof Noah Charney and Mr Vernon Rapley. Observers include representatives from Victoria Police, New South Wales Police, the Australian Federal Police and other law enforcement agencies.

The outcomes of the workshop are twofold. One outcome of the workshop is an edited collection, comprising papers by participants. The second outcome of the workshop is to lay a foundation stone for a much broader research agenda on art crime in the Australasian region. It will also contribute to the 2012 Annual CEPS conference  in Policing and Security (4-5 October 2012) which will include a significant section on art crime investigations. Both the workshop and the conference will be drivers for an application for an ARC Linkage Project on art crime in the Australasian region.

by Dr. Saskia Hufnagel

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS) at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia will hold a workshop gathering international and Australian scholars and experts in the field of art crime detection, investigation and prosecution to discuss contemporary issues on 1 and 2 of May 2012. The workshop has been organised by Dr Saskia Hufnagel (CEPS), Prof Duncan Chappell (University of Sydney) and Prof Simon Bronitt (CEPS). It is directed in particular at assessing the areas of art theft, fraud, and illicit trafficking of cultural property, which have so far not received significant attention in the field of Australasian criminal law and policing research and practice. It attempts to uncover the nature and scope of the art crime problem in an Australasian context and examine how such crime is currently dealt with by criminal justice agencies within this region.

To inform this assessment the workshop applies a comparative perspective from Europe and North America regarding law enforcement and legal methods used to detect, investigate and prosecute art crime. It combines international academic and practitioner perspectives on the art crime problem to foster collaborative present and future research and linkages. The ultimate aim of the workshop is to address similarities and differences between the different regions and determine whether similar problems exist and common solutions can be identified.

The workshop is of particular significance not only because of the apparent lack of systematic scholarly research and practice in the field of art crime in Australia and the region but also because European and North American studies reveal that art crime is becoming a broadening and highly profitable area of criminal activity. Thus it needs to be determined whether art crime has become similarly significant in the Australasian region. Particular questions which require analysis include whether Australasian art crime is linked to money laundering and other forms of organised crime including the financing of terrorism. A further topic that has not been dealt with in most other regions of the world, but which is of particular concern in Australia, is fraud and illicit trafficking associated with indigenous art.

While the academic perspectives gleaned from this workshop will be invaluable, practitioner inputs are believed to be crucial to its success. The workshop will therefore also include representatives from Australian police services, the Australian Crime Commission, prosecutors and judicial officers; Australian customs and border protection officials; the insurance industry, museums and art dealers. Key note speakers include Prof Neil Brodie, Prof Ken Polk, Prof Duncan Chappell, Prof Noah Charney and Mr Vernon Rapley. Observers include representatives from Victoria Police, New South Wales Police, the Australian Federal Police and other law enforcement agencies.

The outcomes of the workshop are twofold. One outcome of the workshop is an edited collection, comprising papers by participants. The second outcome of the workshop is to lay a foundation stone for a much broader research agenda on art crime in the Australasian region. It will also contribute to the 2012 Annual CEPS conference  in Policing and Security (4-5 October 2012) which will include a significant section on art crime investigations. Both the workshop and the conference will be drivers for an application for an ARC Linkage Project on art crime in the Australasian region.

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