NOS-HS Workshop Grant Awarded to Strengthen and Internationalize Nordic Region Cultural Property Trafficking and Preservation Research

A research team comprised of scholars working at the forefront of Nordic region and international archaeology, ancient history, and cultural heritage preservation have been awarded a workshop grant from NOS-HS (The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences). It will fund three workshops over two years in Stockholm, Oslo/Kristiansand and Helsinki. The workshops will present new methods to detect online trafficking, prevent forgery, the ‘authentication’ of the market by the academy itself, and the overall ethics of working with and communicating about cultural heritage, all through Nordic region and international case studies. Scholars at all career stages operating at the host universities and elsewhere will also have the chance to hear from and liaison with relevant parties throughout the museum, government and law enforcement sectors.

As is so frequently shown in the news, the plight of cultural objects, especially but not only in times of conflict, is a global issue, and it is important that also scholars and decision-makers in the Nordic region discuss these issues.

Figure from Palmyra in the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, wearing a black ribbon in mourning of recent events.

The organizing team consists of Dr. Damien Huffer (Stockholm University), Prof. Suzie Thomas (University of Helsinki), Dr. Rick Bonnie (University of Helsinki), Prof. Visa Immonen (University of Turku) and Dr. Josephine Munch Rasmussen (Universities of Agder and Oslo). The workshops follow on from discussions raised at a symposium at the National Museum of Finland in 2017, organized through the University of Helsinki Future Fund project Working with Cultural Objects and Manuscripts. The organizing team are excited to further put Nordic region cultural property/heritage research into international context, bring the work of diverse international scholars to local audiences, and build new links with governments, law enforcement, museums, and beyond.

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