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Global Leaders in Museum Security Confront Emerging Threats in the Art Market

September 26, 2024

Executive Director Tess Davis and leading Ukrainian heritage professional Ihor Poshyvailo discuss threats to museums in Ukraine, and the world.

Recent years have been witness to the world’s leading museums caught up in scandals, lawsuits, and even criminal prosecutions for acquiring, possessing, or even just displaying stolen or looted art and antiquities. Together, actors in public and private cultural sectors have made significant progress on these fronts, but much remains to be done. 

Responsible players in the art market are also beginning to recognize their vulnerability to new emerging threats—that is financial crimes in the art market.

Addressing the world’s leading experts in museum security at the Smithsonian National Conference on Cultural Property Protection held at the Getty Museum, Executive Director Tess Davis spoke about recent case studies of economic crime, providing a new perspective on the leading risks to museum institutions’ staff and reputations. Davis opened the discussion with this affirmation,

“Any institution that operates within the art market, any institution that accepts donations, frankly any institution that operates globally, even—and perhaps especially—public institutions like museums, needs to be aware of what is happening.”

Following her remarks, Davis interviewed Dr. Ihor Poshyvailo, General Director of the National Museum of Revolution of Dignity and the Co-Founder and Coordinator of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative. Dr. Poshyvailo has been on the frontlines of the war of Russian aggression in Ukraine, experiencing firsthand how cultural identity and heritage have become weapons and victims in the ongoing conflict.

Historical propaganda has long been a central component of Moscow’s information warfare campaign. However, since the 2014 invasion of Crimea, art has likewise been a documented tool for key Kremlin allies to evade sanctions, launder money, and hide their substantial assets. Recalling looting in museums by Russian armed forces, Igor painted a picture of the harsh realities museum professionals on the ground in Ukraine face to this day.

From the event, participants gained a greater appreciation of the risks inherent in today’s art market. As both market participants and stewards of sought-after cultural materials, museum institutions have tremendous potential to change the art world for the better–or worse.

Follow the critical work of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative

Learn more about Russia’s cultural warfare in our Think Tank Policy Brief, here.

Read AC Founder and Chair Deborah Lehr’s Op Ed on how Russian oligarchs use the art market to evade US Economic Sanctions, here.