From 2020 to 2025, the TRANSFORM Project studied the complex relationships between people and objects and how those relationships can lead to crime.
TRANSFORM didn’t just focus on criminal acts.
We were interested in legal interactions with objects too.
By learning about the legal and illegal networks that form around antiquities, wildlife, and fossils we now have a better understanding of why people break the law and how to protect these objects.
Marketing, Narratives, and Consumer Desire within Auction Catalogs of Cultural Objects
Yates, Donna (2025) Marketing, Narratives, and Consumer Desire within Auction Catalogs of Cultural Objects. Advances in Archaeological Practice. https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2024.39.
Contested Illegality: Understanding Legitimacy Challenges in Wildlife Governance
Hübschle, Annette (2025) Contested Illegality: Understanding Legitimacy Challenges in Wildlife Governance. In The Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Law and Policy.
Looting and Conflict in Cambodia: The Latchford Case
Mackenzie, S. and Davis, T. (2025) ‘Looting and conflict in Cambodia: The Latchford case’, in Saloul, I. and Baillie, B. (eds.) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Cham:
Ritual Misdeeds and Dutiful Transgressions: The Agency of Sacred Fossils in Matters of Theft
Walters, H., Yates, D., Mackenzie, S. and Bērziņa, D. (2025) ‘Ritual misdeeds and dutiful transgressions: The agency of sacred fossils in matters of theft’, Nature and Culture, 1, pp. 55–76.
Cultivating desire: touch and transgressive thrill in the art fair
Bērziņa, D. (2025) ‘Cultivating desire: touch and transgressive thrill in the art fair’, Advances in Archaeological Practice, pp. 1–14.
What deters antiquities looting and trafficking?
Mackenzie, S. (2025) ‘What deters antiquities looting and trafficking?’, Advances in Archaeological Practice.
Dr Donna Yates will be participating in this event hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Business Integrity and Crime Prevention in the Art and Antiquities Market to be held
Dr Donna Yates will be participating in The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s 3rd Summer School, under the theme “Museum’s Democracy, Citizenship”, in Lisbon, Portugal. Yates will be speaking on the panel
Dr Donna Yates will give a keynote speech on 30 January 2024 at event titled “Dialogue with the art market” organised by the European Commission. The event is taking place
Bērziņa took part in “la vente illégale sur le marché de l’art” conference organised by Anthemis.
Diāna Bērziņa was part on an expert panel focusing on monitoring compliance with art market regulations at a conference “la vente illégale sur le marché de l’art” organised by Anthemis
On 2 November Dr Donna Yates gave a presentation titled “Crime in Collections: Patterns, Priorities, and Hidden Knowledge” at a conference “The Market for Latin American Antiquities” organised by co-organized
Yates speaking at the“The Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts” conference
Dr Donna Yates will give a talk at “The Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts” conference taking place from 27 to 29 September 2023 at the University of Hamburg. Yates
