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 by the Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo de la Universidad de San Gallen, the Museum der Kulturen Basel and Musée d’ethnographie Neuchâtel.
The conference brought together comparative provenance research that examines the role of the (art) market for pre-Hispanic and ethnographic cultural objects in the formation of museum collections. Presentations focused on the formation of a canon as well as the marketing strategies of the trade and international interventions to curb illegal activities.