Word: theft
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...works and artifacts from Western museums to the countries where they originally belonged - have lately been on the defensive, derided as cultural imperialists for arguing that art is better served (and can be more safely guarded) when it can be seen by millions. But a growing scandal over a theft of centuries-old artifacts from a small Turkish museum has surely made them feel vindicated...
...theft might have gone unnoticed but for an anonymous tip-off to a government official in Usak, the town in western Turkey where the artifacts originated and were housed in a small museum. By the time officials had called in experts to authenticate the artifacts, the objects were long gone, disappearing via middlemen in Istanbul into a global smuggling network, culture ministry officials said. Interpol is on their trail...
...have to look for a silver lining," a senior culture ministry official told TIME. "The Usak theft is a tragedy, but it could be a turning point. Countering theft is now a strategic priority; we are determined to ensure that this doesn't happen again...
...Supporters of repatriation argue that theft alone isn't reason enough to give up the fight to return such important cultural artifacts to their rightful birth places. "Of course museums like those in Turkey need to be improved and more people need to have access to these works," says Gul Pulhan, a Yale-educated Near Eastern archeologist and assistant professor at Istanbul's Koc University. "But the solution is not to insist on this idea that richer nations are more entitled to these artifacts...
...Prize in March. But a few weeks later, an anonymous tipster alerted government officials that several of his paintings were virtual replicas of works by an Italian artist, Alberto Sughi. When confronted by the media, the 66-year-old Wada claimed his works were an "homage" to Sughi, not theft. Sughi, however, had a different view of their relationship. According to him, Wada had visited his studio in Rome as often as five times a year, often taking photos of his work from multiple angles. "I thought Wada was a fan of my paintings," Sughi told the Mainichi Daily News...