From Brazil, Britain To The Louvre: A String Of Museum Robberies Rattles The Art World

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Three robberies of art, artefacts, and jewels across the world in a span of few months have raised glaring questions about the importance and the security the world is assigning to and providing museums -- establishments that hold our connection to history.

In this week itself, two shocking cases of art and artefact robbery have come to light -- first, the robbery of eight engravings by iconic French artist Henri Matissee from a library in Brazil's Sao Paulo, and now the Bristol museum loot, which happened back in September but came to light only on Friday. In the second case, the robbers looted a staggering 600 items from Britain's colonial past. Among them were a statue of the Buddha and an East India Company belt buckle were among the items stolen.

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And who can forget the Louvre museum heist on 19 October, when jewelly from Napoleon's collection were stolen in a broad daylight burglary?

The Sao Paulo heist

The Sao Paulo heist occurred on 10 December during an exhibition held at the Mário de Andrade Library, The exhibition was being held in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo.

Besides the Matisse engravings, which were from his Jazz series, five paintings by renowned Brazilian artist Candido Portinari were also stolen. Unlike the other case, here the robbery was carried out openly by two armed individuals.

The Bristol robbery

In Bristol, more than 600 items were stolen from what is known as the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection.

This robbery, however, did not happen at the museum, but at an offsite storage facility, thus giving rise to the question of insider involvement.

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CCTV footage of four males were released by the police on 11 December, more than a couple of months after the theft took place.

The archives which housed these artefacts were broken into not once but twice, and most of the items were taken after the second raid, the BBC reported.

As per a city council spokesperson, the police decided to reveal the incident only after undertaking initial enquiries and a thorough audit of the items in the collection to determine what was stolen and what was left.

ICOM on challenges of museum security

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has also taken note of the dramatic rise in museum burglaries in recent years, saying in a blog post, "Unfortunately, the Louvre is not the only cultural institution to have been targeted by thieves. In recent months, there has been a rise in burglaries and robberies, particularly targeting objects in precious metal from cultural and religious institutions. This significant increase has reignited the debate on security within these institutions, and in museums in particular."

It goes on to lay the responsibility on the management of the museums, saying that each generation has an obligation to "protect collections and pass them on to future generations."

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The ICOM also calls for specialised police forces to deal with museum security.

"Beyond their financial value, the loss of these objects signifies an irreplaceable loss of history and heritage, impacting society, the cultural sector, and the museum community as a whole. Improving museum security is a major national and international issue, and the museum community is committed to rising to this challenge," the ICOM also said.

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