On the hunt for looted antiquities in the world's museums. Tweets by @jasonfelch also @ bsky.app/profile/chasingaphr…
Joined May 2010
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2 Dec 2024
Follow us over at the other place, where we've now archived all our 9k tweets on art world muckraking and will prioritize going forward:
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
I’m excited to read “The Man Who Stole the Gods”, a true financial crime thriller about the art world and stolen national treasures. The author is @MattCampbell, who co-wrote “Dead in the Water”, a riveting true crime book about shipping, insurance fraud, and murder. Matt’s legit!
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
May 8
Spotted Apollo co-founder Leon Black — the billionaire who gave Jeffrey Epstein $170 million — at MSG.
But I neglected to note the guy right next to him: Larry Gagosian, the top art dealer in the world
"The problem here is that we all have a sense that Madison Square Garden and the Knicks don't belong to one person."
@PabloTorre went to a Knicks playoff game to test the limits of MSG's facial recognition ... along with Edward Snowden's lawyer, @benwizner.
One Knicks fan they didn't expect to see at The Garden: the man who bankrolled Jeffrey Epstein.
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RIP Dr Ittai Gradel, the antiquities trade whistleblower who exposed the British Museum thefts. His warnings were ignored, then covered up. Ultimately he was proven right, and it cost the BM director his job.
Ittai was a friend and source…an honorable man in a crooked field
25 Aug 2023
In a remarkable statement, Fischer takes responsibility for mishandling the thefts – which he learned about in 2021 and dismissed – and apologizes for remarks made about the whistleblower, Ittai Gradel.
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Katie Razall at the BBC has a nice account of his life and work: bbc.com/news/articles/c1mk2p…
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Here’s my mega-thread covering the story of the thefts blow by blow as they came to light
16 Aug 2023
Wow: Insider theft of artifacts at the British Museum
The BM sacked an employee after it found items missing from its collection, including gold jewelry and gems dating from 15th century BC to 19th century AD
theguardian.com/culture/2023…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
Help us investigate the illicit antiquities trade!
We're excited to announce volunteer positions at MOLA
> Contributing Editors help peer review contributions.
> Contributors research and write case studies on repatriated artifacts.
Details below >
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
Yes.
#BringOurGodsHome
Mar 4
Celebrating the Return of Items of India's Cultural Heritage!
@HCI_London marked the return of treasured artefacts to India at a ceremony reflecting commitment to safeguarding and restoring heritage to it's rightful inheritors. Representatives from the @AshmoleanMuseum, HSI (@USAinUK), and the @metpoliceuk, who helped make this day possible, joined diaspora and the arts & culture community to mark this occasion.
#IndianCulture #Antiquities #Heritage #Culture #Preservation #IndiaUK #IndiaUKPartnership #CultureConnect
@MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @VDoraiswami @getkart @MinOfCultureGoI @iccr_hq @TheNehruCentre @FinMinIndia @secycultureGOI @diaspora_india @PMOIndia @ASIGoI @DRI_Mumbai @cbic_india
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
washingtonpost.com/entertain…
We did it again!!
#BringOurGodsHome
@sanjeevsanyal @MinOfCultureGoI @PMOIndia
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
12 Dec 2025
m.youtube.com/watch?v=d2vFFW…
How we #BringOurGodsHome
At UNESCO
@sanjeevsanyal @UNESCO @MinOfCultureGoI @MEAIndia @PMOIndia
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
9 Dec 2025
@metmuseum
Den of loot proven again n again
Great work by theartofsouthasia.com/2025/1…
How many more looted from Gurukul museum Jhajjar !!
@MEAIndia @PMOIndia
@sanjeevsanyal
@CombatLooting
#BringOurGodsHome @HSINewYork
@ChasingAphrodit
metmuseum.org/art/collection…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
13 Nov 2025
Is Italy seeking the return of antiquities known prior to 1970? #Hecht
lootingmatters.blogspot.com/…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
5 Nov 2025
Met has returned Byzantine sculpture to Türkiye @metmuseum @ChasingAphrodit
metmuseum.org/art/collection…
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5 Nov 2025
Museums owe the public an explanation for moves like this
Sasha Suda, the director and CEO of the newly rebranded Philadelphia Art Museum, was dismissed on Tuesday. Suda was told of her dismissal via an email that stated she was being terminated for “cause,” though the email reportedly did not explicitly outline what that cause was. After the email was sent, “the board met, seemingly to be advised on what, exactly, the cause is.” Read more: artnews.com/art-news/news/ph…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
22 Oct 2025
More than 5 years ago, Facebook created a "policy" to ban the sale of artifacts.
Today, we finally see the first Facebook antiquities trafficking group to reach more than 1 million members.
Facebook's policies are nothing more than PR. There is no enforcement.
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This week the Italian authorities seized 21 suspected forgeries attributed to Salvador Dalí from a major monographic show titled “Dalí, Between Art and Myth” in the northern city of Parma. artnews.com/art-news/news/it…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
27 Aug 2025
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25 Aug 2025
Sam Knight reports on the turmoil inside Sotheby’s as the storied auction house contends with debt, layoffs, and culture shock brought on by its new owner, the telecommunications billionaire Patrick Drahi.
newyorker.com/magazine/2025/…
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Chasing Aphrodite retweeted
18 Aug 2025
Promoting Cultural Heritage to Strengthen Syrian National Identity and Overcome Ethnic and Religious Fragmentation opiniojuris.org/2025/08/14/p…
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