Reposted from CBC News

 A pioneering Ottawa b-boy is hunting for his vintage velour tracksuit after it was stolen from a hip-hop exhibition at a local art gallery. Stephen Leafloor, also known as "Buddha," is one of the founding members of the Canadian Floor Masters. The crew helped bring "breaking" — or what's often known as breakdancing — to Ottawa in the early 1980s. 

They opened for James Brown, Ice-T and Grandmaster Flash.  Leafloor called the blue and red Fila tracksuit "a vintage relic" from the early days of hip-hop with both emotional and historic value. The theft makes him feel disrespected. "It was a beautiful tracksuit," he said. "It's that crushed velvet velour. … You feel magical." The theft was captured on camera at the Ottawa Art Gallery on Daly Street, where Canadian Floor Masters memorabilia was displayed as part of an exhibition on the local history of hip-hop.  The gallery's director, Alexandra Badzak,  said it happened Nov. 5 and the crime took fewer than three minutes to complete in broad daylight. "It was very quick," she said. "They were out the door, unfortunately, before security was able to apprehend." Badzak said surveillance footage revealed the thief climbed up on a glass display case and apparently used a tool to cut the wires holding up the tracksuit. Scuff marks are still visible on the walls.  Senior curator Rachelle Dickenson called the theft "appalling." She said the tracksuit represents a period in hip-hop fashion and losing it affected her deeply. "I felt sick," she said. "The first thing I thought of was that I needed to call Buddha." Leafloor was out of town when Dickenson broke the news.  He's been drawn to "swag" from an early age. He still remembers what motivated him to pick up the tracksuit in the late 1980s during a trip to Detroit.  "When I saw it way back then, I was like, 'yo, LL Cool J rocks this — I want one too,'" Leafloor said.  He posted a Facebook message about the theft, which has produced an outpouring of support and indignation. But Leafloor isn't holding out hope that he'll recover his tracksuit. He said he can't put a value on an item with such a deep personal connection. "I wish it would come back just because it's emotionally part of my life," he said. "It's part of who I am."  Dickenson said the Ottawa Art Gallery has hourly security patrols, but anyone can simply walk in and out of the gallery, which is free and open to the public.  She said the gallery will raise up suspended exhibits higher to further limit public access, but there are no plans to impose stricter controls on public access to the gallery itself, she added. "We're not prepared to risk community comfort and that sense of ownership that community should have when they come into the Ottawa Art Gallery," Dickenson said. "This is an appalling incident. It's a very rare incident. But it's more important to us that folks feel like it's their space, too. Why would we punish everybody for the actions of one person?" She said she's currently tracking online shopping websites to see if the tracksuit turns up. If search efforts are unsuccessful, she said insurance is expected to cover its value.  

Leafloor has no animosity toward the art gallery, which he commended for working collaboratively with the dozens of people from the hip-hop community.  "This is an important exhibit. Go see the exhibit if you want to feel and touch the vibes of the generations of hip-hop," he said. He hopes his experience doesn't discourage others from lending their artifacts. "This can have a beautiful impact on how we celebrate our history, and I would hate that not to happen out of fear."

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Reposted from Museums Association

The British Museum must "own [its] mistakes" and not shy away from
controversy, chair George Osborne has said in a speech at the institution’s
annual dinner for trustees.
 Acknowledging that 2023 has not been the “easiest of years” for the museum,
Osborne pledged that it would be more open in addressing contentious issues
such repatriation, as well as confronting its failures in dealing with the
alleged thefts. “I think too often we’ve thought: let’s keep quiet; if we don’t talk about things that are difficult, then no one else will,” he said. “And course, it hasn’t worked. There is a big conversation happening about this museum, and other great museums like it – it’s just not taking place just in this building. We want that to change.” Osborne said the museum needed to be upfront about the mistakes it had made in dealing with the alleged theft of around 2,000 objects from its collections, which was revealed in August after an art dealer first raised
concerns in 2021.
 “We can’t pretend it didn’t happen, or it doesn’t matter, or that some
years ago we weren’t warned. It was our duty to look after these objects
and we failed in that duty,” he said. “That’s why we made news of the thefts public. It’s why we commissioned a far-reaching, independent review into what went wrong and how to fix it. It’s why we will publish its conclusions in the coming months. And it’s why I’ve apologized for what has happened.” Osborne emphasized that the objects were “most likely taken by someone who
worked here and we trusted”. “I tell you, the people who feel the betrayal most keenly are the many hundreds of staff – who work so hard, and who in many cases have devoted their professional lives to this place,” he added Acknowledging that the dinner was being held in Deveen Hall, home to the Parthenon sculptures, Osborne spoke about the long-running ownership
dispute over the marbles and said he remained committed to resolving the
issue with Greece – although he appeared to indicate that a deal is less
than certain. Osborne said: “As trustees we look for a partnership with our Greek friends that requires no one to relinquish their claims, asks for no changes to
laws which are not ours to write, but which finds a practical, pragmatic
and rational way forward. We may well not succeed. But we think it’s worth
trying.” Osborne thanked interim director Mark Jones, who he said had come out of semi-retirement to lead the museum after getting a call “out of the blue”
last August following the resignation of former director Hartwig Fischer.
In response to the recent crisis, Jones is spearheading a project to make
the museum’s collection fully accessible online within five years.
“Under Mark’s leadership, we are now embarking on the huge task of not just
documenting our whole collection – but doing so in a way that makes it more
accessible, and gives it more global reach, than ever before," said Osborne.
“The simple answer to a security breach would have been to restrict access
to our treasures – the right answer is to open it up.” Osborne also announced further details of the Museum Masterplan, the ambitious redevelopment project that will transform how the museum presents its collections, expand display space for objects from African, the Americas and the Pacific, and put the Round Reading Room at the center of the visit.
Architects and designers will be invited to pitch for the project next
year. Other capital projects being undertaken by the museum include the new
Archaeological Research Collection (ARC) facility, due to open shortly in
Berkshire, and a new energy center that has just received government
funding. Osborne also announced artist Tracey Emin as the British Museum’s new Royal Academy-nominated trustee, replacing Grayson Perry. Emin is the first
female artist to be nominated by the academy for the role.

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Reposted from Pembrokeshire Hearold

Volunteers at Haverfordwest Museum are in a race against time to remove and store valuable artifacts after thoughtless thieves stripped the lead from its building, leaving rain pouring into the 238-year-old structure. The incident occurred last Wednesday (Nov 8), and it became apparent the following day that something was wrong when rain started dripping through the ceilings. Staff scrambled to move exhibits to the drier ground floor. The historical building, located in Haverfordwest Castle grounds, was built in the 1780s as a prison governor’s residence and is an important part of
Pembrokeshire’s history. Archaeologists working within the castle grounds discovered a large amount of lead hidden under tarpaulin. A good twelve wheelbarrows full, The Herald was told. It appears the thieves found more lead than expected and were unable to transport all of it in the vehicle they had. They may have planned to return for the rest but never did. Water is still leaking through the upstairs ceilings, and one volunteer, Mrs. Evans, believes that the plastic sheeting put on the roof by the county council to keep the rain out was not effective. Museum curator Simon Hancock told The Herald, “There is shocking damage. We are having to empty the upper floors and place the items in storage.” The Herald has learned that the police have been informed and will be reviewing CCTV footage soon. House-to-house inquiries have already been conducted, it was confirmed. During our reporter’s visit to the museum, which was closed to the public before the incident due to archaeological work in the castle grounds, many exhibits had been moved downstairs. Buckets and sheeting were in place on the first floor to contain water. Some larger exhibits, including a butter churn, clocks, and other locally manufactured items, were still awaiting relocation. A significant number of important books also awaited movement. Three noteworthy items in the collection that have been moved to safety are ‘Haverfordwest Priory’ by Samuel Prout (c.1835) (a watercolor), ‘Haverfordwest Castle’ by William Pitt (1872), and the charter of freedom of the borough granted to Admiral Horatio Nelson in 1802. Haverfordwest Town Museum holds a diverse collection of archaeology, photographs, and paintings and is rich in social history artifacts. The Museum opened in 1996 as a registered charity, drawing the core of its collection from the former local authority museum that closed down in 1994. Several donations and gifts have augmented the collection, and grant aid has led to several significant acquisitions. The Museum reflects on the 900-year history of Haverfordwest. The collection also records the rich associational civic life (through uniforms and regalia), together with finds from the excavations at the local Augustinian priory.”

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Reposted from CBS12

HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. (CBS12) — A man is behind bars after spending an unauthorized night at a museum on Hutchinson Island. The Martin County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) said employees at the Elliot Museum arrived at work on Friday morning to quite a surprise. The sheriff's office said employees discovered Port St. Lucie resident, 42-year-old Jason Allen Dark, was already inside the museum. However, he wasn't taking an early morning tour, he was taking items from the museum.MCSO said Dark was able to enter the museum through an unlocked door. When deputies searched his backpack, a handful of items were recovered, including a knife. The sheriff's office said Dark was taken to the Martin County Jail and charged with burglary and theft.

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Reposted from CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) kicked off the 2023 Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month.

Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month is the agency’s annual effort focused on educating and engaging all levels of government, infrastructure owners and operators, and the American public about the vital role critical infrastructure plays in the nation’s security and why it is important to strengthen critical infrastructure security and resilience. This November, CISA is asking everyone to Resolve to be Resilient by preparing and investing in resilience today, so that, as a nation, we can recover quickly in the event of an incident tomorrow. We are highlighting practices critical infrastructure organizations can implement to recover rapidly in the aftermath of any significant disruption: 

• Assess Your Risk. Organizations should identify their most critical functions and assets, define dependencies that enable the continuity of these functions, and consider the full range of threats that could undermine functional continuity.
• Make a Plan and Exercise It. Organizations should perform dedicated resilience planning, determine the maximum downtime acceptable for customers, develop recovery plans to regain functional capabilities within the maximum downtime, and test those plans under real-life conditions to ensure the ability to operate through disruption.
• Continuously Improve and Adapt. Organizations should be prepared to regularly adapt to changing conditions and threats. This starts with fostering a culture of continuous improvement, based on lessons learned from exercises and real-world incidents, and evolving cross-sector risks.

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Reposted from CISA

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently launched the new “Shields Ready” campaign to encourage the critical infrastructure community to focus on strengthening resilience. Resilience is the ability to prepare for, adapt to, withstand, and rapidly recover from disruptions caused by changing conditions. The new campaign was unveiled during a joint press conference at the Port of Long Beach alongside speakers from the Long Beach, California community and members of the U.S. Coast Guard.   

Shields Ready complements CISA’s successful “Shields Up” campaign, which encourages critical infrastructure stakeholders to take specific, time-sensitive actions that reduce risk in response to specific threat intelligence during cyberattacks physical security threats, or natural disasters in response to specific threat intelligence. Shields Ready focuses more broadly and strategically on how to prepare critical infrastructure for a potential disruption and how to build more resilience into systems, facilities and processes by taking action before a crisis or incident even occurs. It also aligns with and complements FEMA’s Ready campaign. Each campaign webpage will feature and link to the other for easy reference and use.   This focused approach highlights how critical infrastructure entities and other organizations can Resolve to be Resilient by integrating certain practices that will make themselves secure, resilient, and able to bounce back quickly and build back stronger from an incident, entities should:  

• Identify Critical Assets and Map Dependencies: Determine the systems that are critical for ongoing business operations and map out their key dependencies on technology, vendors, and supply chains.  
• Assess Risks: Consider the full range of threats that could disrupt these critical systems and the specific impacts such threats could pose to continuity of operations.  
• Plan and Exercise: Develop incident response and recovery plans to reduce the impact of these threats to critical systems and conduct regular exercises under realistic conditions to ensure the ability to rapidly restore operations with minimal downtime.  
• Adapt and Improve: Periodically evaluate and update response and recovery plans based on the results of exercises real-world incidents and an ongoing assessment of the threat environment. 

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Reposted from CISA

This guide was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to provide state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) emergency managers with foundational knowledge of cyber incidents to increase cyber preparedness efforts in their jurisdictions. Planning Considerations for Cyber Incidents: Guidance for Emergency Managers provides recommendations on how to plan for and respond to cyber incidents.

Key aspects of cyber incident preparedness included in the document are:  

§    Understanding the types of cyber incidents likely to occur. 

§    Engaging service owners and operators. 

§    Identifying cyber dependent critical services and related dependencies.  

§    Prioritizing and planning for service and system disruptions. 

§    Identifying roles and responsibilities. 

§    Providing integrated communication and public messaging; and  

§    Developing a cyber incident response plan.  

During November, CISA will support several 60-minute FEMA-led webinar sessions that will provide an overview of the final guide and supporting materials.

Reposted from Observer

A work of art has been stolen from your home, and your first question likely has a lot to do with who might help you get it back. The police? The FBI? Your insurance carrier? Interpol? The Art Loss Register? A private detective? The answer is that all of these entities may eventually be involved in a search and recovery effort, but the very first step is contacting the group least likely to be effective: the local police. A note of caution: there is a “very low recovery rate” for stolen artworks, according to William Fleischer, president of Bernard Fleischer & Sons, an insurance brokerage firm in New York City. On the positive side, he told Observer, “art theft does happen, but not as often as one would think. Most claims involve breakage and fire, with a sprinkling of lost items in transit.” 

It’s a double-edged sword, in some respects. Your artworks are statistically unlikely to be stolen, which means that expertise in art recovery is relatively rare. Very few police officers have the knowledge or training to investigate stolen art, antiques and other collectibles, but having a police report is required for insurance claims or any involvement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI, which launched its National Stolen Art File app earlier this year, typically takes an interest only if the theft can be linked to organized crime, stolen artwork crosses state lines or a missing piece is worth more than $50,000. Local police departments “are not obligated to contact the FBI,” explains Robert Wittman, an art security consultant in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania who was formerly an FBI agent specializing in art theft cases. He added that it would be the FBI that contacts Interpol, the European organization that works with law enforcement agencies around the world to combat various types of crimes, including art theft. 

However, the victims of art theft can contact the London-based Art Loss Register themselves to report missing artwork by submitting information like size, title, name of artist, price information and photographs. The Art Loss Register doesn’t pursue criminals but does maintain the world’s largest database of artworks reported stolen, and that database is regularly checked by collectors, art dealers, auction houses, insurance companies and law enforcement agencies when an object is offered up for sale. The Art Loss Register’s database was created in the 1970s by the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR), which is located in Manhattan. IFAR licenses its database to the ALR, but it continues to publish lists and images of stolen, recovered and looted art in each issue of its IFAR Journal and also organizes programs and publishes articles about art theft and looting. Wittman also recommended that victims of art theft should reach out to the galleries where artworks were purchased—particularly if a gallery specializes in that type of art or works by the artist. “They are likely to be aware if these kinds of pieces show up somewhere,” he explained. Still, don’t hold your breath. The police and the FBI have other, more consequential crimes to solve. “A month after contacting the police, you might want to reach out to an art detective,” Wittman said. “We do the stuff that the police won’t do.” What that ‘stuff’ is doesn’t sound very cloak-and-dagger. Private art detectives contact dealers and auction houses that sell the type of material that was stolen; they check lists of stolen cultural property; and then they wait for something to turn up. It likely comes as no surprise that Wittman’s principal business is helping homeowners and museums proactively secure their premises so that art theft doesn’t happen in the first place. Arthur Brand, a Dutch art crime investigator, noted that he is usually contacted by victims anywhere between two and forty years after a theft occurred, and one of the first steps he takes is to “ask permission from the police” to launch an investigation. “You don’t want to mess around with an active police investigation, so I take the job after it has gone cold,” he told Observer. Treating recovery work as a side gig seems to be the norm in the art theft world, and Brand’s case is no exception. He has tracked down stolen artworks by Van Gogh, Picasso and Salvador Dali, as well as culturally relevant objects, only getting a fee when a recovery is made. “In eighty percent of cases, I don’t get paid,” he revealed, adding that about half his work involves helping people buy and sell artworks—legitimately, of course. 

There is no association of private art investigators, and victims of art theft often have to rely on search engine results to find someone who can help. The head of one New Paltz, New York, private investigation firm who asked not to be identified noted that “for a variety of reasons, law enforcement officers may be unable or reluctant to refer victims to service providers in the private sector,” although he thought that the NYPD or FBI might recommend contacting a retired detective or special agent who works in private practice. Additionally, lawyers who specialize in fine art matters “might be able to recommend an investigator.” Contrary to how Brand operates, private investigators generally work on a retainer basis, charging by the hour, and fees for billable hours and expenses rack up regardless of the outcome of an investigation. While most art is stolen from museums, rather than from private homes, private art collectors shouldn’t be complacent. In January of 2023, six people were arrested for the 2012 theft of a Porsche, several bottles of wine, designer wristwatches and artworks including paintings by Jasper Johns, Piet Mondrian, Frank Stella, Franz Kline and Philip Guston from the Los Angeles home of financier Jeffrey Gundlach the paintings were recovered in two weeks from an automobile stereo shop in Pasadena. Gundlach had offered a reward of up to $1.7 million for the return of his artworks, which proved helpful in tracking down the paintings. 

Claire Marmion, an art consultant for the insurance industry and founder of the Haven Art Group, noted that both homeowners and insurance carriers offer rewards for the safe return of stolen artworks, although her experience is that rewards are “helpful in catching the perpetrators, less helpful in recovering the art.” In terms of whether or not to offer a reward, Steven Pincus, senior managing director of Risk Strategies, an insurance brokerage firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, suggested that “this should be guided by the insurance company in connection with law enforcement.” The amount of the reward generally reflects a percentage of the value of missing art but could be considerably higher if the piece has significant personal or sentimental value to its owner. The amount of insured loss is also a factor. In 2006, a 1778 painting by Francisco de Goya that was stolen from a fine art transporter van carrying it from a museum in Toledo, Ohio to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City was recovered, in no small part thanks to the $50,000 reward offered by the insurance company whose policy covered the artwork. A lawyer for the thief contacted authorities, who took possession of the unharmed artwork in time for its exhibition. As Arthur Brand said, “Money talks.”

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Reposted from WHYY

Since January 2020, the Iron Hill Museum in Delaware has grappled with persistent vandalism. In the first week of October, the situation escalated when racial slurs were graffitied at the institution near Newark, prompting heightened security concerns. It’s the second incident of damage at the museum’s property this year. Back in March, small information signs were broken or went missing, trails were littered with trash, a storage shed was broken into, and cameras were stolen. Robin Broomall is president of the board of directors at the Delaware Academy of Science, which operates the museum. She said there’s a common thread across multiple incidents. “We’ve had ongoing vandalism for almost four years now. We really feel that it is the same person or persons doing this because their modus operandi always seems to be about the same: cause as much damage to the organization as they can,” Broomall said. “We’ve seen how they operate [by] throwing things around in the woods, damaging information signs. It always seems to be just about the same way.” At the beginning of this year, the museum used a $25,000 grant to create a new trail dedicated to the history of the free Black community in the area — but once again, it was vandalized. “In February of this past year, we had an African American History Trail put in with about 15 informational signs, and the ribbon cutting ceremony for that was at the end of February,” she said. “Less than two weeks later, every one of those informational signs was ripped out of the ground, broken, or totally destroyed.” Following the trail incident, the museum upgraded its security cameras, but they were unsuccessful in capturing the person responsible for the most recent act of vandalism. 

This time, vandalism involved racial graffiti slurs across ten different informational signs. “We had ten education informational signs across our property that were all scribbled with black marker and the n-word was large and prevalent over all of those signs,” she said. “This is kind of taking things to a more disgusting level.” All of this occurred on the night of Oct. 4. Broomall was meeting with a security installer when she discovered the multiple racial slurs. “It’s also disheartening. I myself have had a lot of time spent on you know, helping to clean up. We have a volunteer who went around and spent almost an entire day working on cleaning off these signs,” she said, adding that was time wasted which could have been used for community engagement and programming. Iron Hill has been in close collaboration with local and state NAACP organizations since the March vandalism. They hold monthly meetings dedicated to finding ways to protect the museum and its African American history, with the active participation of state and local police. After hearing of the latest incident, Broomall said one NAACP member “was most adamant that they want to be involved in developing a ‘friends of Iron Hill Museum organization’ to pull some other community members into it.” While museum supporters could easily label the vandalism a hate crime, Broomall stressed the need to confirm who is damaging their property and what their objective is. She said the years of vandalism might be more about a vendetta against the museum than racial resentment. 

Regardless of the motivation, Broomall said the museum will not be deterred. “I want to say that we are not going to be dismayed. We’re not going to hold back any longer with our purpose of educating the community on the history of the Iron Hill region,” she said. “We’re moving forward. We are going to be putting that African American History Trail back into place. We’re not going to let one individual hold us from doing what our mission says.” This summer, Iron Hill received a grant from the State of Delaware. That money will help pay to upgrade the security system, rebuild the African American trail, and replace a damaged fence.

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Reposted from NL Times

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima were forced to quickly get to their car after encountering an angry crowd of demonstrators on Friday during a visit to a museum for the history of slavery in Cape Town, South Africa. The atmosphere was grim, where the demonstrators left little room for the couple, and the security guards had to intervene forcefully. The couple managed to leave for their next appearance without injury.

The group of people gathered at the Iziko Slave Lodge to draw attention to the role of the Netherlands in South Africa’s historical ties to slavery. Dozens of protesters descended on the couple as they exited the museum. Along the way, a native bow was placed in the king’s hands.

A tricky moment came when Máxima had to walk around the car to her side. The Dutch and South African security guards had to push the protesters aside at that moment. The queen was then pulled through the crowd by security guards.

The atmosphere was initially friendly, but that gradually changed. The demonstrators were identified as being Khoisan, the indigenous people of South Africa. In addition to Willem-Alexander’s apologies for the Dutch past history of slavery, they also want to see action, they said. At the beginning of the visit, the couple spoke with the demonstrators outside when there were only a few of them.

The royal couple spent quite some speaking with those present. The atmosphere was positive at that moment; people spoke with each other seriously, but also laughed together. The demonstrators wanted to know from the royal couple when action will be taken, now that an apology has been issued. After the conversation, the royal couple invited some of the demonstrators to join them when they entered the museum.

But outside, the crowd soon swelled to over a hundred, many of whom expressed anger in front of the doors of the slavery museum. As a precaution, the gates to the museum were closed. The security guards stationed at the doors were booed, especially the guards who are South African.

The demonstrators questioned how the guards could put on a nice suit and “join” the Dutch. A museum employee tried to calm the situation, saying that the royal couple learned more about “the terrible history” inside, but the fuss only grew.

Protest signs were waved, and people also sang songs. The signs contained texts, like, “You are stealing our culture,” “We were the first,” “We want compensation,” and “You are forgetting us.”

On July 1, the king apologized on behalf of the Netherlands for the Dutch history of slavery during a speech in Amsterdam. “Today I stand before you. Today, as your King and as a member of the government, I make this apology myself. And I feel the weight of the words in my heart and my soul,” Willem-Alexander said during Keti Koti, the national commemoration for the end of slavery.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a press statement on Thursday that he acknowledges the king’s apology. “This was an important step towards reconciliation, repair and healing of old wounds.

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