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Reposted from France 24
The attack took place in the northeastern town of Arras, home to large Jewish and Muslim populations. Police arrested the suspected attacker, Mohammed Moguchkov, who had cried the Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest), according to the preliminary elements of the investigation.
Authorities have suggested a probable link to the ongoing violence in the Middle East, with President Emmanuel Macron denouncing the incident as an act of "Islamist terror". The deployment of the soldiers from Operation Sentinelle will be completed by Monday evening, according to the Élysée presidential palace.
Sentinelle is a French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed since the aftermath of the January 2015 attacks to protect parts of the country deemed sensitive from terrorism.
"This school was struck by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism," Macron said after visiting the school, adding that the victim had "probably saved many lives" with his courage in blocking the attacker. Macron said another attempted attack in another region had been foiled by security forces.
According to the interior ministry, the president was referring to the arrest of a "radicalised" man who was arrested leaving a prayer hall in the Yvelines département (administrative unit) near Paris for carrying a prohibited weapon. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin later said there was "probably a link between what's happening in the Middle East and this incident" in Arras. France upped its alert level to the highest position following a crunch security meeting chaired by Macron on Friday, the prime minister's office told AFP. A total of 10 people have been put into custody, a police source told AFP on Saturday.
In addition to the suspected attacker, several members of his family are being held following the stabbing on Friday, the source said. Two Belarusians were among those in custody, another police source said. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor announced that it has opened an investigation.
Moguchkov, who is in his 20s, is from Russia's mainly Muslim southern Caucasus region of Chechnya. He was already on a French national register known as "Fiche S" as a potential security threat, a police source told AFP, and under electronic and physical surveillance by France's domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI. The victim, a French teacher, was stabbed in the throat and chest. Among those wounded were a school security guard who was stabbed multiple times and is fighting for his life, and a teacher in a less serious condition, the source added. A cleaner was also hurt, according to anti-terror prosecutor Jean-François Ricard. No pupils at the school were hurt, another police source said. The attack comes almost three years to the day after the October 16, 2020 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, also by a man of Chechen origin, near his school in a Paris suburb.
"Three years after the assassination of Samuel Paty, terrorism has struck a school again and in a context that we all know," Macron said. Police say Moguchkov's 17-year-old brother was detained close to another school. Pupils and teachers were confined to the school's premises before being allowed out in the afternoon. A large security cordon was set up around the school where parents had gathered, and police, firefighters and emergency services were deployed, AFP journalists reported. Martin Dousseau, a philosophy teacher who witnessed the attack, described a moment of panic during break-time, when schoolchildren found themselves face-to-face with the armed man.
"He attacked canteen staff. I wanted to go down to intervene, he turned to me, chased me and asked me if I was a history and geography teacher," Dousseau said. "We barricaded ourselves in, then the police arrived and immobilised him." France has suffered a series of attacks by Islamist extremists since 2015 including the suicide and gun attacks in November 2015, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, on targets in Paris where 130 people were killed. There has been a relative lull in recent years, though officials have warned that the threat remains. Macron said in an address to the nation on Thursday that 582 religious and cultural facilities in France were receiving stepped-up police protection after the attack by Hamas on Israel. Speaking in Arras, he reaffirmed his message from that address for the French to "stand shoulder to shoulder" and "stay united". French Education Minister Gabriel Attal said in a message to regional education officials security should be reinforced at schools "without delay". Darmanin on Thursday had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France until further notice, on the grounds they "are likely to generate disturbances to public order". In defiance of his order, several hundred people gathered in Paris and other French cities on Thursday shouting pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli slogans, AFP correspondents said Police in Paris used tear gas to disperse the protesters and said they had arrested 10 out of around 3,000 people present.
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Reposted from AP News
BOSTON (AP) — Police in New York, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities increased patrols, authorities put up fencing around the U.S. Capitol and some schools closed Friday amid fears of violence inspired by the Israel-Hamas war. But law enforcement officials stressed there were no credible threats in the U.S.
A former Hamas leader’s call for a “day of rage” put American Jewish communities on edge, and sparked heightened security around houses of worship, schools and cultural institutions. The jitters were a sign of just how much the war between Israel and Hamas is reverberating around the world, striking fear in communities even in the absence of a credible threat.
Law enforcement officials said they were on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media.
Ashley Reyes, 40, who is Jewish and lives in Montclair, New Jersey, said the escalating conflict has made her feel less safe and has sparked worries for her 10-year-old son.
“This is the first time in my life that I have actively thought of saying to my son, ‘If someone asks you if you’re Jewish or if your mom’s Jewish, you say no,’” Reyes said.
At the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, Executive Director Rania Mustafa said there has been an increase in harassing phone calls, emails and messages on social media. Mustafa said the group has closed its doors and is only letting in people they know or who identify themselves.
“It’s been a very stressful week in all regards, from one end trying to convince the world that we’re human and that our lives are as sacred as anyone else’s lives and on the other end, trying to protect our own from being targeted. And protecting freedom of speech, of expressing opinions and solidarity with the Palestinian people,” she said.
Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stressed that law enforcement wasn’t aware of any credible threats against the state or the city.
“We want to reiterate to New Yorkers: There’s no reason to feel afraid. No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives or their routines; and indeed when we change our behavior without a serious credible threat, then we’re letting the terrorists win,” Hochul said.
“I want all New Yorkers to feel confident going to a synagogue, going to school, walking in the streets of New York and throughout our state.”
Meanwhile, a New York City councilmember was arrested Friday for bringing a handgun to a student demonstration supporting Palestinians.
Inna Vernikov, a Republican who is Jewish, has been among the most outspoken opponents of Palestinian activists, describing the protesters as “terrorists” while accusing them of making Jewish students feel unsafe. She was seen in photos and videos with the butt of a pistol jutting from her waistband. Vernikov did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment and messages left at her offices were not returned.
New York City’s public university system has seen a wave of dueling protests in recent days following the Hamas attack on Israel and escalating war in Gaza.
Columbia University halted public access to its Manhattan campus Thursday in advance of a planned demonstration by pro-Palestinian activists and a rival pro-Israel group, saying only students, faculty and credentialed journalists would be allowed in. The demonstrations wound up being peaceful.
In Washington, crews were seen putting metal barriers outside the Capitol Thursday evening. A Capitol police spokesperson said in an email they were “not taking any chances” even though there are no specific threats.
Las Vegas’ Innovations International Charter School, which has a campus located in a former Jewish temple, said Friday they were canceling classes out of an “abundance of caution.” Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, also closed its campuses, telling parents in an email that there was no specific threat to the school, but it, too, was acting out of “an abundance of caution.”
Los Angeles, police said they were reaching out to Jewish and Muslim communities and providing extra patrols. Police in Westchester County, New York, also said they were increasing patrols around schools and Jewish houses of worship on Friday. In Boston, police since the beginning of the conflict have increased their uniformed presence around religious and cultural institutions, a spokesperson said Friday.
The Secure Community Network, which advises U.S. Jewish institutions on security, has encouraged Jewish communities to be vigilant and bolster their security efforts. But the group has advised institutions there is no need to close their doors, absent specific information otherwise from law enforcement.
Michael Masters, the group’s CEO, warned against letting “fear or clickbait threats cause chaos” in Jewish communities because he said that is part of the objective of those spreading hateful rhetoric online.
“We saw some of the worst of humanity on Saturday, but we also saw some of the best,” he said of the horrific Hamas attack. “People rushing with literally nothing at their disposal to the lives of family, friends and people they don’t know.”
“I think we owe it to them that we are not going to give in easily and that we are not going to bow down ... because others wish for us to go away.”
____ Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz, Deepti Hajela and Karen Matthews in New York City contributed.
Reposted from CNBC
The Louvre Museum in Paris and Versailles Palace evacuated visitors and staff Saturday after receiving bomb threats, police said. The French government started deploying 7,000 troops to increase security around the country after a fatal school stabbing by a suspected Islamic extremist.
The evacuations of two of the world’s most-visited tourist sites come amid heightened vigilance around France following Friday’s school attack, and global tensions linked to the war between Israel and Hamas. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is worried about the fallout from the war in France.
Alarms rang out through the Louvre when the evacuation was announced and in the underground shopping center beneath its signature pyramid. Paris police said officers searched the museum after it received written bomb threats. The Louvre communication service said no one was hurt and no bomb was found, so the museum will reopen as usual on Sunday.
The Louvre, home to masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, welcomes between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors per day and several million annually.
The former royal palace at Versailles also received bomb threats, and the palace and its sprawling gardens were being evacuated while police examined the area, according to national police. A major Paris train station, Gare de Lyon, was being evacuated after the discovery of a possible bottle explosive, police said.
Earlier Saturday, Macron’s office announced the mobilization of 7,000 soldiers by Monday night, after the government heightened the national threat alert in the wake of the school attack in the northern city of Arras. The “attack emergency” threat posture allows the government to temporarily deploy extra troops to protect public places, among other measures.
Counterterrorism authorities are investigating the Arras stabbing, and the suspected assailant and several others are in custody, prosecutors said. The attacker’s exact motive remains unclear, and he is reportedly refusing to speak to investigators.
The suspect had been under recent surveillance by intelligence services for Islamic radicalization. He was detained Thursday for questioning based on his phone conversations in recent days, but investigators found no sign that he was preparing an attack, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. He said French intelligence suggested a link between the war in the Middle East and the suspect’s decision to act.
Court documents viewed by The Associated Press show the suspect, identified by prosecutors as Mohammed M., is from the Ingushetia region in Russia’s Caucasus Mountains, which neighbors Chechnya.
Some schoolchildren, parents and personnel returned to the Gambetta-Carnot school Saturday, as police stood guard outside. Classes were canceled, but the school reopened for those who wanted to come together or seek support.
Trauma specialists described the importance of addressing the emotions and revisiting the scene soon after horrific events. One mother said she came with her 17-year-old daughter in a show of defiance against extremism, and to overcome the fear of returning to a site where children were locked down for hours after the stabbing.
Another mother came to seek guidance from counselors about how to support her two sons, who witnessed the attack in their schoolyard.
“As adults, we are managing with difficulty to take a step back, but for them, they’re children,″ said Emily Noge, arriving at the school with her sons and partner.
″It’s always the same moments that come back: The schoolyard, the chairs to protect themselves, the stabbings, the whys. ’Why us? Why Arras? Why the teachers? They were good teachers. They were there to protect us,‴ she said.
For many, the attack echoed the killing of another teacher, Samuel Paty, almost exactly three years ago near his Paris area school. He was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen who was later killed by police.
All French middle schools and high schools will open later Monday so that staff can talk about the attack, and prepare to reassure students and address what happened, the Education Ministry announced. Each establishment will hold a minute of silence to reflect and honor victims of all attacks targeting schools.
Macron urged the people of France to “stay united.”
Reposted from Independant
MPs will question British Museum bosses about thefts from the institution’s collection.
The museum disclosed on August 16 that items – including gold jewellery, semi-precious stones and glass – were missing, stolen or damaged.
It was later revealed that this was an estimated 2,000 artefacts and the PA news agency understands they were taken over a “significant” period of time before 2023.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) said an upcoming one-off evidence session on Wednesday will “focus on the reputational and financial implications for the museum and the wider national collection”.
Former chancellor George Osborne, chairman of the museum’s trustees, and Sir Mark Jones, interim director of the body, are set to answer questions about what this means for the institution.
MPs could also ask about what is being done to recover the items, if there has been damage to the museum’s reputation and how future relations with other institutions may have been impacted.
On August 25, British Museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned and his deputy, Jonathan Williams, stepped back from his position.
In a statement at the time, German art historian Mr Fischer admitted the museum “did not respond as comprehensively as it should have in response to warnings in 2021” about the stolen artefacts.
The museum had been alerted by Ittai Gradel, an author, academic and antiquities dealer, to some of the stolen items, and he told PA that claims he had withheld information from the institution were an “outright lie”.
Mr Fischer – who had announced in July he would step down next year – also said in the statement that he “misjudged the remarks” made about Dr Gradel.
When former Victoria And Albert (V&A) Museum director Sir Mark was confirmed in his new role in early September, he vowed to “restore the reputation” of the British Museum.
On September 26, the institution said “60 items have now been returned, with a further 300 identified and due to be returned imminently”.
The body also released images of classical Greek and Roman gems and jewelry – which are similar to the missing artefacts but not pictures of the absent items – to the public which could lead to the recovery of more objects.
Another session on Wednesday by the CMS committee is set to see Maria Balshaw, chairwoman of the National Museums’ Directors Council (NMDC) and director of the Tate art museums and galleries, and Lord Parkinson, parliamentary under-secretary of state for arts and heritage, appear.
They are scheduled to be asked about the impact on the wider heritage sector.
MPs are also keen to look at what lessons can be learned and the impact on the reputation of other institutions across the UK.
A Metropolitan Police investigation is under way into the thefts at the British Museum.
A man was interviewed under caution on August 23.
No arrests have been made.
The British Museum said in August an unnamed member of staff has been sacked and it is taking legal action.
Reposted from BBC News
A bronze version of Les Bourgeois de Calais is on display outside the Houses of Parliament in London *Museum bosses are unable to locate a sculpture by world famous artist Auguste Rodin, said to be worth £3m.* Officials at Glasgow Museums said a plaster version of Les Bourgeois de Calais was purchased in 1901.
However, the sculpture is among almost 1,750 items currently listed as missing or stolen. The charity that runs the city's museums said it was known to have been damaged after it was put on public display after World War Two. Glasgow Life confirmed the sculpture is currently listed as "unlocated". Rodin - who later became famous for his "Thinker" sculpture - was allowed by French law to manufacture different versions of "Les Bourgeois" in plaster and bronze. A life-size bronze version of the sculpture takes pride of place in the gardens of the Houses of Parliament in London. The plaster version is known to have been displayed in Kelvingrove Park in 1949 for the Sculpture in the Open Air exhibition along with another Rodin work, Saint jean de Baptiste. Officials said Les Bourgeois is known to have been damaged during this exhibition and its whereabouts are currently unknown. The other sculpture is in storage at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. The loss was described as '"utterly shameful" by the Paris-based Comite Rodin, which publicises and catalogues Rodin's work. Jerome Le Blay, the Comite's director, said: "We lose a bit of humanity when we lose a work of art. "Museums may have 100,000 items, so occasionally things get dropped or get lost in shipping. Art is often destroyed in acts of war - that's life - but when it goes missing as a result of mishandling or mismanagement by people it is utterly shameful. "It really is deeply disappointing to discover Glasgow has lost art of this significance and importance." Improved cataloguing A spokesperson for Glasgow Life told BBC Scotland News it had spent 20 years "conducting an inventory" of items in its collection which has included finding objects previously listed as lost. "The process of recording, cataloguing and caring for the Glasgow Museums Collection has improved significantly since it was founded in the 1860s," the spokesperson said. "For 30 years, the cataloguing of the collection has been increasingly centralised using the Museum's Collection Management System. "As part of the major museums capital projects in Glasgow over the last 20 years, the storage of the collection has also been improved." Les Bourgeois de Calais depicts the plight of the French port's residents during an 11-month siege by the English during the Hundred Years War in the late Middle Ages. The burghers (Les Bourgeois) offered up their lives if their town could be spared.
Reposted from The Art Newspaper
On Sunday, Art Basel’s chief executive Noah Horowitz sent an email to VIPs of its Paris + fair, which opens this week (20-22 October), with a message reflecting the gravity of the current international political situation.
“I wanted to take a moment to address the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, which began with the atrocious attacks perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel,” he wrote. “The growing number of civilian casualties in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank is deeply distressing, as is the prospect of a prolonged humanitarian tragedy in the region. This new escalation of violence afflicts us not only as individuals, but also as members of a community whose core values are humanity, mutual respect and dialogue.”
In the wake of the tragic events in the Middle East, France was struck by a terrorist attack on 13 October, when a 57-year-old French teacher, Dominique Bernard, was stabbed to death in a secondary school in Arras by a former student known to be a radical. On the same day, the French prime minister Élisabeth Borne decided to raise the national security alert to the highest level of emergency.
The following day, the Louvre museum announced that it would close its doors “for security reasons” after receiving threats. A security perimeter was set up around the building and the Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre metro station was closed. On the same day, the Château de Versailles was evacuated after a bomb threat was posted on a website. Both institutions reopened as normal on Sunday.
Against this backdrop, the organisers of Paris+ par Art Basel have decided to step up security checks, and remove the use of the cloakroom from the fair. “As fair organisers, the safety of our exhibitors, visitors and staff is of the utmost importance,” Horowitz said in his email.
Visitors to the show will be subject to extensive security screening protocols, including metal detectors and bag checks. Ram barriers will be installed around the Grand Palais Éphémère and additional security personnel will be deployed to patrol the perimeter of the fair, Horowitz said.
Reposted from ICOM
In this article, I describe the swift response of the teams managing the collections in Congress, underscoring the importance of conducting an inventory and implementing a Risk Management Plan. I also highlight the initiative of the STF to publicly display fragments of the damaged items, thus re-signifying the attack. Lastly, I emphasize the importance of the senior management of public institutions such as these in recognizing the need to invest in the preservation of their collections, which themselves serve as powerful educational tools for democracy.
The images featured in the newspapers of January 8, 2023, displayed disturbing scenes: shattered windows, broken furniture and equipment, vandalised artistic and historical heritage, and flooded halls. On that Sunday, thousands of supporters of the far-right former president of Brazil invaded and vandalised the buildings of the National Congress, the Presidency, and the Federal Supreme Court. The attack inflicted severe damage upon the cultural assets of these institutions. However, more than that, it posed a threat to the very democracy of Brazil. What trigged these invasions? An outrage over the election results, which, just seven days prior, had inaugurated a leftist president. A disastrous coup attempt.
Brasilia is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as an example of modernist urbanism and architecture since 1990. Designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, public buildings such as the headquarters of the three republican branches are emblematic. The National Congress, which houses the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, along with the Federal Supreme Court and the Planalto Palace, collectively embody the independence and harmony among the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, serving as symbols of Brazilian democracy. The geographic proximity between them facilitated the invasions.
The collections of these three Houses represent significant primary sources about national political life. They gather documents produced since the establishment of the Brazilian Parliament in 1823, including Constitutions, manuscripts, photographs, and audio-visual materials. The palaces also safeguard works by artists such as Alfredo Ceschiatti, Victor Brecheret, Di Cavalcanti, Athos Bulcão, and Marianne Peretti, in addition to furniture designed by Niemeyer, Ségio Rodrigues, and Jorge Zalszupin. Protocol gifts, offered by heads of state and diplomatic representatives visiting the country, further enrich these collections.
Damage and contamination
Numerous objects were damaged in the attack. At the Planalto Palace, a 17th-century pendulum clock made by Balthazar Martinot, a gift from the Court of France to Portugal that was later brought to Brazil by King Dom João VI, was intentionally thrown to the ground and shattered.
Even more significant were the damages inflicted upon the national heritage. A painting by Di Cavalcanti endured seven knife strikes, and a Burle Marx tapestry was torn and contaminated with urine. Historic paintings and photographs were defaced or broken. Other artworks were discovered floating in the water that spread after vandals opened the hydrants.
It was necessary to rescue items amidst the debris and address scratches, dents, ruptures, stains, oxidation, and broken parts, as well as contamination from dry chemical fire extinguishers. Parts of destroyed objects were never recovered. The success of the salvage operation was only possible due to the swift action of the responsible departments, supported by cleaning and maintenance teams, as well as volunteers. However, it was also owed to the management and preservation measures previously implemented.
The importance of inventory
The Senate Museum had just begun cataloguing its collection when the invasions occurred. One of the first areas targeted by the extremists was the exhibition hall, but the inventory of the pieces kept there had already been completed, which made it easier to identify and process the assets to be handled.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the Museum had already inventoried its entire collection. As a result, it had a precise understanding of the quantity, typology, and state of conservation of each item on the inventory list, along with their exact locations within the palace. This information was particularly important due to the frequent movement of artworks requested for the decoration of directorates and parliamentary offices.
Simultaneously, the Preservation Department, in collaboration with other departments responsible for historical and artistic collections, developed and implemented the Preservation Policy, the Risk Management Plan, and the Emergency Preparedness Guide for potential disasters. These efforts, in conjunction with regular training for cleaning and maintenance teams, proved to be indispensable. Within approximately four months, more than 80% of the vandalized items had been processed, cleaned, and/or restored.
In another line of action, the Supreme Federal Court chose not to restore the original physical integrity of certain assets. With the aim of documenting and re-signifying the events of January 8th, it set up exhibitions featuring damaged objects and other physical remnants from the attack, complemented by photographs of the invasion and the palace’s restoration.
A shared characteristic among some of the institutions previously mentioned is that, in each of them, the awareness of senior management regarding the importance of preserving collections was ignited by the very teams responsible for managing these collections. They often forge strategic external partnerships with authorities and universities, while also successfully engaging a pivotal figure: a project sponsor, a member of the senior administration of the institution, who possesses a substantial degree of influence and authority and can play a role in advocating the project to senior management, therefore enhancing its prospects for approval.
Lastly, it is important to emphasize that Houses such as the Chamber and the Senate, which stand as symbols of Brazilian democracy, must also channel investments into programs that view these collections as instruments for critical reflection and education. Such programs have the potential to bolster society’s historical consciousness and contribute to the establishment of a robust and democratic national identity. Moreover, they might play a role in preventing other acts of vandalism from occurring.
Reposted from Artnet News
A German museum employee has confessed to an audacious scheme, after he was caught swapping out paintings with forgeries and selling the originals to fund a luxury lifestyle. He has received a suspended prison sentence of one year and nine months and must pay back more than €60,000 ($63,500) to the German museum, the Munich District Court ordered on September 11.
The man, now aged 30, stole three paintings while working at the Deutsches Museum in Munich as a technician between May 2016 and April 2018. He replaced the paintings with fakes while they were in storage, consigning the originals to a Munich auction house.
The defendant allegedly used the money to pay debts and fund a luxury lifestyle, the court heard. “Among other things, he bought a new apartment, expensive wristwatches, and bought a Rolls-Royce,” read the verdict, noting that the man now showed remorse. “He stated that he had acted without thinking. He could no longer explain his behavior today.”
After replacing Franz Stuck’s Das Märchen vom Froschkönig (The Fairy Tale of the Frog King) (1891) with a forgery, the man pretended the original was a family heirloom and it was sold at Ketterer Kunst auction house in May 2017 to a Swiss gallery for €70,000 ($74,000). After auction house fees, he received $49,127.40 ($52,000).
Two more paintings that were switched out for fakes, Franz von Defregger’s Zwei Mädchen beim Holzsammeln im Gebirge (Two Girls Gathering Wood in the Mountains) and Eduard von Grützner’s Die Weinprüfung (Tasting the Wine), brought in an additional €11,490.50 ($12,700). An attempt to sell a fourth painting, Franz von Defregger’s Dirndl, at another Munich auction house was unsuccessful. The man made €60,617 ($64,000) in total.
“We have, of course, fulfilled our duty of care in full and have researched the works mentioned extensively,” a spokesperson for Ketterer Kunst told Artnet News. “We regret that the works were stolen from the museum with such high criminal energy. We cooperated closely with the LKA (Bavarian State Criminal Police Office) at an early stage and handed over all documents to solve this case.”
The Deutsches Museum is currently trying to arrange for the return of the pictures, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung. It apparently has many valuable German paintings languishing in storage thanks to a history of receiving bequests from local foundations and families.
“The defendant shamelessly exploited the opportunity to access the storage rooms in the employer’s buildings and sold valuable cultural assets in order to secure an exclusive standard of living for himself and to show off,” the verdict summarized.
The apparent vulnerability of the museum’s collection to theft while in storage recalls the recent scandal of a senior curator at the British Museum accused of stealing some 1,500 objects, several of which were sold for cheap on eBay. Most of these items had never been catalogued, revealing the complex challenges faced by museums tasked with keeping track of vast holdings.
Two suspects accused of digging a hole to create a shortcut over the Great Wall of China have been arrested for causing damage to the world famous heritage site.
Last month, police received an alert reporting that the hole had been dug in the Great Wall in Yang Qianhe Township, about 215 miles west of Beijing, the Youyuxian County Public Security Bureau said in a statement. Investigators called the historic site “severely damaged.”
When investigators arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage site, they spotted tire treads in the dirt, leading them to determine that the ancient wall was damaged by large machinery, but were initially unable to find the culprit.
The suspects were identified earlier this month as a 38-year-old man named Zheng and a 55-year-old woman named Wang, both from the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.
The suspects dug the hole “to facilitate the passage of the excavator through the gap, causing irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics,” officials said.
Officials noted that the specific section of the wall that was damaged is known as the 32nd Great Wall, named after the 32nd beacon tower where the Great Wall enters Youyuxian County.
“There are relatively complete side walls and beacon towers in existence. It is a provincial cultural relic protection unit. It is famous for its majestic and vast ancient frontier fortress style and has important protection and research value,” officials said.
China Daily, a media outlet owned by the Chinese government, reported that the pair has been charged with destroying a cultural relic. Further details about the suspects, such as any court appearances or penalties, could not be found.
Meanwhile, China has been seeking to boost tourism to the UNESCO World Heritage site in recent months with the continuation of the Great Wall Tourism Highway No. 1.
Workers have completed 1,542 miles of roadway and secured about $1.8 million in special funding to protect cultural relics in the Shanxi province.
As of the end of July, officials have invested more than $1.9 billion in the scenic roadway.
“Relying on the ancient Great Wall and its surrounding tourism resources … our province has created a Great Wall culture and tourism integrated development model,” officials said in a statement.
“In conjunction with the scenic spots along the Great Wall, we have launched themed tourism routes such as food tasting, leisure vacations, parent-child study, and Great Wall countryside, and continued to launch Great Wall-themed cultural and creative products.”
Reposted from AAM
What can be even better than a museum making a successful hire? Keeping the experienced, well-trained staff it already has. The Alliance’s soon-to-be-released latest snapshot survey of our sector documents that half of museums are still experiencing problems filling open positions three years after the pandemic began. To keep these problems from getting worse, many museums are working to improve retention by improving pay and equity, including raising the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employees, shrinking the ratio between highest and lowest salaries, and implementing new initiatives to improve staff wellness. Research has shown that organizations can also improve retention of existing staff by providing clear pathways to better roles. Today on the blog, Scarlett McCahill and Erica Simonitis share how the Barnes Foundation has worked to do this, creating career exposure internships and career ladders for its frontline staff.
To sustain a workplace culture rooted in equity, transparency, and inclusion, it’s critical to invest in frontline staff. Frontline staff activate our educational missions. The impression they leave on guests has a substantial impact on our institution, influencing everything from our reputation to our revenue streams. While they hold this significant responsibility, they are often afforded limited avenues for professional development and growth, despite having strong desires to experience those workplace milestones. At the Barnes Foundation, we recognize this problem and want to counter the trend of low investment in frontline staff. For that reason, in 2021 we launched our Pathways Program, to:
The Pathways Program has two branches: Career Ladder (which creates structures for job promotion) and Career Exposure (which creates opportunities for internal internships). For this piece, we’ll focus on the internal internship branch and the initial impact it’s had on our organization.
The Career Exposure branch of Pathways offers paid, internal internships, which provide opportunities for career exploration and skill development. In addition, they can prepare staff for internal promotion and career growth, both within and outside of their home department.
Our sixth quarterly internship cohort began this year. In 2022, eleven interns, chosen from a frontline staff census of fifty-two, worked one day a week for eight to ten weeks—roughly eighty internship contact hours each—in a career exposure internship. For the balance of their regularly scheduled weekly work hours, they continued to work in their primary job roles.
Offering the internships relies on strong planning and budgeting practices, scheduling internships around busy operational peaks. Pathways is reflected in our operational budget through:
These practices will allow us to expand offerings in the future in a sustainable way for the institution.
Here’s how our internships work:
Staff are not required to have work experience directly related to an internship to qualify. Eligibility is based on high-quality job performance in the applicant’s primary role. We explicitly communicate that the internship is a low-risk, high-support opportunity to gain new professional experience, and typically will not result in an immediate promotion. We are cautious not to overpromise on internal promotion because we are a mid-sized institution with approximately two hundred positions. Despite this, we still see excellent program engagement, as measured by applications and post-internship program evaluations. Staff share how much they value the opportunity for resume-building experiences.
Non-supervisory staff from frontline departments—including Guest and Protection Services, Box Office, Call Center, Barnes Shop, and Facilities—can apply to the Pathways Program if they have been employed by the Barnes for at least four months, have no documented disciplinary infractions related to their job performance within the prior six months, and receive their supervisor’s referral. The program is open to both part-time and full-time employees. Interested staff complete a web application and are interviewed by a Pathways Mentor from the internship host department.
Interns work with a dedicated supervisor, called a Pathways Mentor, in a Barnes department outside their home department. Thus far, we’ve had enthusiastic mentors from many departments, including Archives, Conservation, Communications, Family Programs, Business Development, Education, Information Technology, and Marketing. The most sought-after internship has been in preventative conservation, exposing staff to strategies to care for our gallery spaces. Great peer-to-peer buzz has also come after Brand Engagement & Marketing and Archives internships, thanks to dynamic staff mentors.
Preparing mentors is key, as they may have varying degrees of experience in structuring workplace learning plans for others. In the Pathways Program, this preparation is a three -hour commitment before the start of the internship. Our Human Resources Director onboards our mentors into the program and provides continued support to help create a holistic internship experience that focuses on understanding the core functions of the host department. This is accomplished through a combination of on-the-job work tasks, observation of others, and theoretical reading and discussion about strategies employed in the focus area. Mentors are not job supervisors; in the event of work performance, attendance, or conduct lapses, they report observations to frontline supervisors.
Staff who apply but are not selected to participate receive constructive feedback about their application and interview performance from the Pathways Mentor, followed by coaching from their supervisor or Human Resources staff. For many staff, this low-stakes interview and feedback experience is a professional development opportunity in itself. Early-career applicants share being nervous to apply, and some applicants interview several times before being selected for an internship. A supportive peer culture has organically developed as staff encourage each other to navigate these program processes.
Post-internship, interns and mentors evaluate themselves, one another, and the Pathways Program. Many interns elect to take advantage of an optional resume review and coaching offered as part of an exit interview.
Taken all together, we are investing in shared mindsets, vocabulary, and feedback structures to make sure we’re building each other up through an iterative cycle of feedback and improvement.
While it’s still in early days, there are encouraging initial signs our Pathways Program is serving both the individual staff who participate and the institution as a whole:
The Barnes’s workplace culture, values, and program goals may differ from other institutions, but our advice to others who may be interested in beginning a program like Pathways would be not to wait until your culture and operations are perfect—there’s no such thing—but to create your program as part of broader cultural investments and give it resources to sustain a consistent, fair, high-quality program structure. Here are the elements that have made our program a success:
Our board and executive leaders are deeply supportive of this program as a natural extension of our institution’s founding commitments to equity, inclusion, and empowerment through learning.
The Barnes has invested in its employees in many important ways: conducting periodic cultural assessments; empowering interdepartmental working groups to implement enhancements to our workplace culture; offering competitive pay and fringe benefits; investing in management skills; and centering cultural competency and inclusion in our exhibitions, public programs, and internal investments. While our organizational operations and work culture are not perfect, the Pathways Program contributes to our broader investments into positive culture, empowerment, and equity. These programs have brought us together with greater appreciation and understanding of one another’s work.
The Pathways Program was initially designed by an interdepartmental group which included frontline staff. Frontline department supervisors and HR team members implement the program in collaboration with mentor host departments. Pathways is managed by our Director of Human Resources and frontline supervisors, with support from the HR, Finance, and IT departments. Through this structure, we ensure internships remain focused on education and professional development (not on filling an unexpected operational need, replicating favoritism, or perpetuating racial exclusion). The HR department tracks demographics of staff who are or aren’t applying and accepted for internships, and we communicate program goals on an ongoing basis during staff recruitment, onboarding, performance reviews, and everyday coaching. This attention ensures Pathways continues to strengthen our operations and advance our commitment to equity.
The organization celebrates mentors and treats their service as an accomplishment that raises internal visibility for the mentor and their department. The HR department provides mentors with tools to keep administrative burdens to a minimum and incentivizes program participation for mentors and interns in our performance review process.
The Pathways Program is championed internally as an important expression of our mission and a smart business decision by giving our largest and most visible group of staff a program that adds to a stimulating and supportive work environment where they can flourish.
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