Face to Face

It was really good to have the opportunity to meet Christos Tsirogiannis in person at the UCS seminar yesterday, we had a really interesting chat about his work on illicit antiquities. Some really shocking things emerged - not all of which can be repeated here. When he publishes it (there are restrictions on it at the moment, and I think some serious pragmatic problems in publishing it) I think there will be some explosive revelations there. It was also fantastic to meet the charming Helen Geake in person. Both of them made some valuable comments in the discussion.

These face-to-face contacts are essential if we are to make our various points of view more widely understood. Helen made this point best of all when she came up to Keith Wade while we were talking together before the seminar and said to him (for she did not recognize me) that she feared this upcoming presentation was going to be very "polarised". I can see why on reading this blog, one might have that impression. Which is why I valued so much the opportunity for some face-to-face interaction over these issues - somewhat difficult when I live half a continent away. The blog is one thing, the issues behind it are another. Perhaps I now need to think over a more effective way to present these issues in addition to blogging.

Vignette: face to face