Prof. Zoe Kontes of Kenyon College
has been awarded a Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship for creating a podcast on the illicit trade in classical antiquities, the first of its kind.
Each episode will use the story of a specific artifact from the ancient Mediterranean world to explore a larger topic, such as the looting of ancient sites; forgeries and the science behind determining the authenticity of classical artifacts; and what happens to cultural property during war. She will also delve into the issues around repatriation, through objects like a 4th-century BC gold funerary wreath concealed in a hollowed-out watermelon to be smuggled out of Greece. The podcast will include interviews with archaeologists and museum curators in the field to show how preservation and exhibition of antiquities work in practice.
In the continuing battle for the preservation of the world’s cultural treasures, Kontes believes, public opinion matters. The stories she tells will not only let listeners in on the fascinating journeys museum objects take to their display cases; they also have the potential to help galvanize and translate ethical thinking into legislation, helping to curtail looting by bringing its impact to life.
Professor Kontes was author of a 2015
op-ed on the repatriation of antiquities for the
New York Times.
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