I Modi and illicit antiquities

Hello all- so sorry its been forever since the last post. I keep thinking about it and never do it- than all of a sudden its almost been 2 weeks! Anyway, Im sitting in class now and think its the perfect time to update... here's what's been going on:

Last week we had Tom Flynn come and teach us about the history of the art market and how art crime is affected by the market, and vice versa. The class was great- very informative. We were also given the opportunity to present our opinion on an issue with art institutions, or present "what we do" within the art world, etc. Since I, unfortunately, don't do anything within the art world, yet, I decided to take issue with "The White Cube". Naturally, I introduced the idea of somaesthetics to the class and used the I Modi images as a demonstration, among others. The class really liked it, I think. I got a few requests to go over the idea more and provide the rest of the I Modi images. Awesome- everyone loves a little Renaissance porn :)

So... that weekend: Friday we went to the discotheque run by the husband of the cute little Italian woman who teaches us the language, Monica. This couple is SO cute! But anyway, we went and had a 3-course dinner, and then danced the night away. Anyone familiar with european discotheques knows what this means... haha. So I finally pulled myself together and left around 4 am. Not bad. Saturday I took advantage of the free day and lounged around, cooked, caught up on some reading, and napped. A fabulous day! Sunday we went to Cerveteri and went through the necropolis. The excavated site was huge and there were hundreds of tombs. Then we left the "museum" and walked out into the forest and discovered hundreds more. These have not been properly excavated or protected. Tomb robbers are still going out at night and digging up Etruscan pots and such and selling them on the black market. It was really neat to go and see what is happening, but its also disappointing to see how helpless we are in the scheme of things.

This week we have Edgar Tijhuis here teaching us on criminology, the theories behind it, and how it can be used to explain art crime. This class is a little harder to get into because it is "theory-based", but Edgar is a great character and keeps it as interesting as possible. We had a terrace party last night and I got to talk with him for a few hours. He is really funny and has a lot to say about art crime and ARCA, etc. I think he and Tom are two people I definitely want to keep in touch with. I also brainstormed with a fellow student/lawyer and we decided to create our own business based in London to offer hostile surveillance and consulting services for institutions around the world... we will see if this happens! Either way, I am making a lot of great professional contacts and am hoping to come away with some opportunities in my near future.

Well, I should go and pay attention a little. This weekend I have a date with the beach. And next weekend, there are plans to go skydiving. Looks like I will have some great stuff to write about! Also, photos are on facebook, but I will try to get some on here soon. Ciao amici!