Art and Crisis in the Middle East

The rise of organizations like ISIS (or ISIL) has brought attention to the looting and destruction of ancient artifacts in the Middle East. In today's episode, Colette LeRoux and Gina Konstantopoulos join us to discuss the history of looting and iconoclasm in the Middle East, and how contemporary events and civil strife are impacting research in their fields.

Check out the Slideshow below for the images we mention in the episode. Scroll down further for Links to other sites for more information and News Updates on the recent events surrounding ISIS, looting, and iconoclasm in the Middle East.

LINKS
Ali Khan Mahmudabad, ISIS, Iconoclasm and Iraq, The Times of India
Looting Antiquities, A Fundamental Part of ISIS' Revenue Stream, All Things Considered
Erased: Isis and the Destruction of Ancient Artifacts, The Atlantic
Artefacts Under Attack, The Financial Times
Isis and the Destruction of History, The New Yorker
Review of Stacy Boldrick's Iconoclasms, Burlington Magazine
Jordan Tate: Working from Photographs, Denny Gallery

NEWS
Feb. 10: Syrian 'Monuments Men' Race to Protect Antiquities as Looting Bankrolls Terror, Wall Street Journal
Feb. 16: The Men Who Smuggle the Loot that Funds IS, BBC News
Feb. 27: Antiquities Scholar: Islamic State’s Destruction of Museum & Library is Cultural & Ethnic Cleansing, Democracy Now
March 5: Islamic State extremists hit 3,000-year-old city of Nimrud, The Art Newspaper
March 7: Jihadists May Have Wrecked an Ancient Iraqi Site, New York Times
March 11: Vandal Destroys Roman and Muslim Relics in Archaeological Site in Southern Spain, ArtNet
March 19: Militants, ISIS included, Claim Tunisia Museum Attack, New York Times
March 30: Syria's Top Museum Hides 300,000 Artifacts to Protect Them From Looting, Artnet
April 13: ISIS Video Shows Devastating Destruction of Ancient Assyria's Capital, Hyperallergic