The British Museum creates a platform against the illegal trade in art

The British Museum has announced the launch of a global platform to combat the plundering and illegal trade in art. The project, called Circulating Artefacts (CircArt), is a collaborative initiative against the illicit trade in antiquities on a global scale, currently focusing on ancient objects from Egypt and Sudan.

To achieve its goal, the British gallery explained that CircArt combines information from a database of restricted or illegally trafficked items with a public online service. Users registering on this platform will be able to bring objects to the attention of specialists to assess whether they may have been excavated or traded illegally.

So far, more than 4,700 objects have been identified whose provenance is unclear, and many of them are being investigated by the authorities. The Director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, said that the British Museum ”s absolutely committed to combating the increasing levels of trade in illicit material around the world” and that the CircArt platform “is an important step in this fight”.

“(CircArt) allows those who want to make a positive difference -- museums, government agencies, auction houses, collectors, dealers and the general public -- to share information and experience to help end the theft and illegal trade in antique objects,” Fischer said.

The British Museum, one of the world's largest public museums, which houses more than eight million pieces from all corners of the globe, is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.