Dr Emiline Smith

📚 I’m thrilled to share that “Researching a Rigged Game: Digital Approaches to Tracing the Illicit Trade in Cultural Objects”, edited by @dremilinesmith.bsky.social and myself, is now published and available as Open Access via @springernature.com.

🔗https://lnkd.in/gBCv2KDH

This was really fun to do, thanks @npr.org #MuseumConfidential for having me 🎙️ We dig into the cultural fallout and colonial echoes of the #Louvre theft - give it a listen! 🎧 #podcast #artcrime #museumheist #Louvre -
www.npr.org/podcasts/557...

Honoured to present at the British Society of Criminology – Green Criminology Network Seminar today on #oceanjustice 🌿 So great to be amongst like-minded scholars and practitioners passionate about non-human #animalwelfare, #EnvironmentalJustice & #BlueCriminology #GreenCriminology

The Louvre Heist Was a Colonial Wake-Up Call The stunning theft reveals more than a failure of security: It lays bare how austerity, neglect, and unresolved colonial legacies continue to haunt the museum.

Sunday’s heist at the Louvre has stirred a lot of headlines. I argue @hyperallergic.com that the real vulnerability lies not in museum security, but in the colonial foundations of Western museum collections. #ArtTheft #Decolonization #Repatriation #PublicMemory
🔗 hyperallergic.com/1051113/the-...

Reminder: we need a more pragmatic, realistic approach to museum ownership and collection retention. We cannot and should not hold onto everything in our museums, particularly when the original owners are ready and able to take ownership of their own heritage #repatriation #returnthegods #loot

Radio Wales Drive - With Claire Summers - BBC Sounds Everything you need to know as you head home.

Thanks for having me #BBC Radio 5 & Radio Wales to talk about this #Louvre #museumheist #arttheft, which has reignited concerns around #museumsecurity, especially amid renovations and mass tourism pressures, and has exposed vulnerabilities in #heritageprotection -
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Louvre museum in Paris closed after robbery, French minister says - live updates France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati said the incident happened as the museum opened this morning.

This isn’t the first time the Louvre’s been broken into… Previous thefts have even involved (former) museum staff - a common thread in art heists. Hoping the Mona Lisa and her companions are safe. 🖼️🔒🏛️ #Louvre #ArtTheft -
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c6...

Grateful to BBC Radio Wales for having me on today to talk about the theft at St Fagans National Museum of History 🏛️🎙️ Very much hoping that the objects stolen in this targeted theft will be found asap #BBCWales #StFagans #MuseumHeist #CulturalHeritage #LootedHeritage

Great to be a discussant on the first session of the Political Economy Futures Forum - supported by the College of Social Sciences @uofglasgow.bsky.social - where we discuss AI and illegal markets with Alessio Azzutti today #AI #illegalmarkets #crime #harms #governance #interdisciplinarity

What a beautiful day to welcome our new #UG #PGT #PGR #Criminology & @uofgsociology.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social students at @uofglasgowasc.bsky.social !🎓✨ We’re thrilled to have you join our vibrant university community 🌍📚 #WelcomeWeek #NewBeginnings

Historic Singha Durbar Palace Destroyed as Nepal Protests Turn Deadly Police used live ammunition, water cannons, and tear gas on demonstrators mobilizing against government corruption.

Standing with the people of Nepal during these challenging days. May the voices of protest be heard with respect, and may a path of dialogue and compassion guide the nation toward unity and healing. 🕊️❤️

hyperallergic.com/1040874/hist...

"Museums are not stages for loyalty. They are civic laboratories. They are places where we wrestle with contradictions, encounter the unfamiliar and widen our circle of empathy."

So lovely to be in sunny Leuven @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social to explore pathways to further strengthen our #criminology partnership @thesccjr.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social #globalcriminology #criminologycollab #criminologyacrossborders

journal cover

New special issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice Vol. 13 (2025) www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Caring for Culture in the 21st Century @saa-aap.bsky.social @apsap.bsky.social @archaeojake.bsky.social @sherr-spadefoot.bsky.social @drdonnayates.bsky.social @dremilinesmith.bsky.social

Dr Emiline Smith with members of the Universitas Gadjah Mada team.

The repatriation of a collection of cultural artefacts to Indonesia's Warloka community was facilitated by @dremilinesmith.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social

Find out more: bit.ly/4m5wB57

Spectacular views over Rinca (= home of Komodo dragons). We are here in Labuan Bajo (Indonesia) to prepare the repatriation of 30+ objects and ancestral remains, happening in the next few days. Stay tuned for updates! #IPDF #UGM @thesccjr.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social @uofgsociology.bsky.social

Relooted: The African Game Turning Artifact Repatriation Into a Bold Heist As demands for the repatriation of African artifacts rise, a video game is offering a stage of digital heists to retrieve stolen treasures

This certainly looks epic (I wish it was true 😍) #Relooted #ReturntheGods #videogame #repatriation #Africangameindustry @nyamakop.co.za - culturecustodian.com/relooted-the...

Thanks for covering this NT & for the quote. The art market needs to know that there is no excuse to auction off invaluable and inalienable Nepali cultural objects like this stunning Pratap Malla necklace #returnthegods #NepaliTimes #nepaliheritage #repatriation - nepalitimes.com/news/repatri...

Happy to report that the auction house withdrew this lot during the auction due to "problems with the origin" as per the auctioneer #tobecontinued #returnthegods

For anyone interested, follow the auction here: www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/...

In about 1 hour, Auction House Loeckx will be selling off this beautiful necklace, similar to the stolen Taleju necklace at the Art Institute of Chicago. This auction has alllll the unethical and illicit lots - ancestors, weapons, deities #stopsellinglootedheritage #returnthegods #noprovenancenosale

The striking icon of this conference is of course the Taleju necklace, held captive by the @artinstitutechi.bsky.social and still not repatriated after years of requests from Nepal #returnthegods #lootedheritage

Honoured and very excited to speak at this important conference by the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign next week in Kathmandu - see you there? #returnthegods #lootedheritage #Nepal @artcrimeprof.bsky.social @helenaarose.bsky.social
nepalheritagerecoverycampaign.org

International Society for Ethnology and Folklore SIEF is an international organization that facilitates and stimulates cooperation among scholars working within European Ethnology, Folklore Studies, Cultural Anthropology and adjoining fields. SIEF o...

The theme of this year's SIEF Congress in Aberdeen is 'Unwriting - challenging and deconstructing the authority of inscribed truth in folklore and tradition'. Join me in our panel 'Unwriting in the Himalayas: reflections on collaborative craft and authorship' today - www.siefhome.org/congresses/s...

Great to see this out - in this article I elaborate on passive and active academic facilitation of #illicittrade in cultural objects, taking Mary Slusser and Emma Bunker as examples #returnthegods @saa-aap.bsky.social‬ @thesccjr.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

A wonderful end to our visitors' stay in Glasgow, this beautiful cross-cultural exchange 'From the Atrato to the Clyde: what does it mean for a river to have rights?' #environmentaljustice #riverjustice @mohume.bsky.social @allangillies.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social @uofgsociology.bsky.social

House for an Art Lover - What a beautiful spot to do some strategic teaching & research planning and team building today @thesccjr.bsky.social #BellahoustonPark #Glasgow #Scotland #CharlesRennieMackintosh

Fantastic day spent in Edinburgh yesterday speaking to @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social about their Indonesian collection, thinking through critical heritage and justice research & teaching possibilities #IPDF #heritagejustice @uofgsps.bsky.social @uofgsocsci.bsky.social @thesccjr.bsky.social

Such a great day with our esteemed colleagues from #UGM #Indonesia. Started off with a thought-provoking visit @hunterianglasgow.bsky.social with @xanadu68.bsky.social, then more meetings & public lecture on #AuthorizedHeritageDiscourse and #epistemicjustice. Still with so much ☀️☀️ ☀️ #dreamteam

Amazing to have visitors from Universitas Gadjah Mada in Glasgow to share expertise on colonial collections, repatriation, & heritage protection from Scotland to Indonesia, especially with so much ☀️ ☀️ ☀️

Visit funded by @uofglasgow.bsky.social's IPDF @uofgsps.bsky.social @thesccjr.bsky.social