Culture Crimes: The Illicit Art Market and the Fight for Cultural Preservation

Event Details

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 

In partnership with Lugano, who is generously underwriting Meridian’s “Cultural Diplomacy Salon Series,” we will be hosting a thoughtful discussion on the illicit art market and the critical efforts to protect our cultural heritage.
This event, featuring federal and culture crime experts, will provide a clear look at the realities of art crimes and their broader implications on culture, diplomacy, and security. Together, we will examine the diverse strategies employed in the fight for cultural preservation.
If you have any questions regarding this event, please reach out to Betsy Purves, Director of Institutional Advancement at bpurves@meridian.org.

Program Speakers

Name Title
Tess Davis Executive Director, The Antiquities Coalition
Jessica Dittmer  National Art Crime Team
Dr. Richard Kurin Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador at Large, Smithsonian Institution
Deborah Lehr (moderator) Chairman and Founder, The Antiquities Coalition

About Meridian International Center

Meridian International Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan diplomacy center that has worked for over 60 years to connect leaders through culture and collaboration to drive solutions for complex challenges facing their organizations, communities, and countries with the vision that greater understanding and collaboration between the United States and the world leads to a more secure, prosperous future. The Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy is the leading center in the United States that employs the arts and culture as a tool of diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding. We work in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. embassies abroad, as well as the diplomatic community in Washington, DC, to develop and curate exhibitions, exchanges and programs that range from film screenings to mural arts programs to music performances. Our programs have reached millions of people in more than 310 cities in at least 80 countries worldwide.