[MSN] SAFE hosts Peter Watson's lecture on “The Medici Conspiracy”

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

SAFE/Saving Antiquities for Everyone will offer the rare opportunity  
to view the dark side of the international art world through the eyes  
of an expert, Peter Watson. His new book "The Medici Conspiracy  
"(PublicAffairs, 2006) describes the network that controls the  
illicit antiquities trade in Italy.

DATE/TIME: Thursday November 16, 2006 at 6:00 pm
LOCATION: Chelsea Art Museum, 556 West 22nd St, NYC		
TICKETS: $15.00 (adults) and $8.00 (students) including museum  
admission, available at http://www.savingantiquities.org/event.php? 
eventID=40

In his first US public appearance discussing "The Medici Conspiracy",  
Peter Watson will read from the book and describe the decade-long  
investigation that led to the trial now proceeding in Rome. The  
return of looted and suspect antiquities to Italy by the J. Paul  
Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine  
Arts in Boston will also be discussed.

A former investigative journalist for the London Sunday Times and  
author of two previous art world exposés, "The Caravaggio Conspiracy"  
and "Sotheby's: The Inside Story", Peter Watson has also written for  
The New York Times, the Observer and the Spectator. Now a Research  
Associate at the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre, at the McDonald  
Institute for Archeological Research at the University of Cambridge,  
Mr. Watson has been featured in the US on Public Radio International  
and the CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes.”

Following the lecture, SAFE will host the first annual Beacon Awards  
gala benefit honoring the authors of three important books that have  
cast new light on the problem of looting and cultural heritage  
destruction: Peter Watson for "The Medici Conspiracy" (2006), Matthew  
Bogdanos for "Thieves of Baghdad" (2005) and Roger Atwood for  
"Stealing History" (2004).

For more information about the lecture email:  
lecture at savingantiquities.org

SAFE/Saving Antiquities for Everyone, Inc. creates educational  
programs and media campaigns to raise public awareness about the  
importance of preserving cultural heritage world-wide. SAFE is a  
coalition of professionals in communications, media, and advertising  
working alongside experts in the academic, legal and law enforcement  
communities. SAFE has no political affiliations.