I am invited in Poitiers for an international conference on antiquities forgery.

The meeting is entitled “Forgery and use of forgery within national and oriental antiques. Crossed points of view: heritage, investigation, law and justice”. It will take place on 16 December 2021, in hybrid form (presence and videoconference).

My talk will deal with “Forging the Bible: Fake Dead Sea Scrolls.”

For more information and registration, please visit the conference website.

Here is the full program:

• 9:30 am – Vincent Michel, director of HeRMA, University of Poitiers and Léa Dechamp, Master of Ancient Worlds – History, Civilizations and Heritage, University of Poitiers
Introduction

Session 1 – Methodological, legal and litigation approach

9:40 am / 1:15 pm

• 9:40 am – by videoconference – Xavier Delestre, General Heritage Curator, Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur
Forgeries and uses of forgeries, a few observations following legal investigations carried out in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur region

• 10:05 am – by videoconference – Agnès Lattuati-Derieux, research engineer, head of the Organic materials analysis group, C2RMF, Ministry of Culture
Cross-views of cultural heritage sciences: contributions and limits for the study of goods from national collections

• 10:30 am – Morgan Belzic, INHA researcher, French Archaeological Mission of Libya (MAFL) and Camille Blancher, University of Poitiers, MAFL
True-false: the falsification of Libyan archaeological objects on the art market

• 10:55 am – Maxence Garde, Curator at the Egypt & Sudan Department, British Museum, Circulating Artefacts
Use of forgery: documenting the provenance of Egyptian antiquities

• 11:15 am – Break

• 11:30 am – Marine Le Bihan, Lawyer, Business Litigation / Art Law, Paris Bar
Authenticity of cultural goods: what legal framework?

• 11:55 am – Valentin Payraud, Customs Inspector, Financial Judicial Investigation Service (SEJF)
Forgeries, counterfeits and copies in the art world: the role of customs

• 12:20 pm – Thomas Leclaire, Police Captain, Head of SIRASCO at the Central Office for the Fight against Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods (OCBC)
Criminal investigation for forgery in the art world

• 12:55 pm – Conclusion

Session 2 – Regional and typological approach

2:15 pm / 5:45 pm

• 2:15 pm – by videoconference – Konstantinos-Orfeas Sotiriou, Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage Property / Cultural Heritage Protection Expert, Greece
Forgeries in the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage Phenomenon

• 2:45 pm – Philippe Mainterot, Senior Lecturer, University of Poitiers
Avoiding the traps of counterfeiters: how to identify counterfeit Egyptian art?

• 3:10 pm – by videoconference – Maamoum Abdoulkarim, Professor of Archeology, University of Damascus, former Director General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria
Production and circulation of fake antiques during the Syrian crisis

• 3:35 pm – Mickaël Langlois, HDR lecturer, University of Strasbourg
The Falsified Bible: The False Dead Sea Scrolls

• 4 pm – Break

• 4:15 pm – by videoconference – Stéphane Ipert, Director of Collections (Heritage Library), Qatar National Library
Peregrination of oriental manuscripts in the MENA region: from imitations to trafficking in forgery

• 4:40 pm – by videoconference – Awni Shawamra, Protection of cultural heritage, Department of Antiquities, Palestine
Types of false artifacts in Palestine and their sources

• 5:05 pm – by videoconference – Jean-Paul Demoule, Professor emeritus of European protohistory, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Archeology of fakes: examples and typology

• 5:30 pm – Discussion and conclusion