SAFE Honors Lord Colin Renfrew at the 2009 AIA/APA Meeting in Philadelphia

SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone), an organization I support, honored Neil Brodie and Donny George in January 2008 at the SAFE Beacon Awards Reception at the AIA/APA meeting in Chicago. In addition to the Beacon Awards Reception, SAFE had a strong presence at the annual meeting with multiple well-attended lectures at its booth. Donny George also led SAFE tours at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. All supporters and lecturers were enthusiastic volunteers.

This year, SAFE will have an even stronger presence at the AIA/APA meeting in Philadelphia in January 2009. SAFE will again have a booth in the exhibit hall with many different speakers, activities, and film screenings (details will be forthcoming on SAFE's website as they are finalized). This year the SAFE Beacon Award Reception will honor Lord Prof. Colin Renfrew, whose contributions to raising awareness about the problem of pillage are well known and respected. The former director of the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre and the McDonald Institute of Archaeology at Cambridge is an important figure in archaeology as well for his many significant contributions to prehistory and archaeological theory. From 1981 to 2004, he held the distinguished Disney Chair of Archaeology at Cambridge, a position that has been held by many well-known archaeologists in the past. In conjunction with his acceptance of the award Prof. Renfrew will give a lecture during the Beacon Award reception entitled "Combating the Illicit Antiquities Trade: the 1970 Rule as a Turning Point (or How the Metropolitan Museum lags behind the Getty)." During the course of the AIA/APA meeting he will also conduct SAFE tours at the University of Pennsylvania Museum on the theme of "Collecting the Right Way." Prof. Renfrew is a brilliant and inspiring speaker and space at the reception and tours is no doubt limited.

SAFE is printing approximately 2,000 Souvenir Journals to be distributed at the AIA/APA meeting. Last year several university departments, museums, individuals, advocacy groups, and others offered their support and congratulations to the Beacon Award Winners and SAFE in the 2008 Souvenir Journal. If you or your organization would like to acknowledge Prof. Renfrew's contributions or show your support to SAFE, you may do so by submitting your information, graphic, or desired message using SAFE's online form or by contacting me directly.

Click here for the details of the 2009 Beacon Award Reception for Prof. Renfrew and to purchase tickets. Click here for information on the 2008 Beacon Awards Reception

Click here to reserve a spot in Prof. Renfrew's SAFE tour.

Watch the exhibition page for updates on SAFE's activities at the 2009 AIA/APA meeting in Philadelphia and/or to volunteer to help make SAFE's presence at the meeting successful. Click here for a description of SAFE's activities at the AIA/APA in January 2008.

Details and registration information for the 2009 AIA/APA meeting can be found here. The preliminary program and abstracts for scholarly presentations will be available online soon. SAFE members have organized some AIA workshops and sessions; more information should be made available on SAFE's exhibition page in the near future.