Stolen Works of Art
ICOM Red List

The Red List was drawn up by the participants of the ICOM Workshop on the Protection of African Heritage, held in Amsterdam in October, 1997. The Red List includes the following categories of African archaeological items which are particularly prone to looting:

• Nok terracotta statuettes from the Bauchi Plateau, the Katsina and Sokoto regions (Nigeria).
• Terracotta and bronze heads from Ifé (Nigeria).
• Stone statues from Esie (Nigeria).
• Terracotta statuettes, bronze and pottery so-called Djenné from the Niger Valley (Mali).
• Terracotta statuettes, bronze and pottery, and stone statues from the Bura System (Niger, Burkina Faso).
• Stone statues from Northern Burkina Faso and the neighbouring regions.
• Terracotta statuettes from Northern Ghana (Koma-Land) and Ivory Coast.
• Terracotta statuettes so-called Sao (Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria).

These objects are systematically looted. They are protected by legislation and must never be offered for sale. We urgently request museums, auction houses and collectors not to purchase similar objects. The destruction of archaeological sites caused by the looting of these objects is a major threat to the history of Africa.

Photographs illustrating objects similar to those looted, will be available on the next update of the Interpol DVD on Stolen Works of Art.

The Interpol General Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to thank ICOM for having kindly provided the list and photographs of these endangered objects.