Art Traffickers
Italy is home to the one of the most important artistic heritages in the world, but it is also where tens of thousands of precious archaeological finds are illegally trafficked every year, making it one of the world’s biggest illicit industries.
Sky Arts presents Art Traffickers. Treasures Stolen from the Tombs a new series on the most sensational thefts of ancient masterpieces in the history of art: the Euphronios Krater, the Goddess of Morgantina, the Capitoline Triad and the Vase of Asteas.
This series recounts the stories of those who have dug up and stolen forgotten masterpieces; of those who have sold them as if they were just any old commodity; and of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC).
The crime story was reconstructed thanks to the help of the motion graphics created by TIWI: on one hand, a series of animated illustrations with a noir atmosphere, which reconstruct the settings and anecdotes related to the discovery of the finds, their recipe and the decisive discoveries. by the TPC; on the other hand, a universe of organization charts and graphs that help the viewer to reconstruct the relationships between grave robbers, supporting actors and institutions, as in a real dashboard of an investigation department.
The series includes interviews, footage of the excavation sites and the museums where the recovered works of art are kept today, and studio reconstructions and animated films – made by TIWI – to recount the salient moments in the story.
