SAFE TOURS Announces 2005 Fall Schedule

SAFE Tours offer Insider's guide to Metropolitan Museum of Art collections, also benefit the rebuilding of the Iraq Museum.

Jersey City (PRWEB) September 1, 2005 - The non-profit group SAFE | Saving Antiquities for Everyone announces its fall line-up for SAFE Tours in New York, aimed to offer an insiders look into museum collections. All tours will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Ave at 82nd Street. Other tours are being planned for Boston and Chicago.

Two Iraq Museum Benefit Tours are planned, with proceeds donated to Iraqs State Board of Antiquities and Heritage for the rebuilding of the Iraq Museum: Friday September 9 at 6 p.m. guided by Dr. Barbara Porter, a contributor to the book The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: the lost of legacy of ancient Mesopotamia.

Dr. Porter will discuss Mesopotamian objects in the museum with regard to their significance as cultural artifacts and as examples of similar lost or damaged archaeological material from the Iraq Museum or the extensively looted sites.

Sunday, October 23 at 10:30 a.m. with Dr. Oscar Muscarella, who led the critically acclaimed inaugural Iraq Museum Benefit Tour in June. Dr. Muscarella will guide us through the Ancient Near Eastern Galleries and speak about how objects were acquired. Dr. Muscarella is an archaeologist and a prolific writer who has long been involved in plunder and forgery issues.

Two Stolen History Tours are also planned:

Sunday October 2 at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. led by Roger Atwood, author of Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World. Mr. Atwood returns to the popular Stolen History Tours where he discusses archaeological artifacts of dubious provenance.

"We are grateful to these knowledgeable experts who make SAFE Tours possible. It allows us to educate the public about museum collections on an intimate level," says Cindy Ho, founder and President of SAFE. "Iraq Museum Benefit Tours also makes it possible for SAFE and members of the public to directly contribute to rebuilding the war torn Iraq Museum, which still houses some of the worlds greatest ancient treasures."

Fee: $30/person (20% discount for SAFE members) plus group admission. All tours limited to 15 persons maximum. To make your reservation or to learn more about SAFE Tours, visit our website at: http://www.savingantiquities.org/g-whatwedosafetours.htm For additional information, email tours@savingantiquities.org.

About SAFE
SAFE | Saving Antiquities for Everyone creates educational programs and media campaigns to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving cultural heritage worldwide. 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 and is sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501(c)(3) corporation. For more information please go to: www.savingantiquities.org.

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