The New Zealand Art Crime Research Trust

Saturday 19 September 2026 

9.30am-4.30pm

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Auditorium, Corner of Wellesley Street East and Kitchener Street, Auckland CBD.

Conference fees

Students $70.00

Early bird (register and pay by Sunday, 23 August 2026) $120.00

Full fee (from Monday, 24 August 2026) $135.00

Please register using this form..

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Symposium speakers

Symposium 2026 has a broad range of speakers sharing their thoughts on the cost of art crime.

Melanie Pitkin – Keynote speaker

“The Role of Museums in Managing Unprovenanced Antiquities: Ethical Stewardship of Legacy Collections and Privately Held Antiquities”

Dr Melanie Pitkin is Senior Curator of the Nicholson Collection of antiquities and archaeology at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. She has extensive experience working in museums in Australia and the United Kingdom, and providing support to colleagues at museums in Egypt.

Melanie holds a PhD in Egyptology and an honours degree in ancient history from Macquarie University, and a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Sydney. She has published widely and curated numerous exhibitions.

Ben Ashley

“Art Crime, Real Costs: Inside the Insurance Response”

Ben Ashley is Principal Art & Collections Valuer at Aon New Zealand, where he leads the firm’s valuation and risk advisory service for private, institutional, corporate and local government collections. He provides valuations for insurance, financial reporting and market assessment, and advises clients on environmental, security and market risks to significant works. Ben also works closely with institutions and collectors on insurance placement and indemnity structures that support long-term stewardship and resilience. Before joining Aon in 2023, he spent seven years as Director of his own advisory firm, Ashley & Associates, and previously held senior specialist and management roles at Webb’s Auction House in Auckland. He is particularly recognised for guiding clients through complex loss scenarios, assessing loss of value and working with insurers and other stakeholders to achieve fair, well-documented claim outcomes.

Dr Diana Burton

“The stolen head: A case study in the costs of antiquities theft“

Diana is an Associate Professor in the Classics Programme. She teaches courses on ancient Greek art, death, religion, myth, and literature, as well as ancient Greek language.  Her research lies primarily in the intersection between religion, myth, death, and material culture.  She has also published on Greek literature, museum pedagogy, and on the classical tradition.  She is currently working on a monograph on the god Hades. She is also developing a series of articles on votive dedications in Greek religion, and working on a new volume of CVA, publishing ancient vases in New Zealand collections. She is the Curator of the Victoria University Classics Museum, and also collaborates with Zach Challies and Bernard Guy from the School of Architecture and Design Innovation on a project to scan and make 3D prints of items from the Classics Museum.

Caleb Gordon

“What the floor gave up: art crime and the silencing of Flagging the Future”

Caleb Gordon is a writer and arts sector practitioner based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. His writing explores the intersections of visual art, public culture, democracy, accessibility, and social justice, with a particular interest in how artworks operate within civic life and contested public conversations. 

In 2025, he was awarded the Michèle Whitecliffe Art Writing Prize for his essay Flag on the Floor: Art, Protest and the Limits of Democratic Imagination, which examined debates around public art, national symbolism, and tino rangatiratanga in Aotearoa. His work is informed by his professional experience at Arts Access Aotearoa, where he works across accessibility, cultural participation, and arts policy. 

Alongside his writing, Caleb serves on the board of the National Digital Forum and is interested in the role of art history and criticism in shaping public understanding of culture, power, and collective memory. 

Baxter Richards

“AI copying of Art: The cost of inadequate copyright protections for artists in the modern era”

Baxter Richards is a final-year law student at the University of Canterbury and spent the previous summer as a Law Clerk at Tavendale and Partners. He is the President of the University of Canterbury Mooting Society and is an experienced public speaker.  Baxter has always had an interest in music and the arts, and initially studied a Bachelor of Music as part of a double degree before concentrating solely on completing his Bachelor of Laws. 

Amanda Watson

“I must protest! The cost of Art Activism”

Amanda Watson is an alumni of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) postgraduate certificate programme. Amanda holds an honours degree in Art History from Victoria University of Wellington. She has held positions at City Gallery 

Wellington, Webb’s Auction House and Proper Provenance LLC. In her personal world, Amanda is the proud mum of her two-year-old little boy and enjoys spending time with family in the great outdoors. 

Sarah Hillary

“What impact might conservation have on the cost of art crime?”

Sarah Hillary worked as a painting conservator at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki for 40 years, including 26 years as Principal Conservator.  Sarah has published research and curated exhibitions about artist technique mostly about New Zealand artists, Colin McCahon, Rita Angus, Frances Hodgkins and Gottfried Lindauer, but also international artists James Tissot and Guido Reni. She is a conservator emeritus after retiring in 2024.  Sarah is a practicing artist and is represented by Anna Miles Gallery.