Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Heists, History and Heritage | 20220315 | In the small hours of 6 August, 2010 thieves set off bombs around Stockholm, Sweden. The bombs were a distraction. The real target was the Chinese Pavilion at the Swedish royal residence, Drottningholm Palace. The thieves smashed open the doors and made off with a haul of Chinese antiquities, many of which used to be owned by Chinese emperors.
But this was not a one-off theft. Similar burglaries took place in the following years in Cambridge, Durham and Norwich in England, as well as in France, Spain and Norway. Were the thefts connected and who might have been behind them?
Many of the objects targeted were looted by British and French troops during what the Chinese call the Century of Humiliation. China was militarily weaker than the two colonial giants of Europe at the time and lost both of the Opium Wars that enriched Britain and impoverished the Chinese. In October 1860, during the Second Opium War, the British looted the emperor's Old Summer Palace close to Beijing. The resonance of this event has echoed down the centuries and, as China grows stronger, so do calls for the return of these antiquities.
With artist Ai Weiwei, historian Liu Yang, China specialists Kerry Brown, Frances Wood, James Miles, Jasper Becker and art collector Christopher Bruckner.
Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Noah Charney investigates the looting of Chinese antiquities and demand for them in China. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. | |
| 01 | Heists, History and Heritage | 20220315 | 20220725 (R4) | In the small hours of 6 August, 2010 thieves set off bombs around Stockholm, Sweden. The bombs were a distraction. The real target was the Chinese Pavilion at the Swedish royal residence, Drottningholm Palace. The thieves smashed open the doors and made off with a haul of Chinese antiquities, many of which used to be owned by Chinese emperors.
But this was not a one-off theft. Similar burglaries took place in the following years in Cambridge, Durham and Norwich in England, as well as in France, Spain and Norway. Were the thefts connected and who might have been behind them?
Many of the objects targeted were looted by British and French troops during what the Chinese call the Century of Humiliation. China was militarily weaker than the two colonial giants of Europe at the time and lost both of the Opium Wars that enriched Britain and impoverished the Chinese. In October 1860, during the Second Opium War, the British looted the emperor's Old Summer Palace close to Beijing. The resonance of this event has echoed down the centuries and, as China grows stronger, so do calls for the return of these antiquities.
With artist Ai Weiwei, historian Liu Yang, China specialists Kerry Brown, Frances Wood, James Miles, Jasper Becker and art collector Christopher Bruckner.
Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Noah Charney investigates the looting of Chinese antiquities and demand for them in China. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. |
| 02 | Buyers And Sellers | 20220322 | 20220801 (R4) | It's late February 2009 inside the Grand Palais in Paris, and the Christie's auction of the estate of designer Yves Saint Laurent is in full swing. The room is packed. A bank of telephones stands to one side, as bidders call in or raise their paddles. A hush comes over the crowd as a digital projector displays the bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit. Bidding surged beyond the estimate. This pair of bronze animal heads were two of the twelve that decorated the Zodiac Fountain at the imperial Old Summer Palace in Beijing until they were looted by British and French troops in 1860. They sell for £15 million each. Normally, that would mark the end of an auction story. But in this case, it was only the beginning. Because the buyer, a wealthy Chinese businessman and adviser to China's National Treasures Fund, Cai Mingchoa, never intended to pay. He bid and won in protest because he felt that China should not have to buy back their cultural heritage from the west. In this episode of China's Stolen Treasures, Noah Charney explores the market in Chinese antiquities, from auction houses to collectors, trailing the famous Zodiac heads that once decorated a great water clock and fountain in the Chinese emperor's Old Summer Palace. With artist Ai Weiwei, art dealer William Chak, Christie's specialist Kate Hunt, collector Christopher Bruckner, art investigators Dick Ellis and Arthur Brand and police superintendent Kenneth Didriksen. Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney Producer - Caroline Finnigan Executive Producer - Rosie Collyer Researcher - Nadia Mehdi China Producer - Coco Zhao Sound Designers - David Smith and Tom Berry for Wardour Studios Music Composer - Nicholas Alexander Voice Over Artists - Bernard O'Sullivan and Oliver Zheng A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Noah Charney explores the market for Chinese antiquities in Europe and China. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. It's late February 2009 inside the Grand Palais in Paris, and the Christie's auction of the estate of designer Yves Saint Laurent is in full swing. The room is packed. A bank of telephones stands to one side, as bidders call in or raise their paddles. A hush comes over the crowd as a digital projector displays the bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit. Bidding surged beyond the estimate. This pair of bronze animal heads were two of the twelve that decorated the Zodiac Fountain at the imperial Old Summer Palace in Beijing until they were looted by British and French troops in 1860. They sell for £15 million each. Normally, that would mark the end of an auction story. But in this case, it was only the beginning. Because the buyer, a wealthy Chinese businessman and adviser to China's National Treasures Fund, Cai Mingchoa, never intended to pay. He bid and won in protest because he felt that China should not have to buy back their cultural heritage from the west. In this episode of China's Stolen Treasures, Noah Charney explores the market in Chinese antiquities, from auction houses to collectors, trailing the famous Zodiac heads that once decorated a great water clock and fountain in the Chinese emperor's Old Summer Palace. With artist Ai Weiwei, art dealer William Chak, Christie's specialist Kate Hunt, collector Christopher Bruckner, art investigators Dick Ellis and Arthur Brand and police superintendent Kenneth Didriksen. Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney Producer - Caroline Finnigan Executive Producer - Rosie Collyer Researcher - Nadia Mehdi China Producer - Coco Zhao Sound Designers - David Smith and Tom Berry for Wardour Studios Music Composer - Nicholas Alexander Voice Over Artists - Bernard O'Sullivan and Oliver Zheng A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Noah Charney explores the market for Chinese antiquities in Europe and China. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. |
| 03 | A Question Of Ownership | 20220329 | 20220808 (R4) | American collector Christopher Bruckner opens the door to his basement. It is packed with Chinese antiquities of the highest quality, many of them once the property of emperors and some of which, he admits, were stolen from the Old Summer Palace in 1860. It turns out he was even offered three infamously looted Zodiac heads, though he declined. He has been courted by Chinese officials who wish to buy items from his collection in order to repatriate them. In this final episode of China's Stolen Treasures, Noah Charney looks at how the looting of Chinese antiquities in the 19th century has shaped questions of ownership, cultural heritage and identity in China today. Noah explores the most pressing question of all - who should own a country's cultural heritage? The answer is not straightforward. Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei argues that the current Chinese regime is not entitled to it. There is a strong undercurrent of nationalism to the Chinese re-acquisition of their cultural treasures in foreign hands. By bringing these pieces home, now that China is a wealthy, powerful nation, can they go some way to healing China's Century of Humiliation? With artist Ai Weiwei, historian Liu Yang, art dealer William Chak, Christie's specialist Kate Hunt, American art collector Christopher Bruckner, criminologist Emiline Smith, art investigator Arthur Brand, China expert Jasper Becker, Fitzwilliam Museum China curator James Lin, and art lawyer Georges Lederman. Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney Producer - Caroline Finnigan Executive Producer - Rosie Collyer Researcher - Nadia Mehdi China Producer - Coco Zhao Sound Designers - David Smith and Tom Berry for Wardour Studios Music Composer - Nicholas Alexander Voice Over Artists - Bernard O'Sullivan and Oliver Zheng A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Noah Charney explores ownership, cultural heritage and identity in China today. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. American collector Christopher Bruckner opens the door to his basement. It is packed with Chinese antiquities of the highest quality, many of them once the property of emperors and some of which, he admits, were stolen from the Old Summer Palace in 1860. It turns out he was even offered three infamously looted Zodiac heads, though he declined. He has been courted by Chinese officials who wish to buy items from his collection in order to repatriate them. In this final episode of China's Stolen Treasures, Noah Charney looks at how the looting of Chinese antiquities in the 19th century has shaped questions of ownership, cultural heritage and identity in China today. Noah explores the most pressing question of all - who should own a country's cultural heritage? The answer is not straightforward. Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei argues that the current Chinese regime is not entitled to it. There is a strong undercurrent of nationalism to the Chinese re-acquisition of their cultural treasures in foreign hands. By bringing these pieces home, now that China is a wealthy, powerful nation, can they go some way to healing China's Century of Humiliation? With artist Ai Weiwei, historian Liu Yang, art dealer William Chak, Christie's specialist Kate Hunt, American art collector Christopher Bruckner, criminologist Emiline Smith, art investigator Arthur Brand, China expert Jasper Becker, Fitzwilliam Museum China curator James Lin, and art lawyer Georges Lederman. Writer and Presenter - Dr Noah Charney Producer - Caroline Finnigan Executive Producer - Rosie Collyer Researcher - Nadia Mehdi China Producer - Coco Zhao Sound Designers - David Smith and Tom Berry for Wardour Studios Music Composer - Nicholas Alexander Voice Over Artists - Bernard O'Sullivan and Oliver Zheng A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Noah Charney explores ownership, cultural heritage and identity in China today. New arts documentary series for BBC Radio 4. |