Trade in cultural goods represented more than $US60 billion in 2018. An estimated $US10 billion would have been illicitly traded. This trafficking is fuelled by the looting of archaeological sites, often on an industrial scale. It robs cultures of their heritage and is one of the most important sources of funding for criminal and terrorist organisations.

UNESCO has given DDP Paris the task of making people – especially those in the art world and particularly art buyers – care that theft, looting and illicit trafficking in art are real crimes.

For 50 years, UNESCO has been developing the legal framework of reference to fight against art trafficking and leads the daily fight with member states and partners. For the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention adopted in 1970, the organisation decided to speak out with an international campaign.

The five ads in DDB’s campaign borrow the codes from the world of art and design to draw attention. Each visual presents an object in-situ, integrated into a buyer’s interior decoration. The copy, though, defies the formula. It reveals the other side of the coin: financing of terrorism, illegal excavations, thefts from a museum destroyed by war, liquidation of a people’s memory. Each ad tells the true story of an antique stolen from a region of the world (Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America).

The campaign is running in press and social media.

Credits

Agency: DDB Paris
Creative Director: Alexander Kalchev
Art Director: Mickaël Jacquemin
Copywriter: Benoît Oulhen
Account Management: Vincent Léorat, Mathieu Bliguet, Olivier Guillerot & Maïté Pesche
Strategic Planner: Cédric Ledoux

Production: DDB Paris
Photographers: Idah Lindhag, Matthew Williams & Ambroise Tezenas
Art Buyer: Pia Schneider
Print Producer: Valérie Merceron
Director of Press Relations: Anne-Marie Gibert

Client: UNESCO
Client Supervisors: Ernesto Ottone, Lazare Eloundou, Matthieu Guevel, Daoud Bouledroua & Fabiana Duarte De Paula Art Knows