RT Article
T1 Affective Atmosphere in an Art Fair Jewel Heist
JF European journal on criminal policy and research
VO 31
IS 1
SP 99
OP 121
A1 Yates, Donna
A2 Bērziņa, Diāna
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1922963429
AB In mid 2022, social media videos of an armed jewel heist during opening hours at the TEFAF art fair baffled the public. The thieves wore seemingly absurd costumes, and the art fair attendees only showed muted reactions to a violent and dramatic crime. Drawing on first-hand observational research at TEFAF before and after the heist, and on an extended observational methodology focused on the atmosphere of art commercial spaces, we argue that the affective atmosphere of the art fair had a direct influence both on how the thieves committed and how onlookers experienced crime. Within the art fair space, thieves conformed to art world conventions and fair attendees experienced dangerous events as being significantly less sinister. With this paper, we contribute to the growing concept of sensory criminology and the role that atmosphere and affect play in crime.
K1 Affect
K1 Art crime
K1 Art fair
K1 Atmosphere
K1 Heist
K1 Sensory criminology
DO 10.1007/s10610-023-09549-7