In Brief
The Great Wall of China Is Falling Apart
The Great Wall was once China's most fearsome defense.
Cultural Heritage
News
US House of Representatives Passes Controversial Art Protection Bill
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would ensure that authorities cannot seize works of art brought into the United States for temporary display in cultural institutions — even if they're determined to have been stolen.
News
Nepalese Cultural Sites in Peril as Calls for Relief Go Unanswered
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has said the country needs about $2 billion for reconstruction and has expressed the hope that all buildings — homes, businesses, and historic sites — will be back up in two years.
In Brief
UN Says ISIS's Cultural Destruction “May Amount to War Crimes"
Last Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution on ISIS's destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq, officially calling the group's actions "war crimes."
News
Tomb-Raiding Archaeologists Arrested in Chinese Antiquities Trafficking Bust
Four archaeologists were among nearly 200 people from six Chinese provinces recently arrested for raiding ancient tombs and selling an estimated $80 million worth of antiquities on the black market, the Beijing Times reported.
News
Yemeni War Leads to Massive Destruction of Cultural Heritage
It's not just Yemen's future that's at risk in the country's current civil war, but also its past.
In Brief
Turkish Prime Minister Nails Political Banner to Ancient Roman Aqueduct
Here's one way to draw attention to your political campaign: nail a banner with your face on it across a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Art
Open Source Software to Catalogue Cultural Heritage Before a Crisis
Cultural heritage management tends to suffer from limited funding and resources, which can make a crisis — whether natural disaster, pipeline construction, or war — that much more catastrophic for assessing what's in need of protection.
News
Ancient City of Palmyra Threatened as ISIS Nears Outskirts
With news agencies today reporting that ISIS is just outside of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, one of the world's most important archaeological sites is at risk of destruction.
News
Syrian President Seeks Investors to Rebuild Aleppo's Bombed-Out Old City
A group of archaeologists and urban planning experts in Germany say that President Bashar al-Assad is already seeing dollar signs in the ruins of his country's cities.
Opinion
A Patronizing Argument Against Cultural Repatriation
In the past few decades, cultural institutions in the West have increasingly felt pressure to return artifacts acquired through questionable means during the colonial era.
News
Once More, Britain Refuses to Return the Elgin Marbles
In 2013, UNESCO asked the British Museum to let it mediate a deal between it and the government of Greece, which has been calling for the return of the Elgin Marbles with ever-growing fervor for the past 30 years.