News
Syria Has Reputedly Hidden Away 99% of Its Cultural Heritage Artifacts
It's rare to hear any positive news associated with cultural heritage and Syria these days, but there is a ray of hope.
Cultural Heritage
News
Staff Stole 162 Artifacts from Museum of Macedonia
Last Friday, a judge in the Macedonian capital Skopje convicted six employees at the state-owned Museum of Macedonia of stealing objects from the institution’s collection and selling them abroad through an organized crime ring, AFP reported.
News
Will the Dutch Pay to Fix Bernini Fountain Trashed by Soccer Hooligans?
In advance of soccer teams Feyenoord and AS Roma facing off again tonight, the Dutch Senate has said that its government should pay for the restoration of the Bernini fountain damaged by Feyenoord fans in Rome last week.
News
Dutch Soccer Hooligans Damage Historic Bernini Fountain in Rome
Dutch soccer fans wreaked havoc on Rome over the past two days, damaging a 17th-century fountain designed by Bernini and leaving the city's historic center strewn with trash.
Art
Why Is No One Talking About Libya's Cultural Destruction?
Over the past few years, Libya has been making archaeology headlines not for the exciting new discoveries there, but for the ruthless cultural destruction.
News
Estonian Saunas and Mongolian Knuckle-Bone Shooting Merit Preservation, UNESCO Says
The smoke sauna tradition of Võromaa, Estonia, the cultivation and culture of the argan tree in Morocco, and Askiya dueling debate of Uzbekistan are all now officially recognized as unique parts of the world's heritage. The traditions are among those UNESCO added to its Intangible Cultural Heritage
News
Who Blew Up the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir el-Zour?
Fifty days after the destruction of the Armenian Genocide Martyrs' Memorial Church in Deir el-Zour, Robert Fisk has reported it in the Independent, but his article is riddled with peculiarities, mistakes, and historical inconsistencies.
News
The First Shrine of Its Kind in Iraq Is Destroyed
Nearly a thousand years old — the 'first of its kind in Iraq', according to Archnet, and one of the last six standing, according to Iraq Heritage — the distinctive muqarnas-domed mausoleum is now a statistic.
In Brief
Amid Destruction, US Institutions Hold Syria Museums Workshop in Undisclosed Location
As cultural and artistic heritage in Syria continues to face significant losses, two United States institutions have partnered with the Syrian Interim Government's "Heritage Task Force" to share strategies for mitigating the dangers faced by museums and other sites.
News
Dire Prediction for Heritage Sites in a Future of Rising Waters
If the projections of climate change prove to be true and sea levels rise, there will be harrowing implications for much of human life on the shores. A new study released last week emphasizes the severity of this impact on culture: a whole fifth of the 720 listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites could be
Art
Eight Unexpected Traditions Preserved as Our Intangible Culture
It's hard to preserve those things that are not places or objects, but rather traditions, festivals, ceremonies, or specialized art. For that there is the UNESCO's Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which includes things as disparate as falconry, oral stories, puppetry, and tightrope walking.
News
What's Happening to Culture in Europe?
The latest news from Europe this week is that everything is falling apart — at least in terms of arts and culture. And it's depressing.