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.
Syria
News
Syrian Video Artists Risk Their Lives to Laugh at ISIS
A bearded man wearing sunglasses and a flak jacket sits on the ground beside a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a pro-Assad song plays on the radio. He lifts up the lid of a cooking pot, and a genie emerges.
News
8,000 Books and Manuscripts Lost After ISIS Bombs Mosul Library
On Sunday night, more than 8,000 books and manuscripts were destroyed after ISIS militants bombed Mosul's Central Library.
News
Significant 13th-Century Complex Bombed in Syria
Al-Sultaniyah Madrasa, established in 1223 and containing the tomb of Sultan Saladin's son Sultan Malik al-Zaher, appears to have been destroyed. And it seems to have been military rather than sectarian destruction.
News
UN Maps Reveal Destruction of Thousands of Cultural Sites Across Syria
Using satellite imagery from 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014, the Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has mapped the intensity of cultural damage to cities across Syria.
Art
Locating Loss, from Damascus to Manhattan's Little Syria
“Audiences are understandably tired of the polarizing and dominant narratives of the mainstream media and political conversations,” Stephen Stapleton, co-founder of the arts non-profit Edge of Arabia, tells me on an afternoon in July.
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
ISIS Destroys Historic Sites in Iraq and Syria
The militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been destroying the artistic and religious heritage of Iraq and Syria as they continue to impose their fundamentalist Sunni doctrine on the lands they've occupied.
News
UNESCO Issues Caution on Iraq World Heritage Sites
The United Nations issued a warning yesterday on possible danger to Iraqi cultural heritage sites as the insurgent army of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) continued its southward sweep of the country towards Baghdad.
Interview
Syrian Artists Fight a 'Culture of Emptying'
Meet the organization helping Syrian artists in Lebanon traverse Beirut's burgeoning arts scene while maintaining their identity.
News
Five Issues Threatening the Destruction of Cultural Heritage Sites
Yesterday, the World Monuments Fund announced their 2014 World Monuments Watch, launching a two-year advocacy for 67 sites in 41 countries.
News
Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk Released
At an event last week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) officially released The Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk, which outlines the categories of cultural goods most vulnerable to illicit trade during the Syrian war.