In recent weeks, scant news articles have made reference to the destruction of historic sites in Georgia as a byline to coverage of the war. Cultural preservationists have been left speculating as to the true state of things in the region. Answering many of our questions, Tom Flynn has published an excellent investigative piece on the widespread looting and damage to the region’s cultural heritage.
Read “Fog of war obscures state of cultural sites in Georgia” by Tom Flynn on ArtKnows.
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mattiaslegner
August 29, 2008
There are also the problems of evaluating evidence of destruction this early. Obviously, allegations of destroying cultural property in Georgia are used as a means of war propaganda, not least on the internet.
Kimberly Alderman
August 29, 2008
The underlying theme of Tom Flynn’s piece is that there are such problems (hence, “Fog of War…” This is likely one of the reasons the piece is quote-heavy, because it is difficult to evaluate the veracity of various claims at this point. However, I believe it is appropriate for the world (and UNESCO) to attempt to monitor the condition of heritage sites during conflict. Unfortunately, once a war is underway, the terms of the Hague Convention as it pertains to cultural property are not always abided by.
drfm
September 3, 2008
10 days after cease-fire has put into practice, fog has considerably thinned out. Wheras monuments have suffered considerable damage, Georgian museums remained untouched – except the two in South Ossetia. See ICOM special website: http://georgia.drtf.info
Kimberly Alderman
September 3, 2008
That link does not work.
drfm
September 5, 2008
Sorry, Kimberly!
Here is the correct link: http://georgia.drfm.info
drfm
September 7, 2008
Links are coming again:
Damage map series from South Ossetia (.pdf – 8.5 MB):
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/luFullMap/1E99ABE85FAE907E852574B10075B10A/File/unosat_DMG_geo080826.pdf?OpenElement
Damage map from Gori (.pdf – 1.3 MB)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/luFullMap/63AA29C4D1C38AE3C12574B400299ABF/File/unosat_DMG_geo080828.pdf?OpenElement
These high resolution maps mark each damaged or destroyed building so you may get a first idea what happened to cultural heritage buildings as well. As far as I know, this is the first time that 2 weeks after a war we are able to assess heritage destruction via internet and satellite!