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Browsing All Posts filed under »UNESCO«

Shocking Pics of Looting in Syria

July 31, 2013

Today in Really Sad Looting Stories, Bloomberg reports: When the uprising against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad began two years ago, satellite images showed the ruins of the ancient Hellenic city of Apamea surrounded by green farmland. A year later, photos reveal a moonscape blighted by hundreds upon hundreds of holes. Looters in bulldozers armed with […]

Cambodia Welcomes Home Stolen 10th Century Sculptures

June 13, 2013

Two 10th-century statues received a much-anticipated welcome home party yesterday at the Phnom Penh airport. The “Kneeling Attendant” statues were accompanied by two representatives from New York’s Metropolitan Museum, which relinquished the sculptures after Cambodia showed they were wrongfully removed from the Koh Ker temple complex in the 1970s. The statutes will be on display […]

UNESCO Assesses Destruction to Mali

February 12, 2013

On February 2, 2013, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova paid a visit to Mali. According to UNESCO, the purpose of the visit was to begin the assessment of the state of the cultural heritage and manuscripts in Mali after destruction caused by the recent fighting. Bokova hopes to develop a plan of action in tandem with […]

Potential New Addition to UNESCO List: The Blue Mosque

January 25, 2013

According to Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, Armenia will submit an application to have Yerevan’s Blue Mosque added to The United Nations Educational Scientific and Culture Organization (“UNESCO”)’s Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Mosque was built at some point during the mid-18th century, during the reign of Nadir Shah. Construction is believed to have […]

Parsi Community Recognized by UNESCO, but not Mumbai, for Preservation Efforts

September 4, 2012

UNESCO has formally recognized a Parsi community for their choice to restore and preserve historic enclaves. Architect Vikas Dilawari, under the guidance and advice of the Garib Zathostiyona Regethan Fund, restored the Sethna Buildings, which consists of five buildings that house many of the poorer Parsi families in the area. Restoring the Sethna Buildings not […]

Church of the Nativity, Congo, and Xanadu Added to World Heritage List

July 17, 2012

UNESCO has recently added 26 new sites to its World Heritage List. In total, five sites were added to the “natural” category, one site was added to the “mixed” category, and 20 sites were added to the “cultural” category. Over half of the new World Heritage sites are located outside of North America and Europe. […]

Palestine Signs on to the 1970 UNESCO Convention

April 27, 2012

On 22 March 2012, Palestine deposited with the Director-General its instrument of ratification of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This makes Palestine the 122nd State party to the Convention. Late in 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and […]

100-Year-Old Titanic to Fall Under International Protection

April 14, 2012

As the Titanic shipwreck nears it’s 100th birthday, it also approaches eligibility for protection under the 2001 Unesco Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, in international waters in the North Atlantic. When it turns 100 tomorrow, it will automatically be subject to protection under the convention. […]

ICCROM Offers Course in First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Times of Conflict

March 1, 2012

If you’ve got a month to spare this fall, you might want to check out ICCROM’s Rome-based course, First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Times of Conflict, running from 24 Sept to 26 October. Some details from ICCROM: Background Armed conflicts world wide continue to involve deliberate or accidental damage to cultural heritage. Conflicts result […]

State Department Seeks to Return Funding to UNESCO

February 28, 2012

The State Department has set aside $79 million in its 2013 budget to fund UNESCO, even though it pulled funding to the organization just a few months ago. Longstanding American legislation took effect last fall cutting off funding to UNESCO when the organization voted to give full membership to Palestine. The legislation provided for immediate […]