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As the Russian invasion of Ukraine presses on into its fourth week, volunteers and cultural workers, a number of whom are also at arms, are rushing to erect makeshift barriers and other forms of protection against what could be a demoralizing strike against heritage sites across the embattled... View full entry
Unesco said it is “gravely concerned” about damage caused by Russia’s invasion forces in the cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv and called for the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage, including the country’s seven World Heritage sites. — The Art Newspaper
Ukraine currently has seven landmarks on the UN cultural body’s list of World Heritage Sites (not including the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial site that was bombed on March 1st, which they also condemned). Odessa and Kharkiv are also members of the organization’s Creative Cities Network... View full entry
An online space called Virtual Bradford is set to be completed this summer that would provide a high-resolution 3D online “brick-for-brick” digital twin of Bradford, England’s city center. The project is a collaboration between the University of Bradford and the Bradford Council. It is... View full entry
Marriott International has announced plans to open two luxury hotels in Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah. The properties will be located near the Unesco World Heritage site at At-Turaif, offering views of the historic town of Diriyah on the outskirts of Riyadh. — The National
The Saudi crown prince recently reiterated his intentions to finalize the planned 2030 development strategy for Riyadh, which would more than double the population of the country's capital backed by a public-private partnership worth approximately $500 billion at a low estimate. Marriott says the... View full entry
The world’s premier techno capital is back under the grip of the pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped its vanguard from seeking a special status for venues like the Berghain from an international cultural organization with a reputation for being as formidable as its famous bouncer. The Guardian... View full entry
“Despite its vast size, sub-Saharan Africa has never been proportionately represented on Unesco’s world heritage list…
Now, the first African to be made head of the world heritage centre has said that needs to change – and fast. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, a Cameroonian who led the reconstruction of the Timbuktu mausoleums after they were badly damaged in 2012 by Islamist fighters allied to al-Qaida, has said it will be a priority of his time in office.”
— The Guardian
Africa is currently the least represented continent (behind the Arab nations) in terms of the representation of cultural sites on the U.N. list, though it does account for 30% of all sites the organization considers to be endangered. Assomo was appointed as Director earlier this month and told The... View full entry
The fate of the British Museum’s heavily contested Parthenon Marbles (also referred to as the Elgin Marbles) has once again come under clout after the UK decided to reject UNESCO’s request to reassess its position on repatriating the 2,500-year-old relics to their country of origin. The... View full entry
An 18th-century palazzo fronting Venice’s Cannaregio Canal is getting a bespoke makeover thanks to funds of a blue-chip British artist. The Art Newspaper is reporting that the Palazzo Manfrin will be the new home of the Amish Kapoor Foundation following a renovation that will add a... View full entry
The proposed highway tunnel near Stonehenge that loomed over a recent UNESCO ruling has been called off thanks to a court order preservationists across the UK are referring to as a “wake up call” for Conservative politicians behind the controversial £1.7 billion ($2.4 billion) development... View full entry
Barcelona has been named the 2026 World Capital of Architecture by the International Union of Architects (UIA), joining Rio de Janeiro and Copenhagen on a list of cities to receive the UNESCO-backed distinction. The Catalan capital beat out Beijing for the next edition of the honor and will now... View full entry
UNESCO has once again officially expressed its “deepest regrets” and is now asking for an updated report on the conservation of the Hagia Sophia site in Istanbul, Turkey, adding another chapter to the embattled country’s ongoing feud with the UN’s cultural apparatus. The body... View full entry
The city of Copenhagen has been officially designated as World Capital of Architecture for 2023 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on the recommendation of the General Assembly of the International Union of Architects (UIA). This decision is in keeping with the partnership agreement established between UNESCO and the UIA in 2018, through which UNESCO designates the host cities of UIA’s World Congress as World Capitals of Architecture. — UNESCO
Copenhagen follows Rio de Janeiro, who was the inaugural holder of the title. The Danish capital will host a series of major events and programs on the theme “Sustainable Futures — Leave No One Behind.” In cooperation with the Danish Association of Architects and various Nordic... View full entry
Unesco’s decision will no doubt be shrugged off as the prissy overreaction of an unelected body and, given what has been allowed in Edinburgh, the world heritage designation seems largely ineffectual anyway. But the act of striking Liverpool off the list helps to shine a powerful international spotlight on a city that has been happy to embrace mediocre development for far too long. It is a useful reminder that the world is watching. — The Guardian
Liverpool has failed to retain its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site following a meeting by the agency Wednesday in China. The decision comes as no surprise to those who have for decades now been trying to prevent encroaching development near the city’s Victorian-era docks. UNESCO pointed... View full entry
The world heritage committee of the UN’s cultural agency Unesco on Friday began debating its list of World Heritage Sites, with Australia and Britain furious over looming changes to the status of the Great Barrier Reef and the historic docks in the city of Liverpool. — The South China Morning Post
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has a very full plate owing to the cancellation of last year's meeting over fears of the spreading coronavirus. Applications of sites like the famed porticoes of Bologna are also up for review. The historic Liverpool docks played an outsized role in the... View full entry
Unesco has warned that Stonehenge could be put on its list of World Heritage sites in danger if plans to build a tunnel under the prehistoric site in Wiltshire are not modified. Unesco’s warning comes on the eve of a judicial review scheduled to take place at the High Court in London from 23 to 25 June which will examine the UK government’s decision to greenlight the 3.3-kilometre tunnel. — The Art Newspaper
The planned tunnel scheme aims to reroute an existing road and divert traffic away from the world heritage site. In a newly published report, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee warns that the current length of the proposed tunnel was inadequate and could adversely impact the integrity of the... View full entry
