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| News from the media: April 2010 |
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| Stop Press
A compilation of media articles on heritage topics. Obviously, these all reflect the viewpoints of the authors.
30 April
- Ancient Egypt Crocodile Mummies Revealed
National Geographic, United States
There's a real crocodile behind that mask, according to new computed tomography (CT) scans of a 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy (pictured). The 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) artifact—wrapped in once colorful linen and outfitted with a stylized mask—is one of two crocodile mummy bundles scanned this month at the Stanford School of Medicine in California.
29 April
- Using Nature and Waste for Walls and Ceilings
NY Times, United States
Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop: From photovoltaic panels generating electricity to thermal storage techniques and rainwater collection on a grand scale, the Shanghai World Expo aims to showcase how cities can strike a balance between urban development and environmental protection.
- Seville in bid to rescue Expo '92 art
BBC News, United States
Sarah Rainsford: It was the first thing that caught a visitor's eye at the entrance to Seville Expo '92. Either side of the main gate for the fair was a bright-coloured ceramic mural. ...Today, many of the tiles have been smashed or prised from the cement by souvenir seekers; there are weeds poking through the cracks and one end of the wall has been knocked down to create a cycle path.
28 April
- Finding Noah's Ark: Hong Kong Filmmaker Claims to Have Found Biblical Treasure
ABC News , United States
Nick Watt, Chito Romana and Sarah Netter: Yeung Wing-Cheung of Hong Kong said he is "99 percent" sure the wooden structure he filmed along with Turkish scientists and archeologists is the remnants of the famed ark God instructed Noah to build to save himself and the world's animals from an epic flood.
- Preserving the past in the present
BBC News, United Kingdom
Phil Coomes: Photography can be many different things but one of its central roles is to sell products. Stroll through any major city and it seems as though every surface is plastered with a photograph forming part of an advertisement.
- Audio slideshow: History on the web
BBC News, United Kingdom
One of the most important collections of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts - for centuries kept at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge - has been entirely digitised, and is now available on the internet.
27 April
23 April
22 April
21 April
- Rijksmuseum Launches Ambitious Restoration Program Before Reopening in 2013
Art Daily, United Kingdom
The Rijksmuseum has launched an ambitious restoration program. Masterpieces specially selected from the Rijksmuseum’s collection will undergo an intensive restoration process to ensure that they shine like never before by the time the museum’s main building re-opens in 2013.
- The sealed wonders of Sardinia
Stone Pages, United Kingdom
On the island (Sardinia)you will find a great number of other ancient wonders: from the so-called 'giants tombs' to the rock-cut tombs locally known as 'domus de janas' (houses of the fairies) .
20 April
- After Repairs, a Picasso Returns
NY Times, United States
Carol Vogel: To the untutored eye little is different about “The Actor,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rare Rose Period Picasso, other than that it is now safely behind plexiglass. It’s virtually impossible to tell that on a January afternoon a woman taking an adult education class accidentally fell into the canvas, causing a six-inch vertical tear along the lower right-hand corner.
- Unearthing Georgia's wine heritage
CNN, United States
Ivan Watson: The world's most ancient example of winemaking was found in Shulaveri, a region in southern Georgia. There, archaeologists discovered evidence of wine residue inside ceramic jars that were dated back some 8,000 years.
- Polaroid row hots up
The Art Newspaper
Charlotte Burns: Chuck Close is lending his “absolute” support to a last-gasp campaign to stop the sale of works from the Polaroid Collection, which numbers around 16,000 works according to court papers filed in Minnesota in 2009. An auction of around 1,200 of these is scheduled to take place at Sotheby’s New York on 20 and 21 June.
19 April
- Latest news from the Jewel of Muscat
Jewel of Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Jewel of Muscat has arrived safely in Galle, Sri Lanka. She was towed in to her berth by the Sri Lankan Navy to receive a spectacular welcome from dignitaries with music and dancing. After nine days sailing through sometimes stormy weather the crew are tired, but all safe and well.
18 April
16 April
- MOCA ordered to revamp its budget practices
LA Times, United States
Mike Boehm: The California Attorney General's office determined that the Museum of Contemporary Art skirted state law for years enroute to financial meltdown in late 2008 and ordered the museum to hire a consultant to help improve its financial management. The attorney general also required MOCA board members to receive special training in their fiduciary duties.
- Legion of the dead in Rome
Financial Times, United Kingdom
Harry Eyres: Something of a false alarm took me to the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. I’d heard that the final resting place of Keats and Shelley had been placed on the World Monuments Fund list of the world’s 100 most endangered sites.
- Whitney Heads for the High Line
NY Times, United States
Carol Vogel: Even before a final decision on whether the Whitney will open a downtown museum, a series of outdoor installations is planned for the site.
15 April
- As Church’s Windows Come Down, So Do Hopes for Restoration
New York Times, United States
Paul Vitello: Workers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn have removed the dozen towering stained-glass windows from a beloved church built a century ago by Italian immigrants, prompting protests from preservationists who consider the building an important artifact – and who consider demolition imminent.
14 April
- 1913 Lincoln Film Found in New Hampshire Barn Cleanup
Art Daily, United States
In a tale celebrating the romance of movies, a contractor cleaning out an old New Hampshire barn destined for demolition found seven reels of nitrate film inside, including the only known copy of a 1913 silent film about Abraham Lincoln.
- Tweet preservation
Tweet blog , United States
Recently, the Library of Congress signaled to us that the public tweets we have all been creating over the years are important and worthy of preservation.
13 April
- Hair, restored
BBC News, United Kingdom
Hair, the groundbreaking 1960s "tribal love-rock musical", reopens in London's West End tonight in a revival co-produced by Sir Cameron Mackintosh.
- Une momie de l'époque gréco-romaine découverte en Egypte
Le Monde, France
Des archéologues égyptiens ont découvert dans l'oasis de Bahariya, à 300 kilomètres au sud-ouest du Caire, quatorze tombeaux remontant à l'époque gréco-romaine, il y a 2 300 ans, dont l'un contenait une momie de femme, parée de bijoux.
12 April
- Rescuing stories of indigenous peoples through audiovisual media
UNESCO News
UNESCO’s Office in Quito has finished the implementation of its project “Rescuing the Stories of Indigenous Peoples through Audiovisual Media”. This project allowed the Association of Kichwa Audiovisual Producers (APAK) from Imbabura, Ecuador, to enhance its capacities and to make a documentary on indigenous cultural identity.
- Unshrouding the science of the Shroud
BBC News, United Kingdom
The Turin Shroud is a linen cloth measuring 1.21m by 4.42m believed by some to bear the impression of Jesus Christ. For the first time in a decade it has gone on display in Turin.
9 April
- Archaeologist discovers ancient lost city in Mexico
Today@Colorado, United States
A Colorado State University archaeologist and his team have discovered the ruins of an ancient urban center in the heart of the Purepecha Empire in Lake Patzcuaro Basin, located in the central Mexican state of Michoacan.
- Egypt hosts antiquities recovery meeting
BBC News, United Kingdom
Officials from more than 20 countries are meeting in Egypt to discuss how to recover ancient treasures which they say have been stolen or looted.
- Cutting-edge architecture in Dallas
Financial Times, United Kingdom
Edwin Heathcote: The heart of Dallas is demarcated by a pair of small structures, a few footsteps apart. Both are empty, both are symbolic rather than functional. The first is a tiny log cabin, a simulacrum of the dwelling of John Neely Bryan, the city’s founder.
9 April
- English megaliths linked to death rites
Discovery News , United States
Nine megaliths in a remote part of Dartmoor, England, share features in common with Stonehenge, and may shed light on the meaning behind these prehistoric stone monuments, according to a report in the latest issue of British Archaeology.
8 April
- New Hominid Species Discovered in South Africa
New York Times, United States
Celia W. Dugger and John Noble Wilford: Nine-year-old Matthew Berger dashed after his dog, Tau, into the high grass here one sunny morning, tripped over a log and stumbled onto a major archaeological discovery.
- Indianapolis relaxes climate controls
The Art Newspaper
Leading directors have been questioning the scientific validity—and cost—of running air conditioning to the current standard specification
- The Long-Haul Degree
New York Times, United States
Patricia Cohen: Law students get a diploma in three years. Medical students receive an M.D. in four. But for graduate students in the humanities, it takes, on average, more than nine years to complete a degree.
7 April
- Who Protects Antiquity?
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
While archaeological sites from China to Peru are being destroyed by looters in search of saleable antiquities, those charged with custodianship of the past are locked in fierce debate. Archaeologists, leaders of cultural heritage organizations, and ministers of culture, dealers, collectors, curators, and museum directors cannot come to terms. Who is responsible for preserving cultural heritage?
- UNESCO inspects Kasubi
The New Vision, Uganda
Henry Mukasa: A team of world heritage experts from UNESCO has inspected the ruins of the Kasubi tombs to assess the damage of the March 16 inferno.
6 April
- Ancient Indian Village in Rhode Island Pits Preservation Against Property Rights
New York Times, United States
Elizabeth Abbott: Now, archaeological evidence of the Narragansetts’ early presence in Rhode Island has ignited a debate over private development on a site that some consider to be culturally and historically significant. The state maintains it has the regulatory authority to stop development on the site.
5 April
- In Syria, a Prologue for Cities
New York Times, United States
John Noble Wilford: Archaeologists have embarked on excavations in northern Syria expected to widen and deepen understanding of a prehistoric culture in Mesopotamia that set the stage for the rise of the world’s first cities and states and the invention of writing.
- Indian Tribes Go in Search of Their Lost Languages
New York Times, United States
Patricia Cohen: As far as the records show, no one has spoken Shinnecock or Unkechaug, languages of Long Island’s Indian tribes, for nearly 200 years. Now Stony Brook University and two of the Indian nations are initiating a joint project to revive these extinct tongues, using old documents like a vocabulary list that Thomas Jefferson wrote during a visit in 1791.
4 April
- Chile Earthquake Takes Heavy Toll on Historical Sites
ABC News, United States
Oscar Acuña is racing the clock to save historical sites from demolition. When the massive magnitude-8.8 quake that rocked Chile on Feb. 27 reduced dozens of the country's oldest historical sites to rubble, Oscar Acuña wasted no time before dispatching teams of architects and archaeologists to assess the damage. In the capital, Santiago, the quake damaged a handful of churches and buildings in the historic districts. But in the traditional towns nearest the epicenter none was spared.
3 April
- Santiago de Compostela’s sacred sculptures
Financial Times, United Kingdom
Victor Mallet: At first glance, the scaffolding that now hides the portico from the thronging pilgrims and tourists below suggests this is the worst time to visit Santiago de Compostella (north-west Spain) if you want to see some of the world’s finest and best-preserved sculptural ensemble of the Romanesque period. In fact, the scaffolding – because it has been made accessible to small groups of visitors – presents a unique opportunity to see the medieval stonecarver’s art at close range.
1 April
- Bulldozers overhaul Luxor, city of pashas and pharaohs
Reuters, United Kingdom
Alexander Dziadosz:
Egypt has already cleared out Luxor's old bazaar, demolished thousands of homes and dozens of Belle Epoque buildings in a push to transform the site of the ancient capital Thebes into a huge open-air museum.
updated on:
24 May, 2010
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