Stop Press

A compilation of media articles on heritage topics. Obviously, these all reflect the viewpoints of the authors.

31 March

• Des centaines de lieux culturels anglais sacrifiés
  Le Monde, France
  Mercredi 30 mars, dès 7 h 30, tout ce que l'Angleterre compte de directeurs d'opéra, chefs de troupes de théâtre et de danse, et galeristes attendait dans l'angoisse le coup de fil d'un représentant de l'Arts Council England (ACE), l'organisme public qui finance des organisations culturelles du pays.

30 March

• Egyptian Antiquities Minister Returns Less Than a Month After Quitting
  New York Times, United States
  Zahi Hawass, who resigned as Egypt’s minister of antiquities less than a month ago under criticism for his close ties to former President Hosni Mubarak, was reappointed to the post on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing an Egyptian news report; Mr. Hawass, reached by phone, confirmed his reappointment.

• Peru welcomes back Inca artefacts from Yale University
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Peru has given a lavish welcome to hundreds of Inca artefacts returned by Yale University in the US, nearly a century after they were taken from the famed citadel of Machu Picchu.

29 March

• Sultan move on cultural property
  Gulf Today, United Arab Emirates
  Sharjah will host a regional training and development centre of the Unesco’s International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).

• Jordan battles to regain 'priceless' Christian relics
  BBC, United Kingdom
  They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave.

25 March

• UNESCO urges all sides to preserve Libya's treasures
  Daily Star, Lebanon
  The U.N. agency in charge of the world’s cultural heritage on Wednesday urged all sides in Libya to preserve the country’s ancient treasures, including the former Greek colony of Cyrene and its temple of Apollo.

• Celebrating the Art of Italy
  Wall Street Journal, United States
  Italy might have produced the most celebrated art of the last 2,000 years, but it sometimes seems rather slow to shout about it.

24 March

• Archaeologists Unearthed Village Dating Back to 11 Thousand Years in Southern Syria
  Global Arab Network
  The small village unearthed in the archaeological site of Tel Qarasa (hill) in the west of Swaida province, dating back to around 11000 years constitute a clear example of the first models of urban life in the prehistoric times.

• X-ray technique peers beneath archaeology's surface
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Striking discoveries in archaeology are being made possible by strong beams of X-rays, say researchers.

23 March

• The eccentric architecture of death
  The Independent, United Kingdom
  The restoration of Sir Richard Burton’s tomb may be a relatively small event – but it’s a very important one, says Jay Merrick.

21 March

• Photos dans les musées : il est interdit d’interdire
  La Tribune de l'Art, France
  Nous avons, à plusieurs reprises, dénoncé l’interdiction de photographier que certains musées français ont tenté ou tentent encore d’inscrire dans leur règlement.

• Lost City of Atlantis on Google Maps?
  Epoch Times
  On the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 miles off the coast of northwest Africa, near the Canary Islands, lies a mysterious grid that was spotted by an English aeronautical engineer while using Google Earth 5.0 when it came out in 2009.

18 March

• Morgantina Venus returns home
  ANSA, Italy
  A famous 5th-century BC statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite is set to return to an ancient Greek site in Sicily as part of a landmark deal between Italy and the John Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

17 March

• UNESCO Team Will Go to Egypt
  New York Times, United States
  UNESCO is planning to send a delegation to Egypt early next week to assess the conditions at Egypt’s archaeological sites and monuments, Ahram Online reported.

• Tibetan craftsmen strive to preserve genuine Tibetan painting art
  Xinhua News Agency, Chine
  Gripping a fine brush dipped in golden dye, Chagxi carefully drew the outline of a Buddha on an oversize scroll as he wore a solemn expression on his face.

15 March

• Museum restores Jefferson's unique Bible
  USA Today
  A Smithsonian museum is restoring the "Jefferson Bible," a unique volume the third president cut and pasted himself — omitting lots of theology — from portions of the New Testament.

12 March

• Aussie govt gives back ancient artefacts to Cambodia
  International Business Times, China
  The Australian Government on Thursday returned Iron Age ornaments looted from graves in Southeast Asia in a ceremony at the Cambodian embassy.

9 March

• Archaeologists from INAH Conduct Research at Hoyo Negro Flooded Cave in Quintana Roo
  Art Daily
  The finding of a human skull and bones of Prehistoric mega fauna, among them a gomphothere, in a flooded cave at the Peninsula of Yucatan, motivated the implementation of the interdisciplinary research project coordinated by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to continue exploration at the site and the study of these archaeological vestiges that could be more than 10,000 years old.

7 March

• Haste 'biggest enemy of heritage'
  New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
  Structural engineers should work with conservation architects and architectural historians to ensure that no damaged heritage buildings in Christchurch are demolished in haste, a heritage campaigner says.

• British Museum buys Assyrian treasures cleaned by Agatha Christie
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  The crime writer used face cream to restore the ivories discovered in the city of Nimrud by her archaeologist husband.

• London retrieves history from the Thames
  Toronto Sun, Canada
  It's seven in the morning and we kneel in black mud on the freezing banks of London's River Thames in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, where a church has dominated the ancient city since the 7th century.

• Pompeii Couple Reunited in Marble Inscription
  Discovery News
  The eruption of Mount Vesuvius broke apart a tomb inscription for a husband and wife. Now the names have been joined again.

6 March

• American Silent Films Repatriated, Thanks To Russia
  National Public Radio, United States
  Only about 20 percent of movies from the silent era survive in America today. That number increased just a little bit recently, when the Library of Congress received 10 long-lost films found and preserved by archivists in Russia.

• Sari State Of Affairs: India’s rich heritage of textile traditions
  Economic Times, India
  It all started with a sari. A rose pink, Benarasi sari—a simple piece of work. The fabric was beset by ravages of time. It was unravelling at places. But like all old clothes, this one couldn't be cast aside, as it had a story to tell.

5 March

• Egypt's Top Archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, Warns of Looting at Country's Antiquity Sites
  Art Daily
  Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, warned that the country's antiquity sites were being looted by criminals amid the country's political upheaval as he announced he would no longer serve in his ministerial post in the government.

4 March

• Lumbini monuments to undergo conservation
  The Himalayan Times, Nepal
  The Nepali experts along with Italian conservator Constantino Meucci’s team will start conservation work of the three most endangered monuments of Lumbini—the marker stone, the nativity sculpture and the Ashoka pillar— in April, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Friday.

3 March

• National Museum Wales uncovers historic sketches
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Views of Wales drawn by artist Francis Place in 1678 and not seen for 200 years have been uncovered by staff at National Museum Wales in Cardiff. They include this sketch of Pembroke Castle.

• Mansion left for 100 years reopens as time-capsule museum
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  A mansion sealed in a time warp for more than a century to respect its eccentric owner's dying wishes has been reopened as a museum, offering a glimpse into 19th century bourgeois French life.

2 March

• Libya's 'extraordinary' archaeology under threat
  Nature News
  As the Gadaffi regime continues to massacre citizens, its repression also puts a rich cultural heritage at risk.

• Giant statue may rise again
  New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
  German scientists say it may be possible to reconstruct one of two giant 1500-year-old Buddha statues dynamited by the Taleban in central Afghanistan 10 years ago.

• Voice from History Exposed by New Zealand Quake
  Art Daily
  The New Zealand earthquake has exposed potentially historic documents hidden inside a 19th century statue that toppled in the disaster.

• World's richest man turns to art with Mexico museum
  Reuters
  The world's richest man Carlos Slim inaugurated a massive museum in Mexico City on Tuesday to house his eclectic collection of art ranging from pre-Hispanic pieces to sculptures by French masters.

• Protecting the world's heritage
  Wanted in Rome, Italie
  As almost everyone knows, Rome is headquarters for the monolithic UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), but Italy also hosts several smaller intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) that address other issues of worldwide concern.

1 March

• Afghan gold: How the country's heritage was saved
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A miraculous tale of human ingenuity and bravery lies behind an exhibition of treasures from Afghanistan that opens at the British Museum this week.

• Maya Axes, and Moles Under the Pyramid
  New York Times , United States
  In archaeology, we examine changes in society and culture systematically through large amounts of data rather than relying on single unique finds. But in the course of our careers, unforgettable discoveries can happen.

updated on: 8 April, 2011