Stop Press

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

26 June

• Thailand pulls out of World Heritage Convention ?
  MCOT, Thailand
  Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with‬ ‪immediate effect on Saturday, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodia's unilaterally-proposed Preah Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

23 June

• Ramallah museum to show Picasso for first time
  The Independent, United Kingdom
  A Ramallah art museum has become the first in the West Bank to take delivery of an artwork by Picasso, which will go on view to the public for a month, beginning on Friday.

• New Study Says Image of Ancient Mammoth or Mastodon Found on 13,000 Year-Old Bone
  Art Daily
  A carved image, at least 13,000 years old, found in Vero Beach, Fla. Some of the earliest Americans turned out to have been artists. The bone fragment with the carved image of a mammoth or mastodon, may be the first of its kind found in North America, a new study reports.

22 June

• A Crusader town emerges under an old Israeli port
  Associated Press
  Off the track beaten by most Holy Land tourists lies one of the richest archaeological sites in a country full of them: the walled port of Acre, where the busy alleys of an Ottoman-era town cover a uniquely intact Crusader city now being rediscovered.

21 June

• Commerce de l'or noir et fouilles archéologiques au pays des Mayas
  Le Monde, France
  Sous la photo de la mosaïque illustrant la belle affiche qui annonce l'ouverture, mardi 21 juin, au Musée du Quai Branly à Paris, de l'exposition "Maya, de l'aube au crépuscule", on peut lire, en lettres fines : "avec le mécénat de Pérenco".

20 June

• 18th-century cannons retrieved from ships resting on Baltic Sea bottom
  Washington Post, United States
  Polish explorers have retrieved three 18th-century cannons from ship wrecks resting on the Baltic Sea bottom.

17 June

• Hiraizumi rêve d'un classement par l'Unesco
  Le Monde, France
  Pour Hiraizumi, la 35e session du comité du Patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco organisée à Paris du 19 au 29 juin revêt un sens particulier. La petite ville de 8 500 habitants de la préfecture d'Iwate, dans le nord-est du Japon, postule pour une inscription de ses richesses culturelles - des temples bouddhistes et des jardins des XIe-XIIe siècles - à l'inventaire du Patrimoine mondial

14 June

• UN cultural agency calls on Libyans and NATO to protect heritage sites
  UN News Centre
  The United Nations cultural organization has called on the warring parties in Libya to protect two World Heritage List sites, one of which has reportedly been shelled already and the other that is said to be a potential target of NATO air attacks.

• Restoring Rubens' Cain Slaying Abel
  The Independent, United Kingdom
  An epic campaign of restoration of Rubens' masterpiece is underway at the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Independent Online talks to the restorers and reveals the progress in pictures

13 June

• Archaeologists find new gems in ancient Roman waste
  ANSA, Italy
  Archaeologists are discovering new insights into how the Romans lived in Herculaneum 2,000 years ago by what they left behind - in the ancient city's sewers.

12 June

• Mining threat to ancient Afghan monastery at Mes Aynak
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Ten years ago, the Taliban blew up Afghanistan's ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, provoking international outrage. Now, the country's rich heritage is facing a new threat.

8 June

• Sadequain mural restoration: Museum sending artists to India for training
  The Express Tribune, Pakistan
  The Lahore Museum is to send four artists to India for training in oil painting restoration so they can come back and start restoring a crumbling Sadequain mural.

• Afghan city's Islamic festival ambitions hit by costs and security fears
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Ghazni, in south-east of country, looks for foreign help in effort to become Islamic capital of culture in 2013.

6 June

• What art curators can learn from Shakespeare
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Theatres bring Shakespeare searingly alive time and again, so why are art galleries content to leave the old masters in their graves?

3 June

• Mauritanian craftsmen struggle to save heritage
  AFP, France
  Video: Traditional craftwork is central to Mauritania's cultural heritage. But in recent years, the local market has been flooded with imported products, making it harder for craftsmen to make ends meet.

• Sacred Buddha Relics arrive from Pakistan
  Daily News, Sri Lanka
  Sacred Relics of The Buddha sent by the Pakistan government to Sri Lanka will arrive today.

2 June

• British embassy art burned
  The Art Newspaper
  Paintings in the British embassy in Tripoli were almost certainly destroyed last month, when the building was set on fire by pro-Gaddafi protesters.

• Iranian-German team monitoring Bisotun
  Tehran Times, Iran
  A team of Iranian and German experts has recently been assigned to monitor the ancient site of Bisotun during an 18-month project.

• A Heritage in Ruins
  New York Times, United States
  Helmand has been the setting of some of the fiercest fighting in the Afghan war, yet strangely, damage to monuments like the Bost Arch has increased even as the security situation has improved.

• Academics rally to save Aboriginal art
  New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
  Australia has more ancient rock art than any other country, but half the sites could disappear in the next 50 years without better measures to document and protect them, experts warned yesterday.

• Selling heritage to China
  The Australian, Australia
  There's an irony in one of the world's oldest civilisations seeking heritage advice from Brisbane, the city where the wrecker's ball swung freely during the Joh Bjelke-Petersen years. But Ruan Yisan, who was in Brisbane recently for lectures and workshops, had reasons to visit.

updated on: 1 July, 2011