Stop Press

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

31 October

• Should shipwrecks be left alone?
  BBC, United Kingdom
  It is 10 years since a deal to protect the world's thousands of shipwrecks, but the UK and several other major maritime powers are yet to ratify it. Should this underwater heritage be protected or is it acceptable to plunder?

28 October

• EU Calls for Digitization of Cultural Heritage
  Wall Street Journal, United States
  The European Commission told the European Union's 27 member states to step up efforts to transfer cultural works into digital formats to preserve them for the future, as film stock, old books and vinyl records risk disappearing with the passage of time.

• Many layers of cultural heritage
  Korea Times
  Sometimes it’s surprising what you can see with fresh eyes. Upon arriving at Incheon International Airport after a trip abroad, I’ve noticed that Seoul can look different, new and even exotic.

27 October

• Italian union urges better controls to save Pompeii
  AFP, France
  The cultural heritage wing of Italy's main labour union UIL has urged better surveillance of the ancient city of Pompeii after an ancient wall collapsed on Saturday following flash floods.

• Shipwreck may be part of Kublai Khan's lost fleet
  CNN, Etats-Unis
  In Japanese legend they are known as The Kamikaze -- the divine winds -- a reference to two mighty typhoons placed providentially seven years apart which, in the 13th century, destroyed two separate Mongol invasion fleets so large they were not eclipsed until the D-Day landings of World War II.

• Cork family parts with Titanic victim's message in a bottle
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A message in a holy water bottle which was thrown overboard by a Titanic victim while the ship sank has now been donated to a heritage centre in Cork by his family.

26 October

• Rwanda: Local Cultural Heritage 'Huge and Untapped'
  AllAfrica
  Rwanda's cultural heritage, especially the museums, has enormous potential but remain largely untapped, the head of the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR) has said.

20 October

• Effort to Turn Hanoi Bridge into Museum Sparks Controversy
  Voice of America, United States
  A heated debate surrounds the future of a landmark prized as a symbol of stoicism during the Vietnam War. A plan to turn one of Hanoi’s most iconic landmarks, the Long Bien Bridge, into the world’s longest contemporary art museum has sparked controversy in Vietnam.

19 October

• Libya: Meeting on safeguarding Libya’s cultural heritage
  Afrique en ligne
  UNESCO has invited experts from both sides of the Libyan conflict as well as from outside of Libya to urgently examine the preservation of the cultural heritage in the north African country, according to a UNESCO press statement issued here Tuesday.

• Notre-Dame de Paris va bientôt changer de sonnerie
  Le Monde, France
  Les quatre cloches de la tour nord et le "petit" bourdon (une grosse cloche à son grave) de la tour sud, qui datent du XIXe siècle, vont être remplacés début 2013.

18 October

• Edinburgh World Heritage site: Effect of climate change
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A five-year plan has been drafted to research the effects of climate change on historic buildings in Edinburgh's World Heritage site.

17 October

• Restored Citadel is Symbol of Hope in Afghanistan
  Fox News, United States
  In the 1970s, tourists traveled to western Afghanistan to climb on the ruins of an ancient citadel, a fortress resembling a sandcastle that has stood overlooking the city of Herat for thousands of years.

16 October

• Finding Archimedes in the Shadows
  New York Times, United States
  An ancient volume of Archimedes, at one point used as a prayer book, is restored and on view at the Walters Art Museum.

14 October

• Suzhou: China's Venice of the East
  The Times of India
  It is called China's Venice of the East for its beautiful waterways and enchanting gardens and is fast emering as one of most popular tourist destinations in China.

• 100,000-Year-Old Paint Kits Unearthed in South Africa
  International Business Times
  A recent Archaeological discovery is changing the way people look at art or painting. Researchers have unearthed ancient painting kits in a South African cave, which was used 100,000 years ago in order to make, mix and also to stock up ochre.

13 October

• Nomad museum brings Pompidou art to provinces
  AFP, France
  Fourteen modern masterpieces sat in a field, hours from the nearest big city: Paris' Pompidou Centre hits the road Thursday with a nomad museum project aimed at taking art out to the people.

12 October

• Libya tour operators eye post-war boom for neglected industry
  Reuters
  A holiday in Libya may sound like an absurdity now, but many of the country's tour operators and officials are already starting to predict a bright future for the travel industry once the dust of war settles.

11 October

• Iraq wants its heritage returned
  The National, United Arab Emirates
  Iraq is still striving to recover thousands of antiquities plundered from its museums and archaeological sites, as the war-torn country aims to develop its tourism industry to help rebuild its economy.

• Skyscraper threatens Seville's world heritage status
  AFP, France
  Seville is famed for its imposing cathedral and whitewashed streets but the Spanish city may lose its UN World Heritage status because of a new 41-storey skyscraper.

• World Monuments Fund Releases 2012 Watch List of Threatened Cultural-Heritage Sites
  International Business Times
  On Oct. 5, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced its 2012 list of 67 cultural-heritage sites in need of assistance.

10 October

• Turkey puts repaired Hercules statue on display
  Art Daily
  Turkey is displaying a full statue of Hercules for the first time since a U.S. museum returned the top half after two decades of negotiations.

• 120 Roman Shoes Found in U.K.; "Substantial" Fort Find
  National Geographic, United States
  About 60 pairs of sandals and shoes that once belonged to Roman soldiers have been unearthed at a supermarket construction site in Camelon, Scotland, archaeologists say.

9 October

• £100m masterpieces stolen from French museum 'crushed by rubbish truck'
  Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Five stolen paintings including a Matisse, a Picasso and a Modigliani worth almost £100 million ended up in a street dustbin and were likely crushed by a rubbish truck, a suspect has reportedly told police.

4 October

• Bridging Cultures
  Oman Tribune
  Sultanate’s culture of openness and tolerance was very much in evidence as the allure of ‘Omani Cultural Days,’ an exhibition of traditional art and culture, drew a large number of visitors in Sydney.

• Namibia's ancestral skulls receive hero's welcome home
  Daily Nation, Kenya
  A century after colonial German authorities seized the remains of Africans for racial experiments, 20 skulls returned Tuesday to Namibia with military honours to be laid in state at parliament.

• World Heritage listing has its price
  Japan Times
  News that Iwate Prefecture's historic Hiraizumi area and the Ogasawara Islands would be added to UNESCO's World Heritage List last June lifted the spirits of residents in the Tohoku region after the March 11 quake-tsunami trauma.

3 October

• A heritage in need of protection
  Southeast European Times
  At Decani monastery in western Kosovo, life goes on the way it has done for centuries.

• Eyetracking technology reveals how viewers look at a damaged John Martin painting
  Guardian, United Kingdom
  'Scanpaths' were created with eyetracking technology as viewers looked at two versions of John Martin's The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

2 October

• Costa Rica reclaims artifacts from the prestigious Brooklyn Museum in New York
  Art Daily
  Costa Rica will for the first time display a trove of artifacts, some believed to be more than 2,300 years old, after they were returned unbidden this month from the prestigious Brooklyn Museum in New York.

updated on: 5 November, 2011