Stop Press

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

18 December

• L'incendie de l'Institut d'Egypte, "une catastrophe pour la science"
  Le Monde, France
  Des manifestants ont pénétré, dimanche 18 décembre, dans le bâtiment encore fumant de l'Institut d'Egypte, incendié la veille, pour en extraire des manuscrits anciens, dont une partie était brûlée.

• Free art in Shanghai
  BBC, United Kingdom
  In a nationwide attempt to enhance China’s cultural status, the Chinese government has been rolling out a series of measures to make all government-owned libraries and museums free of charge by the end of 2012.

• UNESCO official urges Iran’s Qanats be registered as cultural heritage
  Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
  Director of UNESCO Water Science Division Abdin Salih said that Iran’s qanats should be registered on the list of the world cultural heritage, calling on the officials concerned to help implement the project.

17 December

• Art Conservation Centre inaugurated
  The Malta Independent Online
  The Art Conservation Centre, where innovative technology meets the preservation of some of Malta’s heritage, was yesterday officially inaugurated during a visit paid by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

15 December

• Protecting Peru's ancient past
  BBC, United Kingdom
  The return to Peru of the bones of 177 people taken a century ago from the Inca city of Machu Picchu has marked another important milestone in the repatriation of Peruvian antiquities.

13 December

• Economy crisis saves Spanish ruins but buries future
  Reuters
  Spain's pre-historic burial chambers have survived invasion, war, a long dictatorship and a property bubble which paved over vast tracts of the country.

• Iraq museum pays smugglers for looted treasures
  CNN, United States
  Iraq's second largest museum in Sulaimaniya is recovering stolen artifacts by paying smugglers to return the treasures.

12 December

• Christchurch’s heritage faces demolition
  The Art Newspaper
  Conservation societies are up in arms over the widespread, and in many cases unnecessary, demolition of historic buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand, following a series of earthquakes in the region.

10 December

• Lisbon gunning for Cultural Heritage status
  The Portugal News Online
  Lisbon Town Hall has said it will be re-entering its Baixa Pombalina for a UNESCO granted distinction that will classify the area as being of World Heritage.

9 December

• BCCEC chairman urges reform to fire codes
  The Nassau Guardian, Bahamas
  With historical buildings exempt from modern standards, tighter regulation is needed to maintain and protect downtown core.

• UNESCO experts voice concern over flooded Ayutthaya World Heritage Site
  MCOT, Thailand
  International experts of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) expressed concern about the stability of the monuments, foundations and decorative works at Thailand’s historic city of Ayutthaya after it was hit by the country’s most disastrous flooding in decades.

8 December

• 1700-year-old UNESCO heritage nears collapse
  Tuoitrenews, Viet Nam
  My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam, which was recognized as UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage in 1999 is falling apart at a rapid speed, Phap Luat Newspaper reported Thursday.

7 December

• Mysterious Jerusalem carvings leaves Israeli archaeologists baffled
  Haaretz, Israel
  Mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped.

• Methods for Finding a Lost Fresco by Leonardo Lead to a Protest
  New York Times, United States
  More than 300 scholars have signed a petition to Florence’s mayor and that city’s top art authority to stop a project that hopes to find a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece behind a fresco by Giorgio Vasari in the Palazzo Vecchio, now city hall.

6 December

• Looted Korean royal texts return home
  The Korea Herald, Republic of Korea
  Korea celebrated the return of nearly 1,200 ancient documents looted by the Japanese during its 1910-1945 colonial rule, with welcoming ceremonies at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday.

3 December

• 'Cowboy builders' blamed for Rome's crumbling Colosseum
  The Independent, United Kingdom
  An ambitious attempt to save Rome's Colosseum from collapse is being undermined by the authorities' cost-cutting decision to employ ordinary builders rather than specialists to perform the delicate overhaul, restoration experts have claimed.

2 December

• 'Lost' Rembrandt self-portrait revealed
  BBC, United Kingdom
  An unfinished self-portrait by the Dutch master Rembrandt has been discovered under another painting using advanced scientific techniques.

1 December

• Liberia: MICAT Boss - Country Is Rich in Culture
  allAfrica.com
  The Minister of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICAT), Cletus Sieh, has called on his fellow compatriots to preserve the cultural heritage of the country.

• Much of nation’s cultural heritage awaits UNESCO recognition
  Jakarta Post, Indonesia
  UNESCO has recognized several Indonesian contributions to the world’s intangible cultural heritage, including wayang shadow puppets and kris daggers in 2008, batik in 2009, the Sundanese angklung musical instrument in 2010 and Aceh’s saman dance this year.

• Museums enjoy 10 years of freedom
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Exactly 10 years ago, museums and galleries - including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum - scrapped entrance fees as part of a government plan to widen access to the nation's culture and heritage.

updated on: 19 December, 2011