Iraq seeks World Heritage status for Babylon
17 July
Iraqi officials are petitioning Unesco to list Babylon as a World Heritage Site, Hussein Fleih, the ancient site’s director of antiquities, told media site Al-Monitor. Fleih is hoping that World Heritage-listing will lead to financial support for the ancient site, which is facing several alarming issues, including the very real threat of deterioration due to rising groundwater. On 17 July, Unesco named the al-Ahwar Marshes in the south-eastern part of Iraq a World Heritage Site.
Travel ban lifted on leading Iranian artist
19 July
The Iranian Pop art pioneer Parviz Tanavoli, who was detained by officials in early July at Tehran’s international airport, was allowed to leave the country and return to Vancouver, Canada, where he has a studio. The artist, who has dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, had his passport confiscated by border officials on 2 July and was barred from traveling to the British Museum in London, where he was due to give a talk the following day. The charges have since been cleared.
Obama library to open in Chicago’s Jackson Park
29 July
The Obama Foundation, which is building the Barack Obama presidential museum and library designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, announced that it will be in the South Side of Chicago in Jackson Park. The group Friends of the Park, which successfully opposed George Lucas’s planned museum on the city’s waterfront, expressed its “dismay” with the Obama’s parkland site, but will not sue. Once completed, it will be the 14th US presidential library.
Stele of Persian King Darius found in Russia
8 August
Archaeologists have discovered a stele with a signature in the name of the Persian King Darius I at the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria, near Crimea and the Black Sea. Vladimir Kuznetsov, the director of the archaeological expedition, which was sponsored by the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, said the discovery was of “international significance“ with the inscription on the marble fragment placing Phanagoria “in the context of one of the most important events of ancient history”.
Experts warn pregnant women about Miami
19 August
Health experts have advised pregnant women to avoid areas of south Miami Beach and the Wynwood District in Miami, both art hotspots each December, because of serious concerns around the Zika virus. Twelve people in Miami tested positive for the virus, a mosquito-borne illness that especially harms unborn babies. Residents and visitors have been advised to take all possible precautions to prevent mosquito bites.