Heritage

Ancient Yazidi heritage still under threat after Isis genocide

Around 200,000 Yazidis remain displaced following attacks, and efforts to restore shrines and other buildings have stalled due to ongoing security concerns and a lack of funding

Two German tourists arrested for allegedly defacing Vasari Corridor in Florence

The characters DKS1860—referring to the football team 1860 Munich—were spray-painted on seven outdoor columns under the famous Italian landmark

What impact has two years of Taliban rule had on the arts in Afghanistan?

Future of arts and women’s rights remain uncertain despite government backing of cultural heritage projects

'These journeys should be remembered': Victorian stone benches for migrant workers are given listed status

Travellers' Rest stones were installed between Liverpool and Manchester for travel-weary Irish labourers

Metal detectorists make first discovery of Iron Age gold coins in Wales

The haul has now been officially classed as treasure and may be acquired by an Anglesey museum

Artists set sail for Marshall Islands on climate crisis expedition

Lisa Reihana is among the artists embarking on the odyssey, which will be followed by a film, book and exhibition

What took you so long? Unesco will ask for Venice to be added to the Endangered Heritage Sites list

The organisation has repeatedly bowed to pressure from the Italian government not to do so

Ukraine's historic sites under threat from dam burst

A new report confirms flooding adjacent to the house museum of the self-trained Ukrainian artist Polina Rayko in Oleshky

Yet again, a US court dismisses Nazi-era Guelph Treasure art lawsuit

The descendants of the €200m collection's Jewish former owners had appealed a 2022 regional court ruling

Iraqnews

Outrage over demolition of 300-year-old minaret in Iraq

Cultural heritage officials are calling for greater protections of historic structures as the Siraji minaret in Basra is torn down for road expansion

Siena's spectacular cathedral floor has been temporarily uncovered

Visitors to the Italian city have a rare chance to glimpse the inlaid marble floor, begun in the 14th century

Unesconews

The United States officially rejoins Unesco

Following a five-year absence, one of the founding members of the UN's cultural agency is readmitted as the organisation's 194th member state

British wartime control tower to become holiday home after £3.1m restoration

Conservation charity Landmark Trust plans to transform derelict building into unique four-bedroom house, due to open in 2025

Unesco members vote overwhelmingly—but not unanimously—to readmit the United States

The US will have to repay $619m in dues that accrued after it ceased paying in 2011 but before its formal departure in 2019

Ancient Mesoamerican artefact with ties to ritual ball game returned to Mexico

An auction house in Austria intended to sell the artefact before officials stepped in, according to the Mexican government

Italy condemns tourist who vandalised Colosseum with love note

Italian authorities have identified an English suspect who they believe is the man filmed carving the words “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the 2,000-year old structure

Art and heritage groups must ‘take action now’ to protect culture against climate change, report says

Authors of a new report from the the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation and the National Endowment for the Humanities say climate change is the most significant threat in conservation

Douglas Latchford’s estate hands over $12m to settle US trafficking case

The late antiquities dealer was accused of profiting off stolen Cambodian antiquities

Heritagefeature

Here’s the five-point formula for creating a successful art hub—and the greatest of these is love

An archive has opened on the Island of San Giorgio in Venice for Murano glass designs

‘We’re not ready’: the race to protect Istanbul’s heritage from another earthquake

Conservators are raising the alarm in the ancient Turkish city as seismologists warn that an earthquake is all but inevitable within the next two decades

A curator’s library of books on Black artists finds a home in Houston

In addition to assembling her own roving art book library, Amarie Cemone Gipson is a research fellow on a project in Houston to preserve and promote the history of Freedmen's Town

Ivorynews

UK government to extend ivory ban to include hippos, sperm whales, narwhals, orcas and walruses

Ministers hope to close loopholes that see aquatic mammals vulnerable to poaching, but dealers in antique scrimshaw works of art say it will destroy their business

Indian government challenges British newspaper report that it is making 'largest repatriation claim' against UK

Sources state that demands made for thousands of objects in British collections have been "significantly overstated", and that the report is "misleading"

France's long-awaited restitution policy is finally here

Guidelines for returning objects looted from former colonies and during the Nazi period are laid out in a report commissioned by Emmanuel Macron and written by former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez

Monumental Cold War-era Karl Marx mosaic restored in east Germany

Josep Renau's vast memorial in Halle-Neustadt is one of the most important surviving public works of art produced in communist East Germany

Isolation is thwarting archaeological discoveries of Afghanistan’s rich heritage

Conservation works on an ancient burial site at Shewaki near Kabul had to be halted due to lack of funding and resources

The mystic and the Modernist: Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian

We explore the Tate Modern exhibition. Plus, the Whitney's Jaune Quick-to-See Smith retrospective and a reconstructed Roman gateway in England

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Texan princess evicted from Rome villa with Caravaggio ceiling

Following a bitter inheritance dispute, Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi has been court-ordered to leave the historic property, while valuable artworks and documents are to be removed or destroyed

Italy throws Afghanistan a lifeline for restoration in the Bamiyan area

A new Unesco initiative will provide much-needed local employment in the vulnerable heritage site