Pakistan’s famous truck art will move from its highways to the skies, as a flying academy is painting a two-seater Cessna aircraft with the colourful technique. With elaborate and flamboyant motifs, Pakistani truck art has inspired gallery exhibitions abroad and prompted stores in Western cities to sell miniatures. “We want …
Read More »Central Asia at the Crossroads of World Civilizations
“Today, the Central Asian states face an important strategic task. This is to ensure deep integration of our region into the global economic, transport and transit corridors,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said. According to the President of Uzbekistan, the countries of the region have managed to create an atmosphere of good neighborliness, …
Read More »Egypt to built highways in UNESCO heritage zones
Egypt is building two highways across the pyramids plateau outside Cairo, reviving and expanding a project that was suspended in the 1990s after an international outcry. The Great Pyramids, Egypt’s top tourist destination, are the sole survivor of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the plateau is a …
Read More »Russian church furious over Hagia Sophia decision
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church, said on Monday that calls to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque posed a threat to Christianity. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient building at the heart of both …
Read More »Mosul reconstruction may revive Unesco fortunes
The United Nations’ cultural agency wants to use the reconstruction of Iraq’s second city Mosul as a way to restore its credibility and show how a fraying multilateral order can be revived, its director general said on Monday. Officially entitled the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Paris-based Unesco …
Read More »ICCROM 30th General Assembly launched today
Press Release Rome – Italy, 29 November 2017 – The 30th General Assembly of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) was inaugurated today in Rome. The three-day event, held from 29 November – 1 December, will feature panel discussions on productive and …
Read More »ICCROM 30th General Assembly
The 30th General Assembly of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) held from 29 November – 1 December in Rome, will provide a platform to stimulate dialogue on sustainable approaches to the reconstruction of destroyed and damaged historic cities. Delegations of ICCROM’s …
Read More »UNESCO Gets First Jewish Director, Day After U.S. Leaves Over ‘Anti-Israel’ Bias
A day after the United States and Israel pulled out of the U.N. culture and education body citing anti-Israel bias, UNESCO elected its first ever Jewish director general. Audrey Azoulay, France’s former culture minister, eked out a win over Qatar’s candidate and frontrunner Hamad bin Abdoulaziz Al-Kawari. UNESCO’s executive body …
Read More »U.S., Israel quit U.N. heritage agency citing bias
The United States and Israel announced on Thursday they were quitting the U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO, after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias. The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of UNESCO’s funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation, founded after World …
Read More »Saudi-Led Warplanes Hit UNESCO-Listed Heritage Site in Old Sanaa
SANAA: An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on the old quarter of the Yemeni capital killed five people Friday and destroyed three houses in the UNESCO-listed heritage site. Residents said the pre-dawn strike was the first direct hit on old Sanaa since the launch of the bombing campaign against Houthi …
Read More »UNESCO chief slams “barbaric” destruction of Iraq heritage
THE LEVANT – UNESCO chief Irina Bokova on Sunday slammed the “barbaric” destruction of Iraq’s cultural heritage, as jihadists from the Islamic State group destroy age-old sites in areas they control. Iraq has “thousands of temples, of buildings, of archaeological sites, of objects, that represent a treasure for (all) humanity,” …
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