UNESCO plans to create the world’s first museum of stolen artifacts
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UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, plans to create the first virtual museum of stolen cultural heritage.
The Gurdian writes about it.
In this way, the museum plans to raise public awareness of the illegal trade in valuable artifacts.
“Behind every stolen work or fragment lies a piece of history, identity and humanity that has been torn from its keepers, made inaccessible to study, and now at risk of falling into oblivion.” – says UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.
| Photo: Visualization of the museum space/Kéré Architecture |
The project is being developed together with Interpol, whose database contains more than 52,000 stolen archaeological monuments, cultural objects and valuable artifacts.
The $2.5 million museum is slated to open in 2025. Its visitors will be able to move through rows of virtual spaces with 3D images of various artifacts.
Each will be accompanied by an explanation of the cultural significance along with stories and testimonies from local communities. UNESCO will name the items of the initial collection only shortly before the opening of the museum.
However, data from the Antiquities Coalition, an NGO, indicates that there are few known stolen artifacts today.
This is an alabaster stone inscription of the 3rd century, which was stolen from the temple of Awwam in Yemen between 2009 and 2011; ivory relief of the VII century. from the Baghdad Museum, which disappeared in 2003; a green stone mask from a Mayan settlement in Guatemala, stolen in the 20th century.
Organizers of the museum say that unlike conventional institutions, the goal of this one will be to reduce its collection while valuable objects are gradually found.
The most difficult part of the project so far has been creating 3D images of the artifacts, because many of them have no physical record other than small black-and-white photographs.
Earlier, we talked about the discovery of 1,400-year-old golden figurines of Scandinavian gods in Norway.
We also wrote about the ex-deputy who hid more than 6,000 artefacts taken from Crimea in the attic.
Read also: Museum in full-scale war: art shelter, local stories and hope for a convincing “see you tomorrow”
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