<
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-launches-worlds-first-museum-stolen-cultural-objects-global-scale-mondiacult-2025>
"Three years after its announcement at MONDIACULT 2022, UNESCO is launching an
innovative initiative: the Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects. This global
platform harnesses cutting-edge digital technology to raise awareness of the
illicit trafficking of cultural property, one of the most pervasive challenges
for cultural heritage globally. The event will take place at the World
Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development - MONDIACULT 2025,
on Tuesday 29 September in Barcelona, Spain.
The launch event of the “UNESCO Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects” will
celebrate the public release of the platform and offer participants an
immersive experience of the Museum. In the presence of the Director-General of
UNESCO, and introduced by the Museum’s architect Francis Kéré, the platform
will be officially revealed through a guided tour of its spaces and features.
Participants will be able to explore the Museum first-hand, either directly on
their own devices or via dedicated screens and virtual reality headsets
installed on site – as the platform is made accessible globally for visitors
across the globe. Unveiling the Museum design, interactive tools, digitised
objects and educational content, the event will allow participants to discover
the Museum’s potential to raise awareness and mobilise audiences worldwide.
Harnessing innovative technologies including 3D modelling and virtual reality,
the UNESCO Museum digitally reconstitutes and presents stolen cultural objects
selected by Member States. This new platform also offers educational narratives
and testimonies from affected communities to highlight the cultural and
historical significance of the objects. A dedicated room for displaying cases
of successful restitutions will further illustrate the importance of good
practices and international cooperation on the matter of return and restitution
efforts.
Announced by the UNESCO Director-General during MONDIACULT 2022, the UNESCO
Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects was developed in response to the call of
Member States for a coordinated strategy to raise awareness on illicit
trafficking. As the first global initiative of its kind, the project, designed
by Pritzker Prize winner Francis Kéré, is supported financially by the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and implemented in collaboration with INTERPOL.
With its unveiling at MONDIACULT 2025, the initiative marks the establishment
of a global platform that combines innovation, education, international
cooperation and community engagement in protecting the world’s common heritage
and fighting against the looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
