King Abdulaziz University, US Cultural Attache in Jeddah Discuss Expansion of Cooperation

King Abdulaziz University, US Cultural Attache in Jeddah Discuss Expansion of Cooperation

UNESCO Planning Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Artifacts

Antiquities returned to Italy from the US were displayed during a ceremony held in New York. (Reuters)

UNESCO, the United Nations culture body, has announced plans for a virtual museum of stolen cultural artifacts, aimed at raising public awareness of trafficking and the unique importance of cultural heritage.

Visitors will be able to navigate a succession of virtual spaces containing detailed 3D images of the artifacts, each accompanied by materials explaining their unique cultural significance including stories and testimonies from local communities.

UNESCO does not expect to be able to name the items that will make up the initial collection until shortly before the museum’s opening.

It will be conducted jointly by UNESCO and INTERPOL, whose database of cultural objects stolen from museums, collections, and archeological sites worldwide lists more than 52,000 artifacts, worth $2.5m (£2.05m)

The virtual museum should open in 2025.

“Behind every stolen work or fragment lies a piece of history, identity, and humanity that has been wrenched from its custodians, rendered inaccessible to research, and now risks falling into oblivion,” said the UNESCO director-general, Audrey Azoulay.

“Our objective with this is to place these works back in the spotlight, and to restore the right of societies