Disasters & destruction

Turkey counts cost of earthquake repairs

A year after tremors devastated the south of the country, painstaking work begins to restore thousands of damaged monuments

Devastating fire destroys more than 4,000 paintings in national collection of Abkhazia

Fire marks tragic loss for cultural heritage in the region, which broke away from Georgia three decades ago

Gaza City archives among heritage sites destroyed in Israel-Hamas war

Brief truce allowed International Council on Monuments and Sites and Palestinian antiquities ministry to investigate damage on the ground

The Year in Review 2023: the biggest stories and the best shows

From the British Museum thefts to the consequences in art and heritage of the Israel-Hamas war

Hosted by Ben Luke. With guest speakers Louisa Buck and Benjamin Sutton. Produced by David Clack, Julia Michalska and Alexander Morrison
Sponsored byChristie's

The ancient villages and historic monuments destroyed in western Afghanistan earthquakes

Last month's deadly quakes affected key historic monuments in Herat and beyond

Unesco adds sites in Kyiv and Lviv to list of world heritage in danger

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the historic centre of Lviv join Odesa on Unesco’s endangered list

Heritage destruction brings Putin one step closer to prosecution, according to landmark report

Blue Shield workers have been able to access and gather evidence in destroyed cultural buildings and heritage sites in Ukraine. What have they found?

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair launches Moroccan earthquake relief project

Appeal brings artists and institutions together to raise funds to support survivors and long-term reconstruction

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

‘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

Italy announces museum ticket price hike as part of €2bn flood aid package

Admission will be raised by €1 to support relief efforts in the affected Emilia-Romagna region

Museums close and turn into shelters amid deadly floods in northern Italy

At least 13 people have died and thousands have been evacuated as the Emilia-Romagna region battles its worst floods in 100 years

Full scale of damage to Turkish and Syrian heritage emerges after devastating earthquakes

Many archaeological landmarks and religious sites in the region have been heavily damaged or destroyed

Turkey-Syria earthquake: the race to save damaged heritage sites

Plus, Alice Neel's largest UK show and a dazzling turn-of-the-century blanket

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Aimee Dawson
Sponsored byChristie's

Here's how you can help the post-earthquake aid effort in Turkey and Syria through art

Art organisations and artists are rallying to provide money for disaster relief in the region

Special investigation: Serious concerns over fate of Ukraine’s museum works taken by Russians

The Art Newspaper probes the complex issues arising from the removal of the Kherson Museum’s collection, sent to Crimea for “safekeeping”

‘Cultural erasure’ in the Caucasus: new satellite imagery shows ongoing destruction of Armenian heritage sites

Images show disappearance of churches and cemeteries in the Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan regions at the centre of the largely ignored conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Western arrogance on parade in new book about culture and conflict

Different methods of protecting heritage during times of war are explored with mixed success in this challenging read

'We must accelerate efforts to protect Ukraine’s culture,' says British Council chief

Culture will be central to the country's recovery—enabling people to process trauma, share a common identity and articulate shared experiences

Kyiv cultural sites reportedly damaged in Russian bombardment

Ukrainian culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko says buildings have been damaged including the Khanenko Art Museum and the Kyiv Art Gallery

Wildfire on Easter Island causes 'irreparable' damage to ancient moai head statues

The Unesco World Heritage Site is closed while conservators assess the damage to the almost 1,000 ancient statues, while the island's mayor claims the fire was started deliberately

In aftermath of Hurricane Ian's destruction, West Florida art institutions begin to pick up the pieces

While some museums and art spaces escaped largely unscathed—thanks to a mix of thorough preparation and meteorological luck—others in the most devastated areas remain unreachable

Pakistan’s heritage has suffered the brutal effects of record monsoon rains—what happens now?

As Unesco pledges $350,000 to safeguard sites, questions are raised about the country’s long-term commitment to restoring and protecting key locations in the face of the climate crisis

Metropolitan Museum to exhibit masterpieces from Puerto Rican museum struck by earthquake

The pieces include paintings by Frederic Leighton, John Everett Millais and Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Icom condemns Russia's 'deliberate destruction' of Ukrainian heritage and plans stricter code of ethics

The International Council of Museums says revised protocol will allow it to more readily “address conflicts”—and could lead to the expulsion of Russia from the organisation

War-ravaged Ukrainian mosaics digitally recreated in London show

Exhibition builds on a project to document Ukraine's monumental and contested public art created during Soviet era

Seven dead after landslide strikes Iraqi Shia shrine

The Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine, a popular pilgrimage destination, collapsed on 20 August after rubble from a landslide struck its roof

Saving Ukraine’s heritage: an eyewitness account of relief efforts

Plus, the Cezanne blockbuster at The Art Institute of Chicago and Nicola L.’s Gold Femme Commode at Alison Jacques

Sponsored byChristie's

Could one of these lost Van Goghs—which disappeared during the Nazi period—be hidden in your attic?

These five missing paintings might still survive—possibly looted and secreted away

a blog by Martin Bailey