Disasters & destruction
Explosion in chemicals factory threatens Venice with cloud of toxic smoke
The fire is now under control, but the mayor warns people to stay indoors and keep their windows closed
Battle to save concrete Picasso murals in Oslo intensifies after MoMA steps in
“Workers at the Y-Block site have started drilling, but it’s worrying as once they start moving the mural, it will crack,” says co-creator’s daughter
The disaster of being hit by an earthquake in a time of Covid-19
Over a third of Zagreb’s museums are unsafe or dangerous to use
Glasgow School of Art will be back as a 'working art school' but restoration is mired in delays
Almost two years after fire ravaged the Mackintosh building, debate intensifies over future plans for the site
Fire breaks out at Berlin’s Humboldt Forum
Fire service says one person was injured in the blaze caused by a gas cylinder exploding
Thieves arrested for stealing stones from Notre Dame in Paris
Drunk perpetrators may have wanted to sell the items on the black market
Zagreb Cathedral’s spire damaged in major earthquake
City is "fighting two enemies" as it continues to deal with the spread of coronavirus
Mass museum shutdown in northern Italy—including Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Fondazione Prada—as coronavirus spreads
Public and private institutions in Venice, Milan and Turin will stay closed for at least a week as more than 200 cases of Covid-2019 are confirmed
Where is the West? Art world should be supporting China during coronavirus crisis
Our beleaguered art colleagues need our help and we must not turn our backs on Chinese art institutions, says Philip Dodd, head of Made in China
Coronavirus impact on China’s art world now eclipses Sars
The region’s art scene has experienced relentless growth since the 2002-03 epidemic. Will it be able to recover from the latest health crisis as quickly as it did almost two decades ago?
President Trump blows up Native American grave site for his border wall
“Sacrilegious” act on Unesco-recognised site in Arizona which contains remains of Indigenous peoples
Street art auction in aid of Australian bushfire clean-up includes works by Banksy and Shepard Fairey
The Bushfire Relief Auction in Melbourne has been organised by the collectors Sandra Powell and Andrew King and prices start at £200
The cost of Venice's worst floods since 1966
We survey the multi-million-euro impact of the disaster on the city's cultural heritage sites—and the funds pledged for restoration so far
After fire, Museum of Chinese in America hopes to salvage much of its collection
Curator says that conservators might be able to dry many wet objects in the museum’s archive
Museum of Chinese in America starts fund-raising after loss of its archive in a fire
An estimated 85,000 items are feared lost, including letters, antique wedding dresses and photographs
National Gallery of Australia closes due to bushfire smoke around Canberra
Director says that decision was taken to protect public and works
Governing body of St Mark’s basilica wants to build a Perspex anti-flood wall
Officials warn cathedral cannot take any more damage after the record-breaking floods that hit Venice in November
From trafficked treasures to the ravages of climate change: the heritage headlines of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
Venice is in peril: Unesco should come to the aid of Venice as it did after the great flood of 1966
Its official international role, to which Italy signed up, enables it to mobilise world expertise and funds
Works of art in Venice museums and the Biennale undamaged by floods, but major attrition to buildings with great loss of private property
Most cultural institutions open to the public again today
Where are the flood barriers, cry the citizens of Venice after its second worst flood since records began
More evidence has emerged that the flood barriers have serious technical problems
Art storage demands flare as California fires rage
Calls for emergency art storage are putting pressure on art shipment and insurance firms
As protests rage in Iraq, experts say culture is key to long-term reconstruction
Iraqi culture ministry announces new national museum in Baghdad as Mosul restoration plan is extended to historic churches
Citing daunting threats, World Monuments Fund lists 25 endangered sites
Bears Ears in the US, a Peruvian valley near Machu Picchu and Notre Dame in Paris join the 2020 roster
Wildfire spread close to the Getty Center, but an official says the art is ‘just fine’
The campus in the Santa Monica Mountains was designed to resist fire, with a powerful irrigation system, million-gallon water tank and air conditioning that pushes smoke out instead of letting it in
Phoenix project rises amid the wreckage of Brazil’s National Museum blaze
The museum is seeking $30m to reopen one wing in 2022 for the bicentennial of Brazilian independence
Drawing with the ashes of Isis-ravaged buildings: Piers Secunda on the art of destruction
Artist’s works on iconoclasm in Mosul are currently on show at the Imperial War Museum in London
Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum requests emergency funding for recovery efforts after fire
As pieces of its ancient Egyptian collection are salvaged, the museum’s director says it can no longer afford storage facilities
Notre Dame: experts explain why Macron's five-year restoration deadline is impossible
Complex conservation issues mean it could easily take a decade or more to rebuild the Medieval cathedral
Sri Lankan government steps in to rebuild St Anthony’s church after bomb attacks
Crowdfunding campaigns have also launched to support victims and restore heritage sites after deadly blasts