General Awareness

ART AND CULTURE - August 2019

Aug 2019

Jul 30, 2021

National Gallery of Australia to Return 13 Stolen Objects to India

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra announced that it has deaccessioned 16 Asian objects acquired from the disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor and his Manhattan gallery, Art of the Past.
The NGA's director Nick Mitzevich said that 13 of the works from Kapoor would be returned to their home country of India. He added that another three sculptures sourced by the museum from Art of the Past have also been removed from the collection. These three objects will also be repatriated after further research has identified their place of origin. Another work, which the NGA acquired from art dealer William Wolff, will also be returned to India. The 14 works comprise six bronze or stone sculptures, a brass processional standard, a painted scroll and six photographs.

Jul 29, 2021

US Authorities Seize Ancient Gilgamesh Tablet

A rare and ancient tablet showing part of the epic of Gilgamesh, which had been acquired by Christian arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby for display in its museum of biblical artefacts, has been seized by the US government.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) alleges that the 3,600-year-old "Gilgamesh Dream Tablet", which originated in a region that is now part of Iraq, was acquired in 2003 by an American antiquities dealer from the family member of a London coin dealer. Once it had arrived in the US, and been cleaned, experts realised that it showed a portion of the Gilgamesh epic, one of the world's oldest works of literature, in the Akkadian language.
Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Jacquelyn M Kasulis, described the legal development as an important milestone on the path to returning this rare and ancient masterpiece of world literature to its country of origin.

Brazil Landscape Garden Sitio Burle Marx Receives UNESCO World Heritage Status

Globally renowned for its natural beauty, Rio de Janeiro received a new international distinction as UNESCO added landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx's former home to its list of World Heritage sites.
The Sitio Burle Marx in western Rio features more than 3,500 species of plants native to Rio and is considered a laboratory for botanical and landscape experimentation.
The recognition was granted during a meeting of UNESCO's Heritage Committee in China. The site was designated a Cultural Landscape, a category that celebrates places allowing interaction between the environment and people.
The garden features the key characteristics that came to define Burle Marx's landscape gardens and influenced the development of modern gardens internationally.

Jul 28, 2021

UNESCO Adds 4 Natural, 3 Cultural Sites to World Heritage List

Four natural sites and three cultural sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The natural sites added are the four islands with rich biodiversity in Japan; a coastal area of geo-diversity and bio-diversity in South Korea; part of the mountain ridge running down the Malay Peninsula in Thailand; and a corridor along the eastern coast of the Black Sea in Georgia, reports Xinhua news agency.
The three cultural sites are the Dutch Water Defence Lines; the Arslantepe Mound archaeological tell in Turkey; and the Colonies of Benevolence in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Harappan-era city Dholavira Inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List

Dholavira, a Harappan-era metropolis, in Gujarat has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The ongoing 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO has already given India a new world heritage site in the form of the Rudreswara/ Ramappa Temple in Telangana, which dates back to the 13th century.
Gujarat so far has three world heritage sites Champaner near Pavagadh, Rani ki Vav in Patan and the historic city of Ahmedabad.
This session of the World Heritage Committee is being chaired from Fuzhou in China and is being held online. It started on July 16 and will end on July 31.

Jul 27, 2021

Ancient Rock Art Complex Hima Saudi Arabia's Sixth UNESCO World Heritage Site

Saudi Arabia's cultural credentials have been boosted further by the inclusion of Hima, one of the largest rock art complexes in the world, on UNESCO's World Heritage list. The site is the sixth to be enlisted in the country, joining the At-Turaif district in ad-Dir'iyah northwest of Riyadh and Hegra in Al-Ula, the sandstone landscape in the northwestern desert.
Hima is "located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, on one of the Arabian Peninsula's ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural Area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years." Inscriptions are in different scripts, including Musnad, Aramaic-Nabatean, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek and Arabic.
Other new additions to the Unesco world heritage list include the Darmstadt Artists' Colony on Mathildenhöhe, Germany, and the Lighthouse of Cordouan at the mouth of the Gironde estuary in France. The Great Spa Towns of Europe—including Baden-Baden (Germany), Montecatini Terme (Italy) and Bath (United Kingdom)—have also been included as a grouping on the world heritage list.

Ancient Ship and Burial Ground Discovered in Underwater City in Egypt

Archaeologists have discovered the 2,200-year-old wreck of an ancient Egyptian ship that sank after being struck with giant blocks from the famous temple of Amun. The so-called galley along with a burial ground was discovered beneath the Mediterranean Sea in Thonis-Heracleion, a city that fell into the water long ago.
The ship is called a fast galley, a type of vessel with a large sail that would have been propelled to relatively high speeds by a team of oarsmen. The recently discovered fast galley is 82 feet (25 meters) long with a flat keel, a feature that is commonly found among ancient vessels that navigated the Nile River. It "sank after being hit by huge blocks from the famed temple of Amun, which was totally destroyed [during] a cataclysmic event in the second century B.C.," a team of archaeologists said in an emailed statement released by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology.
At the site of this sunken city, the archaeologists also discovered a burial ground that was in use as far back as 2,400 years ago. The team found elaborately decorated pottery, including one piece that appears to have images of waves painted on it.
Archaeologists also found a gold amulet depicting Bes, an Egyptian god associated with childbirth and fertility. Ancient Egyptians sometimes used images of the god to protect young children and women giving birth.

Jul 26, 2021

Madrid's Retiro Park on World Heritage List

Madrid's tree-lined Paseo del Prado boulevard and the adjoining Retiro Park have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, holding an online meeting from Fuzhou, China, backed the candidacy that highlighted the green area's introduction of nature into Spain's capital. The influence the properties have had on the design of other cities in Latin America was also applauded by committee members.

Telangana's Ramappa Temple Conferred UNESCO Heritage Tag

The Ramappa temple at Palampet in Telangana's Warangal has been conferred the tag of UNESCO World Heritage site.
Ramappa temple, a 13th century engineering marvel named after its architect, Ramappa, was proposed by the government as its only nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage site tag for the year 2019.
The iconic Ramappa Temple showcases outstanding craftsmanship of great Kakatiya dynasty.

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