UNESCO Director Irina Bokova at the press conference
New ISIS Video Shows Militants Smashing Ancient Artifacts
Art world condemns destruction of artworks at Mosul Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, and Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, have condemned the destruction of artworks at Mosul Museum by ISIS.]]>
March 1, 2015, source: Metropolitan Museum / UNESCO
UNESCO calls for mobilization to stop “cultural cleansing” in Iraq
Terrorists based in Iraq defaced many statues and bas-reliefs with an sledgehammer and a jackhammer, and then posted a video of their actions on-line. “This tragedy is far from just a cultural issue: it’s an issue of major security. We see clearly how terrorists use the destruction of heritage in their strategy to destabilize and manipulate populations so that they can assure their own domination,” stated the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova. She welcomed the “international mobilization” that has occurred against cultural cleansing in Iraq.
“I was filled with dismay by images of the attack on the Mosul Museum, as well as on other archaeological sites in the Nineveh region in Iraq,” said Bokova. She spoke at a press conference following the release of a video showing the devastation of the Mosul Museum in Iraq.
Statement by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Speaking with great sadness on behalf of the Metropolitan, a museum whose collection proudly protects and displays the arts of ancient and Islamic Mesopotamia, we strongly condemn this act of catastrophic destruction to one of the most important museums in the Middle East. The Mosul Museum’s collection covers the entire range of civilization in the region, with outstanding sculptures from royal cities such as Nimrud, Nineveh, and Hatra in northern Iraq. This mindless attack on great art, on history, and on human understanding constitutes a tragic assault not only on the Mosul Museum, but on our universal commitment to use art to unite people and promote human understanding. Such wanton brutality must stop, before all vestiges of the ancient world are obliterated.
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