Unesco will launch a virtual museum dedicated to digitalising stolen cultural objects at an event this month.
The Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects will be revealed on 29 September in Barcelona at a yearly conference on cultural policies and sustainable development.
Unesco, the UN body that promotes international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture, first announced the initiative in 2022.
As the first global platform of its kind, it will use 3D modelling and virtual reality techniques to recreate stolen cultural objects selected by Unesco member states, raising awareness about illicit trafficking.
Users will be able to access the museum’s design, interactive tools and digitised objects on their own devices or via dedicated screens at the conference.
The platform will also offer educational narratives and testimonies from affected communities to raise awareness about illicit artefact trafficking.
The museum will include a room displaying examples of successful restitutions to demonstrate the importance of global cooperation on the issue of looting.
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The project was designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré and has been implemented in collaboration with the international police organisation Interpol.
Interpol’s database lists more than 52,000 stolen cultural pieces, about 600 of which are expected to be displayed in the virtual museum.
“While this virtual exhibition won’t make up for the physical lack of these artworks, it will at least restore fundamental access to them and help strengthen advocacy for their return,” said Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay when the initiative was announced.
“It’s about imagining a museum in a way that’s never been done before, where the presentation of each artwork is a deep dive into its universe, into the cultural and social movements from which it was born.”
The launch will be available to watch online on YouTube on 29 September at 1700.
