UNESCO and Interpol Team Up for Virtual Museum of Stolen Artefacts

via The Guardian, 06 October 2023: UNESCO, in collaboration with Interpol, is planning to launch a virtual museum featuring stolen cultural artefacts by 2025. The $2.5 million project aims to raise awareness about trafficking and the significance of cultural heritage. The museum will feature detailed 3D images of artefacts, along with stories and testimonies from local communities.

Developed with the international police organisation Interpol, whose database of cultural objects stolen from museums, collections and archeological sites worldwide lists more than 52,000 artefacts, the $2.5m (£2.05m) virtual museum should open in 2025.

Visitors will be able to navigate a succession of virtual spaces containing detailed 3D images of the artefacts, each accompanied by materials explaining their unique cultural significance including stories and testimonies from local communities.

Unesco does not expect to be able to name the items that will make up the initial collection until shortly before the museum’s opening.

Source: Unesco planning virtual museum of stolen cultural artefacts