The issue of cultural heritage protection in wartime conflicts is, unfortunately, highly topical.
It‘s estimated that in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, as of September of this year, 438 sites have been damaged (including 142 religious sites, 215 real estates of historical/cultural interest, 32 museums, 32 monuments, 16 libraries and 1 archive - UNESCO data).
Other fragile artistic heritages, such as the Armenian one, are in danger, if not already irreparably destroyed or appropriated.
The International Criminal Court considers a “war crime” to intentionally direct attacks against cultural heritage, but to date few cases have been successfully instructed, such as war in former Yugoslavia, or the Al Mahdi case (2016).
What can be done to protect cultural heritage from the destruction of the war?
We discussed this topic with Elena Franchi, a professor at the University of Trento, and Teresa Beracci, a sociologist and columnist, on Sunday 24th November 2024 at RSI 2, on the program Voci Dipinte, hosted by Cristiana Coletti.
We will discuss this issue again on November 30, during the conference moderated by me to be held at the Cantonal Library in Bellinzona: “The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict, the 70th Anniversary of the 1954 'Hague Convention,'” in collaboration with Asasi, with the participation of Katja Bigger, Scientific Associate at the Bellinzona Office of Cultural Property, Béatrice Blandin, Curator of the Archaeology Section of the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Geneva, and Aldo Ferrari, Professor of Armenian Language and Literature at Ca' Foscari University in Venice.
You can listen to the Radio broadcast of 24th November 2024 at the following link: