ICOM Publishes Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk for Yemen

YEMEN

"The devastating news of on-going conflicts and humanitarian crises can often leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. It is when we focus on what we can each do to try to mitigate risks, and salvage what can be saved of the testimonies of the past, that we become hopeful again", Suay Aksoy, president of ICOM

The people of war-torn Yemen are experiencing unbearable human suffering. The conflict, which has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, has also inflicted destruction and damage to the country’s built and movable cultural heritage.

In an effort to help protect endangered Yemeni art and antiquities for future generations, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has published an Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk for Yemen.

Thanks to the scientific contribution of international experts and museums from Yemen, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany, the Red List identifies categories of Yemeni objects which are most at risk of being illicitly trafficked.

This is ICOM’s 17th Red List to help law enforcement and other concerned cultural property protection professionals recognise objects that could be illegally traded or sold.

The Red List was presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on 31 January and was made publicly available on 1 February, 2018.

ICOM is grateful to the leadership of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for making it possible to hold this important Red List event at the Museum.

ICOM’s Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk for Yemen has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.