World Heritage Day – 18th April
Washington DC: On World Heritage Day today, the U.S. Department of State announced a new partnership between the Cultural Heritage Center (CHC) and Google Arts & Culture to expand access to cultural heritage sites to global audiences and showcase the United States’ work to protect and preserve cultural heritage worldwide.
The CHC provides expertise on cultural heritage policy and supports the protection and preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. Google Arts & Culture is a non-profit initiative that works with cultural institutions and artists around the world to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Through the online platform, visitors can access global cultural heritage sites and learn about the importance of protecting heritage in their own communities as well as communities around the world. Visit the Department’s page on the Google Arts & Culture Platform.
The inaugural feature showcases the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). The AFCP has worked with partners in more than 130 countries to protect and preserve cultural heritage through more than 1,100 preservation projects. Visitors can tour AFCP sites, such as Chankillo in Peru, the earliest known astronomical observatory in the Americas, or Wat Chaiwatthanram, the ruins of a 17th Century Buddhist temple in Thailand.
The Department’s Cultural Heritage Center, with the support of international partners, works to preserve the heritage and protect culturally important sites, objects, and practices around the world to help support U.S. foreign policy goals. Google Arts & Culture puts the treasures, stories and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries at your fingertips.
Photo: Petra, Jordan
– global bihari bureau
