Theft, looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property fuel organised crime and terrorism worldwide. We had had been working with UNESCO on the issue since 2020, and after four years of collaborative work UNESCO unveiled the world’s first Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects at Mondiacult 2025 in Barcelona, supported by 50 countries and Interpol.
The museum was designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Diébédo Francis Kéré, whose concept draws on the symbolic roots of the baobab tree. “Cultural heritage forms the essence of communities -these are the roots,” Kéré told Dezeen. “Removing these roots deprives communities of the foundation for growth, well-being and happiness.”
Every object that leaves this museum and returns to its people is a piece of identity reclaimed, a thread of memory rewoven, a culture made a little more whole.
