Sunday, March 15, 2009

SAFE Global Candlelight Vigil for the Iraq Museum

SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone) is hosting its annual candlelight vigil for the Iraq Museum on April 10-12.  The vigil commemorates the loss to the global community resulting from the systematic looting of the Iraq Museum in April 2003, during which thousands of antiquities went missing or were destroyed.  Detailed information is up on SAFE's website.

The Archaeological Institute of America is hosting a vigil on April 10 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, which will also feature Cori Wegener of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield.  The Mead Art Museum is co-hosting a vigil with the Iraqi Children's Art exchange at Amherst College in Massachusetts on April 14, including a presentation of Iraqi children's artwork and a tour of the museum's antiquities gallery.  This is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the threat to humanity's material past.  SAFE is also calling for volunteers to host vigils worldwide, so you can't make it to one of these, you can get your own community involved by contacting SAFE at this link:  http://www.savingantiquities.org/hostvigil.php.