Irreparably
destroyed
Mostly destroyed but parts can still be salvaged
Imminent destruction planned
Forgotten and neglected and will eventually disappear
Wall of Shame
Queen Esther’s Tomb, IRAN
St. Louis Church, ALGERIA
Palmyra, SYRIA
Canteen Kopje, SOUTH AFRICA
Bears Ears, UT, USA
Mercer Village Mural, Macon, GA, USA
Butzweilerhof – External, GERMANY
Knock Iveagh, UK
About
The Wall of Shame is the evil twin of the Hall of Fame. It’s a place to stand and contemplate the Wrongdoers who neglect, endanger, or flat out destroy the cultural heritage around the world that rightfully should belong to all of us and be preserved for future generations.
Location
Right here on our website.
Problem
Certain things, once they have disappeared, just can’t be brought back. Of course, change and growth are inevitable. But when something beautiful, meaningful and important is destroyed for no good reason except ignorance, a show of muscle, thoughtlessness or greed, and when alternatives weren’t even properly considered, that’s unconscionable.
Certain things, once they have disappeared, just can’t be brought back. Of course, change and growth are inevitable. But when something beautiful, meaningful and important is destroyed for no good reason except ignorance, a show of muscle, thoughtlessness or greed, and when alternatives weren’t even properly considered, that’s unconscionable.
Solution
Eyes on, and voices raised. Most often, the perpetrators of cultural destruction figure no one will notice, at least not in time to stop them.
Project Description
This project, launched in December 2018, is ongoing and sadly ever growing, but here’s what we know: attention is the best protection for cultural heritage.
You’ll notice that we have a scale. Some sites have already been obliterated. For those, we can only hope that the people or companies responsible can be stopped from doing the same thing again somewhere else. Don’t re-elect that mayor! Expose that corporation that has the fancy “corporate responsibility” website but in fact is wrecking history.
Other sites are in dire danger, but there’s still hope. We want to work with the friends and advocates of those sites to make their protests more effective.
Some of the historic sites on here were nominated by the ARCH Team but most sites were nominated by people all over the world who want to bring more attention to their region, their heritage.
Destruction of heritage has many consequences: with it often comes the attempt to erase the history of a people, or the reason for why it is endangered can be connected very directly to the surrounding environment, which could be polluted or lost to future generations. Further with the disintegration of cultural life, the livelihood of people depending on the visitors who travel to see them and their sites is in jeopardy. To find examples for all the different ways of how cultural heritage sites touch upon the life of people we invite you to click through our Wall of Shame, to check out our Blog, and the other projects we’re involved in.
It’s sad to have a Wall of Shame, but looking away is not our way. As long as the protection of our shared history is not respected, this Wall will be up. And we WILL hold people accountable.
Site by Alert Level
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in our Wall of Shame entries belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARCH, Inc., or its volunteers, officers, employees, or board of directors. As part of its nomination process, ARCH, Inc. will make a reasonable attempt to verify the accuracy of the information presented by the author. However, ARCH, Inc., assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content provided by the author, whether or not arising from the negligence of any of the author. The information contained on the entry pages for the Wall of Shame are provided on an “as is” basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness. While ARCH Inc., may edit a submission for brevity and clarity, ARCH does not make any substantive changes to the content submitted by the Author.