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India’s Architecture Fans Guard Mumbai’s Art Deco Past

In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
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India’s Architecture Fans Guard Mumbai’s Art Deco Past

In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)

A towering cinema with a roofline like an ocean liner stands out in India's financial capital Mumbai, part of a remarkable Art Deco architectural heritage that campaigners say needs protection.

A short walk away is a state-run insurance office with giant Egyptian-style carvings, and a palm-lined seafront promenade with pastel-colored apartments with porthole windows, curved balconies and exotic motifs.

Architecture aficionados may go crazy over Miami's South Beach, but the coastal Indian megacity is home to what experts believe is one of the world's largest collections of Art Deco buildings.

Decades of neglect, however, have led to buildings being demolished or compromised through slapdash modern renovation.

Lovers of the dramatic architecture fear that will only increase as Mumbai undergoes a rapid $30 billion infrastructure makeover including major road, rail and bridge projects.

A sweep of some Art Deco buildings -- including offices, colleges and residential complexes -- was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2018, alongside the city's Victorian Gothic architecture for its "unique style" described as "Indo-Deco".

Today, the city's breakneck pace of development has left a small but dedicated group of building owners, architects and heritage lovers trying to conserve the city's Art Deco character.

The job requires "constant vigilance", said Nayana Kathpalia, who lives in an Art Deco building that was recently restored -- but crucially in a manner that maintained its original character.

- 'Modern, open, friendly' -

Many apartment building owners are eager to cash in and redevelop their old dwellings, making them part of a cookie-cutter modern skyline.

"If too many buildings get done in a totally different style, the World Heritage Site committee will say 'what the hell is happening?'," Kathpalia said.

"We are very, very clear that we have to protect that."

Losing it could strip the city of its history and character, campaigners say.

Art Deco took the West by storm after emerging as a new wave of design in France before the First World War.

Architects used geometric patterns and streamlined structures to evoke the popular technologies of the time, including airplanes and ocean liners.

As a style, Art Deco can appear as an odd hodgepodge, borrowing everything from ancient Mayan to Japanese culture.

But the first generation of homegrown Indian architects who visited Europe in the 1920s and 1930s were inspired.

After returning home, they started designing Art Deco style buildings for rich Indian business families that had profited off the economic boom in the port city, said Atul Kumar, founder of a non-profit that seeks to conserve the heritage.

Art Deco "enabled a certain cosmopolitanism" and contributed to making Mumbai a "modern, open, friendly" city, Kumar added.

- 'Bombay style' -

While Kumar's Art Deco Mumbai organization has spent years painstakingly documenting buildings, it has also more recently started offering "repair and restoration" help.

"We go out, pro bono, and reach out to people," he said, having supported the sensitive restoration of around nine buildings, including a couple in the core World Heritage area.

However, there are challenges, including stringent rent control laws which impose financial constraints on landlords.

Kumar also admits that residents in newer and northern parts of the city have less of a "desire" to conserve their buildings in their original Art Deco style.

A large part of this is due to a lack of awareness.

Many of the city's inhabitants walk past the vivid tropical imagery, elongated turrets and jazzy typography without giving them a second glance.

Pranati Mehta, a 46-year-old school teacher, says most Indians only look at "temples as architecture", as they "feel that is special".

Some Mumbai residents don't realize they "live amongst art", she said.

But Mehta, who was on a weekend walking tour to learn more about the architectural style, quickly adds that Art Deco isn't foreign to Indian sensibilities.

"We recognize it as a Bombay style," she said. "We think Art Deco is also an Indian brand".

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Culture

Saving Gaza's Past, One Artifact at a Time

Palestinian curators working to restore ancient artifacts amid the ruins of war-devastated Gaza. (AFP)
Palestinian curators working to restore ancient artifacts amid the ruins of war-devastated Gaza. (AFP)
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Saving Gaza's Past, One Artifact at a Time

Palestinian curators working to restore ancient artifacts amid the ruins of war-devastated Gaza. (AFP)
Palestinian curators working to restore ancient artifacts amid the ruins of war-devastated Gaza. (AFP)

Armed with paintbrushes and wearing surgical gloves, volunteers inside a large tent in Gaza delicately brushed dust from a stone mosaic before placing it into storage, part of an effort to preserve cultural heritage hit by war.

More than 160 historic and cultural sites across the Palestinian territory have been damaged during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the United Nations.

Many of these artifacts date back thousands of years.

"Several mosaic artworks have been lost or destroyed, either completely or partially," said Mohammed Abu Lahia, a Palestinian visual artist taking part in the preservation efforts in the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

"It is important that we work to revive this art, remind our children and our community, and send a message to the world that we are committed to our heritage and our Palestinian cause."

Beyond archaeological treasures, more recent cultural artifacts are also at risk of being damaged or buried beneath rubble from shelling and airstrikes.

More than 90 percent of Gaza's buildings have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, according to the UN.

Over the centuries, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans all left their mark on Gaza, creating a rich historical landscape of churches, mosques, ports and artifacts, many of which have suffered damage during the conflict.

"This stone is a piece called a mortar, and it was used for grinding grains and herbs. It is approximately 5,000 years old," said Muhannad Abu Lahia, a cultural heritage guide with the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, the NGO leading the preservation efforts.

Behind him, artifacts already catalogued for safekeeping were stacked on wooden shelves inside weatherproof plastic containers.

- Preserving the past -

With Israel maintaining tight controls over goods entering the Gaza Strip -- restrictions that have at times contributed to severe shortages of food and other supplies -- volunteers have had to work without professional conservation equipment.

Instead, they gently removed dust from mosaics using ordinary paintbrushes and built a makeshift scanning station by mounting a camera above a box lined with black craft paper.

The improvised scanner allowed volunteers to digitize old photographs and paper documents, which were then uploaded to a computer for preservation.

Not everything entering storage is ancient.

Many items date from the 20th century, including the late Ottoman period, the British Mandate and the Egyptian administration. Their owners sought to save them from destruction or loss after being displaced.

"This is a paper archive containing maps of Khan Yunis and structural maps of the Khan Yunis area from the time of the British Mandate," said 29-year-old volunteer Taghreed Hajjari.

At one table, three women painstakingly rearranged hundreds of fragments to recreate a contemporary mosaic, using a printed copy of the original artwork as a guide and trimming excess stone with carpenter's pincers.

Many artifacts, however, remain beyond the so-called "Yellow Line", which separates territory under Hamas control from areas held by the Israeli forces.

Israel says it now controls more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, up from about half when the ceasefire took effect in October last year.

Volunteers say retrieving artifacts from Israeli-controlled areas remains extremely difficult.

Meanwhile, Hajjari said efforts continue to preserve everything still within reach, including documents that chronicle centuries of Gaza's history.

"We also have newspapers and documents here from the British Mandate and the Egyptian era until the arrival of the Palestinian Authority," she said.

"They were collected through visits and conversations with elderly residents.

"We documented their oral histories so they can serve as a reference for future generations."

Culture

Face-to-Face with Ancient Rome: Exhibition in Hungary Brings Forgotten Faces to Life

Roman-era skulls and their facial reconstructions are on display at the Aquincum Museum's exhibition titled "Once we were like you" which showcases characters and the fictional life stories of those who once lived in the bustling Roman settlement of Aquincum, in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP)
Roman-era skulls and their facial reconstructions are on display at the Aquincum Museum's exhibition titled "Once we were like you" which showcases characters and the fictional life stories of those who once lived in the bustling Roman settlement of Aquincum, in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP)
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Face-to-Face with Ancient Rome: Exhibition in Hungary Brings Forgotten Faces to Life

Roman-era skulls and their facial reconstructions are on display at the Aquincum Museum's exhibition titled "Once we were like you" which showcases characters and the fictional life stories of those who once lived in the bustling Roman settlement of Aquincum, in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP)
Roman-era skulls and their facial reconstructions are on display at the Aquincum Museum's exhibition titled "Once we were like you" which showcases characters and the fictional life stories of those who once lived in the bustling Roman settlement of Aquincum, in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP)

A blacksmith, a stable boy, a soldier, a slave: The faces and stories of these and other residents of an ancient Roman city in modern Hungary have been brought to life in remarkable fidelity for a new exhibition in Budapest.

The display, which runs until Oct. 31, showcases highly detailed facial reconstructions from over a dozen skulls found in the ancient city of Aquincum, once a bustling Roman settlement on the empire's Danube frontier.

Visitors to the Aquincum Museum come face-to-face with hyper-realistic models of Roman-era individuals, each crafted using DNA analysis and other techniques from fields such as archaeology and anthropology to determine how the people may have looked in life nearly 2,000 years ago.

“Our main goal was to bring a few of these individuals closer to the people of today,” said Loránt Vass, an archaeologist and the exhibition's co-curator.

The title of the exhibition, “Once we were like you,” attempts to answer questions about ordinary people in ancient societies: What did they look like? What were their names? What was their fate?

Experts with the Aquincum Museum used DNA analysis of unearthed bones to reveal skin, hair and eye color and whether the person may have had freckles.

The shape, density and other characteristics of the skull revealed details of the structure of the face as well as the person's age and whether they had sustained any injuries or suffered from disease.

Based on the findings, curators came up with names, trades and biographical stories to each of the reconstructed faces, giving them new life.

Péter Vámos, another of the exhibit’s co-curators, said the invented details were “based on authentic historical foundations” as well as information gathered from analysis of the skulls, which are displayed under the reconstructions.

“We don’t even know their names, unfortunately, but we tried to incorporate everything that anthropology and genetic studies could tell us about their life history,” he said.

One character, a construction worker they named Respectus, is described as having made his living in Aquincum plastering walls and splitting stone blocks. The exhibit says the work took its toll on his bones, and in a wine-fueled skirmish in a local tavern, his nose was broken and one of his teeth knocked out.

The story and social status of Respectus is typical of many Aquincum residents depicted. Vass said their studies showed that the bones of almost all individuals show a “fairly high degree” of inflammation.

“They were subjected to regular physical labor, and in many cases they were exposed to starvation for a certain period of time,” he said. “Based on this, it can be concluded that most of them belonged to the lower middle class, which is the least remembered segment of Roman society.”

Of the 16 reconstructions, six are silicon moldings that have been painted and meticulously adorned with true-to-life hair, clothing and jewelry.

Emese Gábor, who handcrafted the silicon reconstructions, said that while artificial intelligence also can be used to model ancient faces, “they just appear on a screen.”

“The advantage of this kind of reconstruction is that it can be displayed in a museum, it can be viewed from all angles and is totally life-size,” she said. “I stick to scientific methods and combine classical and modern scientific methods in this work.”

Another valuable piece of information that DNA can reveal is the ethnic origin of the person — quite illuminating in Aquincum's diverse settlement.

Analyses showed the presence of not only Roman citizens with origins in the heart of the empire in modern-day Italy, but also people from as far away as today's Scotland and Syria, as well as members of the nomadic Sarmatian tribes of the Eurasian steppes.

Also among Aquincum’s residents were Celts, who inhabited the region in the Iron Age before Roman settlement.

Vass said that during typical excavations of Roman-era skeletons, artifacts are examined, documented and stored, meaning “the bodies have no weight, no life, no soul.”

But by confronting visitors with their ancient predecessors, the museum hopes to forge a connection.

The exhibition's title “suggests that they were like we are today. They had the same occupations, the same problems,” Vass said.

“They may have had different life conditions, different social status, but people are people,” he said. “I don’t think that has changed much across history.”

Culture

AI-Powered Cultural Programs to Transform Saudi Arabia’s Creative Sector

The Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Development Fund signed a memorandum of understanding with SDAIA to explore joint AI programs serving the cultural sector. Photo: Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Development Fund signed a memorandum of understanding with SDAIA to explore joint AI programs serving the cultural sector. Photo: Ministry of Culture
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AI-Powered Cultural Programs to Transform Saudi Arabia’s Creative Sector

The Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Development Fund signed a memorandum of understanding with SDAIA to explore joint AI programs serving the cultural sector. Photo: Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Development Fund signed a memorandum of understanding with SDAIA to explore joint AI programs serving the cultural sector. Photo: Ministry of Culture

Saudi Arabia is preparing to launch a new generation of AI-powered cultural initiatives aimed at reshaping innovation, boosting the efficiency of creative institutions, and helping Saudi artists expand their presence at home and abroad.

On Monday, the Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Development Fund signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) to explore joint AI programs serving the cultural sector, creators, and cultural enterprises.

The move reflects a broader national drive to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies across the cultural economy as the Kingdom prepares to designate 2026 the Year of Artificial Intelligence.

Building an Enabling Ecosystem

Raed bin Khalil Al Eid, a cultural innovation adviser and founder of the Cultural Management Platform, said the agreement reflects growing recognition of AI’s role in the future of culture.

Although the initiative comes some time after the launch of the Year of AI, he said the delay should not prevent institutions and practitioners from benefiting from the programs expected to emerge.

What matters most, he added, is effective implementation that translates the memorandum into projects with tangible impact.

Al Eid cited a specialized study by the Cultural Management Platform that documented AI applications across all 16 cultural sectors officially recognized in Saudi Arabia, including heritage, museums, libraries, literature, publishing, translation, music, theater, film, architecture, fashion, and culinary arts.

The findings showed that AI has become an enabling technology applicable across the entire cultural ecosystem rather than a tool limited to a single discipline, broadening investment opportunities and making its adoption in Saudi Arabia increasingly practical.

He argued that the Ministry of Culture’s primary role at this stage is to create an enabling environment for AI by establishing policies, regulations, professional standards, and governance frameworks covering intellectual property, data, and ethics.

This, he said, would allow private companies, nonprofit organizations, and community initiatives to develop AI solutions with confidence.

Culture in the Year of AI

Al Eid said cultural innovation is no longer optional but essential as audiences, cultural consumption habits, generational interests, and regional priorities continue to evolve.

He emphasized that coupled with AI, cultural innovation can do more than improve efficiency: it can broaden culture’s reach, engage new audiences, and create more diverse, interactive, and sustainable cultural experiences.

Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector is already undergoing a rapid digital transformation, with further momentum expected as the Kingdom marks 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence. The Ministry of Culture and its affiliated commissions have launched competitions and hackathons to attract innovators and encourage the development of AI applications across the cultural sector.

For Saudi artists and cultural professionals, the initiative is expected to open new opportunities to combine human creativity with advanced AI capabilities across a wide range of creative fields.