What Remains surveys over a century of warfare to understand why artefacts, buildings and pieces of art are targeted for destruction or theft during conflict. In this review, Stephen Reimer shows how the exhibition builds on the idea that culture defines a people – forming a vital link between individuals, their societies, and their pasts and futures – to both understand the various logics behind destroying heritage and to emphasise the efforts undergone and underway to restore, recover and protect culture under threat.

BANNER IMAGE: Ruins of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria, following destruction by ISIS in August 2015. Courtesy of Hassan Blal/Alamy Stock Photo