As a result of a new collaboration both CyArk and World Monuments Fund (WMF) are providing virtual tours to remote cultural heritage.
CyArk writes
Have you ever dreamed of exploring the first moon landing site or scaling the cliffs of one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands? Thanks to a new collaboration between CyArk and the World Monuments Fund, virtual visitors can now explore these remote locations connected to our shared human history. Over the past few months, CyArk and World Monuments Fund have released a series of Tapestry experiences that highlight three very different cultural treasures. From the historic Buddhist architecture of the Choijin Lama Temple Museum in Mongolia, to the petroglyphs of ‘?ro?o in Rapa Nui and the out-of-this-world heritage that remains on the surface of the moon, these virtual tours capture the wonder that is our shared heritage and make it accessible to new audiences.
Providing Access to the Inaccessible
For many cultural heritage sites, physical access is limited by geography, fragility, conservation needs, or, in the case of the Moon, by the realities of space travel. Tapestry offers a new way for people everywhere to engage with these sites through a virtual tour featuring immersive 3D storytelling, guided interpretation, and personal perspectives that reveal details even on-site visitors cannot always see. Visitors often express surprise and delight when encountering these experiences for the first time. As one Rapa Nui viewer shared: ‘This is AMAZING! I want more of this because I can’t visit in person!’ Another wrote simply, ‘I didn’t know this place existed.’ These reactions underscore the power of virtual access to broaden understanding and spark curiosity about cultural heritage worldwide.
Exploring Heritage Beyond Earth
In partnership with the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage (ISCoAH), CyArk, and WMF recently unveiled a groundbreaking Tapestry experience that brings the story of Lunar Heritage to life. The experience transports virtual visitors to three iconic landing sites on the Moon, using 3D terrain data from NASA’s Lunar Orbiter missions alongside historically informed virtual reconstructions. New interviews with a lunar archaeologist, a heritage expert, and a cosmonaut offer diverse perspectives on humanity’s first cultural footprints beyond Earth.
The project grew from WMF’s 2025 World Monuments Watch, which recognized the Moon as a vital site of shared human heritage. These landing sites are both endangered and completely inaccessible, creating a challenge to communicate their cultural significance and raise awareness about this heritage. CyArk and WMF chose to address this challenge with Tapestry, as it would provide access to these locations in a way that could be further contextualized with heritage and lunar experts. Ultimately, the virtual experience prompts reflection about how we protect this unique heritage on the moon and how we preserve the places on Earth that tell our collective story.
