Stone-Ideas.com 
New for members of the Natural Stone Institute: Thor Lundh Quarrier Award
The prize will honor people who made an extraordinary contribution to quarrying stone and have furthered the careers of other professionals
Briefly noted
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
In January 2024, there was excitement in Bosnia in the area around Zavidovici about a stone ball with a diameter of 3.3 m and an estimated weight of 30 tons that was unearthed. It was probably just a “concretion“, an accumulation of mineral substances
The Tomb Prize of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt aims to bring art and craft together
The aim is to focus citizens’ attention on “individual and high-quality grave markers”
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
German designer Bernhard Müller characterizes his work as “timeless and minimalist.“ He founded the Hamburg-based Studio [more] in 1993
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
National Geographic reports about new forms of burial: human composting, alkaline hydrolysis, and coffins with mushroom spores
The winners of the German stonemasons’ competitions “Die Gute Form“ (The Good Form) and “German Craft Skills“ 2023 have been announced
Creativity, design, and skill are honored every year
Registration for the European Stone Festival 2024 in Budapest is open until March 31
Stonemasons and stone sculptors from numerous countries meet on the banks of the Danube in front of the Parliament Building
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
Video of the month: the safety instructions on board airplanes are usually a boring routine. Egypt Air, however, presents the rules as icons on stone pillars from the time of the pyramids
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
Michelangelo‘s secret room at the Museum of the Medici Chapels in Florence will remain open for the public until the end of June 2024
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
For the first time in France, a woman has won the title of “Best Worker“ in the stonemasonry category
Minax from Brazilian company Voi Termoquimica is a material that does not produce an explosion, but still breaks up rock or concrete
No bang is produced, just a short crack, and no pieces of material are thrown around
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
“Building with Stone Today“ (Construir en Pedra Hoy) is the title of a workshop in Spain in which stonemasons from there and from France will rebuild the famous vault of the Junterones Chapel in Murcia Cathedral
In 2023, Unesco has added 42 sites to its list of World Heritage Sites, among them many made of stone
This brings the total number to 1199 in 168 countries, many of which used stone as a building material
Miscellaneous: news all around ornamental stone and rock
Australia is the first country to announce a ban on engineered stone, due to health risks in cutting and handling the artificial material