World Monuments Fund
September 2011 

The Heritage of Lower Manhattan  

As the people of the United States reflect on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, we at WMF have considered our own role in the recovery efforts following the tragedy. In the aftermath, WMF and four other preservation groups realized that historic lower Manhattan, which contains dozens of culturally significant landmarks, was in great need of assistance. WMF and its four partners joined together to form the Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund in order to provide grants and technical assistance for the restoration of historic sites damaged in the attacks. The fund awarded nearly $80,000 for repairs and stabilization work to seven historic buildings in lower Manhattan damaged on September 11, and advocated successfully to save historic buildings and remains in and around ground zero. The Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund contributed meaningfully to maintaining a distinct sense of place to this area affected by great loss.

Two State Dept. Grants for WMF Projects  

Two WMF projects recently received grants from the U.S. State Department's Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. Kilwa Kisiwani in Tanzania, once an important East African trading center, will receive $700,000 for urgent conservation work on the buildings, marine restoration, a sustainable management plan, and improving the living conditions of the island's inhabitants. Phnom Bakheng (pictured) in Cambodia, one of the oldest temples at Angkor, will receive $400,000 to continue the conservation work begun with a nearly $1 million grant from the Ambassadors Fund two years ago.

Ceremony for Restored Vienna Interior  

A ceremony on September 6 marked the reopening of the sala terrena (entrance hall) and grand staircase of the Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria. The early eighteenth-century space was badly damaged in the Second World War, and subsequent inadequate restoration work as well as pollution had continued to damage the interiors. By cleaning and stabilizing the grand space, as well as removing inappropriate additions, WMF's two-year restoration project in partnership with the �sterreichische Galerie Belvedere has returned an important part of this Vienna landmark to the public. 

Taos Receives Major U.S. Government Grant

Building on the success of WMF's model demonstration program at Taos Pueblo, a 2010 Watch site, the Taos Pueblo Preservation Program (TPPP) has received a grant of $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Economic Development and Entrepreneurship for Federally Recognized Tribes program. The grant will be used over the next two years to complement WMF's program by enabling the TPPP to hire and train an additional local pueblo team in traditional construction techniques for the conservation of the pueblo's occupied buildings. The award also includes provisions for pueblo homeowner workshops on awareness and cyclical maintenance of traditional adobe homes.

UNESCO Award for Sumda Chun Project

A multi-year project supported by WMF at Sumda Chun, a monastery in the Himalayan Ladakh region of India, recently won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for excellence in cultural heritage conservation. The committee noted that the project "combined world-class scientific methods with vernacular building know-how. The art conservation is particularly notable for its sophistication." We at WMF extend our thanks to the team that collaborated with us on this project.


24TH HADRIAN AWARD

OCTOBER 27 

 

WMF will be honoring Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder with this year's Hadrian Award, and Marcela P�rez de Cu�llar with the inaugural Watch Award at a gala dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza in New York on October 27.

For information on tickets, call (646) 424-9594.

ANGKOR TRIP  

JANUARY 3-7, 2012 

 

Join us for a tour of Angkor's temples with John Stubbs, WMF's Senior Advisor. For twenty years, WMF has worked at this vast temple complex in Cambodia, among the most magnificent architectural wonders of Asia. The tour includes special, exclusive access to four temples where WMF has conservation projects.

Click here for an itinerary. For more information, call (646) 424-9594.

EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS

 

The Emperor's Private Paradise at the Milwaukee Art Museum until September 12

 

Modernism at Risk at Lund University, Sweden, until September 30

 

WMF Britain Activities 

 

 


WMF IN THE NEWS

Financial Times:
The 600 Million Dollar Man

CNN:
Secrets of Spain's Alhambra to Be Revealed to Visitors Sustainably

Dwell:
The Unfinished Spaces of Cuba

The Times of India:
The Value of Past

Thanh Nien Daily:
Historic Temple in Hue to Be Restored

Corriere della Sera:
India, Cos� Muore la �Citt� d'Oro�
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