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Recipients of the 2014 Modernism Prize pose with their awards.

2014 WMF/KNOLL MODERNISM PRIZE PRESENTED AT MOMA 
 

More than 100 people gathered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on December 1 for the presentation of the 2014 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize. The 2014 prize was given to the Finnish Committee for the Restoration of Viipuri Library together with the Central City Alvar Aalto Library for the restoration of Alvar Aalto's Viipuri Library in Vyborg, Russia. More information on the prize-winning project, carried out between 1992 and 2013, is available on our website


A drawing produced by CyArk showing a section of Babylon.

DOCUMENTING AND CONSERVING BABYLON  
 

Recording monuments' past and existing conditions forms the basis of decisions made to alter or care for them. The recording process captures information relevant to the physical configuration, evolution, and changing conditions. It is an immense yet necessary effort, all the more challenging when done in a place like present-day Iraq.

In 2010, World Monuments Fund employed CyArk, an Oakland-based digital documentation organization, to laser scan the Ishtar Gate at Babylon. Later that year engineers from the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) attended training in the United States to learn how to extract data from that three-dimensional model and turn it into drawing documentation. Through the guidance of WMF, four Iraqi engineers detailed nearly 50 digital drawings using the laser scan images, photo-montages, and on-site measured surveys. The end result, seen as plans, elevations, and cross-sections, is the first detailed brick-by-brick architectural drawing account of this significant monument.

In parallel, even though the current security situation poses challenges, the SBAH and WMF, with the support of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. embassy in Baghdad, continue with preparations for upcoming large-scale conservation work at Ishtar Gate. With the support of Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft in Berlin, keepers of Ishtar Gate's early excavation documentation, WMF is researching the institution's archives to further understand the recently drawn archaeological remains. This knowledge is helping with the development of plans for a return to site work in the coming year.


Members of the project coordination team present plans for Mehtab Bagh.

AGRA GARDENS WORKSHOP 
 

In late October WMF organized a two-day international consultative workshop in Agra, India, where a group of experts previewed the conservation proposals for two Mughal gardens in the city. The workshop occurred as the period of research and documentation for the two sites, Mehtab Bagh and the tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah, was concluding. For the WMF team and its partner, the Archaeological Survey of India, the workshop was an excellent opportunity to engage with experts and get feedback on the proposals before they were finalized. A three-part blog series on the workshop was recently published on the WMF Journal.


Ambassador Wharton (third from right) with officials from National Museums & Monuments of Zimbabwe, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, and the CEO of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.

SUCCESSFUL PRESERVATION OF NALATALE RUINS
 
Zimbabwe was home to the mighty Shona kingdom, which in the twelfth century grew wealthy from the export of gold to the Swahili coast, whence it was carried north to the markets of Fatimid Cairo. Great Zimbabwe, which was the capital of the Shona kingdom at that time, is the best known example of the so-called "Zimbabwe tradition" of monumental dry-stone wall construction. But there are other remarkable sites in the country. Two sites, at Nalatale and Khami, have been included on the World Monuments Watch over the years. The ruins at Nalatale, which were listed in 2012 following efforts by a committed supporter of Zimbabwe's heritage, Chris Dunbar, and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), dates from the seventeenth century. 
 
In 2012, following Watch listing, the NMMZ successfully applied for a grant from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) for urgent preservation at the site. Subsidence of foundations had caused the dry stone walls of the structure, with their elaborate chevron and herring-bone patterns, to collapse. The problems at the site were exacerbated by illegal gold-panning. With a grant from the AFCP, the NMMZ has been able to carry out urgent preservation at the site, underpinning foundations and restoring collapsed areas of walling. In September 2014 the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, David Wharton, traveled to Nalatale to mark the successful completion of the project. Partnership between civil society and government, with support from the U.S. embassy, has successfully preserved an important monument, demonstrating the power of cooperation and the value of Zimbabwe's remarkable heritage.

Attendees at the opening night of the exhibition.

INAUGURATION IN ANTIGUA GUATEMALA   
 
The Real Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, located in Antigua Guatemala, the former center of Spanish colonial government in Central America, suffered structural damage caused by earthquakes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although partially occupied until recent years, its poor state of conservation warranted its inclusion on the 2008 World Monuments Watch. Following Watch-listing, WMF allocated funds from the Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage for the development of proposals for adaptive reuse, a management plan, the design of an interpretation center, and the production of interpretive materials about the history of Antigua Guatemala and the palace as a historic monument. The reopening of the palace to the public was celebrated on November 3, 2014, with the inauguration of a temporary exhibition about WMF in Guatemala and around the world. The event was attended by the Minister of Culture and Sports of Guatemala, the Vice Minister of Cultural Patrimony, and the Mayor of Antigua Guatemala.

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