Dig Deeper

Abstract:

In April 2010, three months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, a World Monuments Fund team traveled to Port-au-Prince to undertake an assessment of the historic Gingerbread House district.  With their intricate ornamentation, these turn-of-the-century structures are icons of Haiti’s rich and vibrant past.  Their revitalization is also an important symbol for the country’s recovery. This mission report documents the assessment process and outcomes, including mapping of the historic buildings, photographic documentation of damage, an online Gingerbread Damage Survey Database, a preliminary condition and repair feasibility analysis, recommendations for conservation strategies, and community workshops to advance the revitalization process.

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Abstract:

In 2008 and 2010, a group of twelve churches on the island of Lesvos, Greece were included on the World Monuments Watch. Over two summers, in 2010 and 2011, two teams of specialists and historic preservation graduate students undertook a preservation study of the Katholikon of Moni Perivolis. Eleven other churches included in the World Monuments Watch were visited and inspected. This report describes the condition of the building and its interior wall paintings and makes recommendations for repairs and future work. It includes measured drawings, restoration specifications, and materials analyses.

Abstract:

Tracing the origins of World Monuments Fund (WMF) to 1965, this publication explains how James A. Gray, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, created the non-profit, New York-based International Fund for Monuments, the first private organization to focus on the conservation of important buildings, archaeological sites, and works of art on a global scale. Early projects included work at the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ethopia, conservation of the statues of Easter Island, and restoration of several important buildings following intense flooding in Venice in 1966. Following Gray’s retirement, Bonnie Burnham took the helm in 1984, at which point the organization was renamed the World Monuments Fund. In addition to new projects in Mexico City and St. Trophime, France, Burnham helped to develop an increasingly close relationship with the Kress Foundation, which sponsored the WMF European Preservation Program in 1987. The late 1980s also saw the establishment of the Jewish Heritage Program. By the early 1990s, WMF was expanding its operations abroad through affiliate organizations, using WMF’s name but independently soliciting funds and selecting projects, engaging the social, economic and political elite of a given country to conserve high profile sites according to the highest professional standards. WMF also established the annual Hadrian Award to recognize leadership in the preservation field, as well as the World Monuments Watch Program, compiling a list of one hundred endangered sites every two years. This publication includes a list of major donors as well as a catalogue of projects completed or in progress as of 1995.