Dig Deeper
WMF has extensive publications and resources for both specific projects and general heritage preservation issues. Choose content types and search criteria below.
Featured Media, Articles and Publications
Conservation of Angkor Wat's Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery
Date: February 2012Type: Slide Show
Related Projects: CHURNING OF THE SEA OF MILK GALLERY ROOF CONSERVATION PROJECT
Country: Cambodia
A multi-year project to conserve the roof of the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery at Angkor Wat has reached a significant milestone, with the disassembly of the gantry crane erected in February 2008 to assist with the removal of the roof stones for conservation and their subsequent return to the top of the gallery.
Russel Wright’s Manitoga
Date: December 2011Type: Slide Show
Keywords: 2012 Watch
Related Projects: MANITOGA
Country: United States
2011 Watch Award
Date: November 2011Type: Video
Keywords: Watch
Related Projects: HUACA DE LA LUNA
In October, 2011, WMF inaugurated its annual Watch Award to recognize an individual preservation activist who is advancing the work of the World Monuments Fund. WMF is proud to honor Marcela Pérez de Cuéllar with the first Watch Award. Marcela Pérez de Cuéllar, a longtime advocate for the preservation of Peru’s cultural patrimony, launched World Monuments Fund Peru in 2010. She now serves as its President. Mrs. Pérez de Cuéllar’s passionate commitment to fostering successful preservation projects that encourage improved stewardship and sustainable tourism is driven by her interest in promoting Peruvian culture.
Preserving Haiti’s Gingerbread Houses: 2010 Earthquake Mission Report (pdf)
Date: 2010Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: Port-au-Prince
Related Projects: GINGERBREAD NEIGHBORHOOD
Country: Haiti
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.
2012 World Monuments Watch - Initial Report (pdf)
Date: 2012Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: Watch
Abstract:
The 2012 World Monuments Watch sites range from ancient to modern, from urban to remote, and from grand to vernacular. Each site represents a fascinating story of human accomplishment, but equally presents a challenge today for issues as varied as improved stewardship, sustainable tourism, lack of funds, or a need for greater technical expertise. All the sites share two important traits: a nominator who cares passionately and the potential for improved circumstances.
Churches of Lesvos: A Preservation Study for the Katholikon of Moni Perivolis and Other Historic Churches (pdf)
Date: 2011Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: Greece
Related Projects: CHURCHES OF LESVOS
Country: Greece
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.
World Monuments Fund: An Overview
Date: October 2009Type: Video
Keywords: 2010 Watch
Since 1965, World Monuments Fund (WMF) has helped save hundreds of sites in more than 90 countries. Our projects range from mapping ancient cities to conserving modern masterpieces. This 4-minute video provides a snapshot of key WMF projects and our five core programs of advocacy, education and training, cultural legacy, capacity building, and disaster recovery.
World Monuments Fund: The First Thirty Years (pdf)
Date: 1996Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: historic preservation, histories, non profit organizations, restoration
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.
Saving our Past: A Race Against Time (pdf)
Date: 1990Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: historic preservation, histories, non profit organizations, restoration
Abstract:
This volume was published to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the first private, non-profit organization that sponsoring worldwide preservation activities. It consists of a series of project profiles from the defining WMF projects completed or in progress as of 1990. These profiles include the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, as well as a series of buildings restored following the Venice floods of 1966; murals in Mexico City following the earthquake of 1985; the Church of St. Trophime in Arles, France; St. Anne’s Church in New York; the Citadelle Henri in Haiti; and the Angkor Temple complex in Cambodia.
