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October 30, 2014

A Celebration of Salvador de Bahia through Literature and Photography

Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a poet and abolitionist who lived in Bahia in the mid-1800s. Even though he died at the early age of 24, his accomplishments are still celebrated throughout Brazil.

October 22, 2014

New Linga Found at Phnom Bakheng

Last month, a linga was found in the wooded side of the hill at Phnom Bakheng, about 30 meters from the visitor path. A linga is a phallic symbol incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva: Phnom Bakheng, built between ninth and tenth centuries, was originally dedicated to Shiva. Stone sculptures, either lingas or divine statues, would have been installed in each of the 109 shrines of the temple.

October 07, 2014

Thirty Artists for Thirty Years: Henry Klumb House Watch Day

When thinking of mid-twentieth-century Modern design, one would hardly ever consider adaptive reuse as a defining principle of a seminal work of architecture. And yet that is the very thing the Henry Klumb House in San Juan, Puerto Rico, represents.

October 06, 2014

Conserving Traditional Asante Buildings in Ghana

The decorated traditional Asante buildings of Ghana are among the most famous immovable cultural heritage in West Africa. In August of this year Emily Williamson of Community Consortium and I traveled to Ghana to initiate emergency conservation work on these buildings, of which only a handful remain, around Kumasi. This work is part of a WMF initiative for the structures that were included on the 2012 World Monuments Watch.

September 26, 2014

The Restoration of Garuda 38 at Preah Khan, Angkor, Cambodia

In August 2014 the WMF team in Siem Reap, Cambodia, brought to completion the restoration of garuda 38. The garudas are sandstone sculptures constructed into the fourth enclosure wall of the Preah Khan temple complex in the Angkor Archaeological Park.

September 26, 2014

Remarks by Bonnie Burnham, President of World Monuments Fund, at the Press Conference on Heritage and Conflict in Iraq and Syria at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, September 22

On Monday, September 22, WMF President Bonnie Burnham participated in an event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York about heritage in peril in Syria and Iraq. Burnham joined Secretary of State John Kerry, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, and other officials in discussing protection and preservation efforts and ideas for Syrian and Iraqi heritage.

September 24, 2014

WMF Angkor Project Team Members Celebrate Years of Service

On July 25, WMF acknowledged the service and dedication of 31 Cambodians who have worked with WMF, primarily at Phnom Bakheng or Preah Khan, for more than 5 years.

September 18, 2014

St. Roch Market, New Orleans

In the week surrounding the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a major step was made in the preservation effort of one Historic New Orleans building and community. Considered by some to be the best preserved of the few remaining public market structures in the city, the little-known 1875 St. Roch Market was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.

September 14, 2014

Watch Day in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

The Mexican state of Chiapas is named after an indigenous population, the Chiapa, who got their name from the chia plant, a species native to Mexico and Guatemala. During colonial times, Chiapas was relatively isolated from the governments of Mexico and Guatemala, and in 1849 the local politician Angel Albino Corzo established the independence of the Department of Chiapas.

September 11, 2014

The Impact of War on Syria's Archaeological Sites and Damage Prevention Efforts

Syria has been home to some of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Its richness is now in danger because of the crisis that has been raging in the country for over three years.

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