World Monuments Fund

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a New York-based private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. Founded in 1965, WMF was originally called the International Fund for Monuments. Today, WMF has offices and affiliates in Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain. Through contributions and matching funds, WMF has worked with community and government partners worldwide on more than 550 sites in over 90 countries, including the temples of Angkor Wat, Ta Som, and Preah Khan at Angkor, Cambodia; St. George's Church, Bloomsbury, London; the Grande Singerie at the Château de Chantilly, France; Santa Maria Antiqua, the Temple of Portunus, and the Temple of Hercules in Rome; Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia; several sites on Easter Island; several 17th- and 18th-century Jesuit Missions in South America, including La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná and San Ignacio Miní; and 25 projects in Venice, Italy, over 20 years. In 2006, the World Monuments Fund launched Modernism at Risk, an advocacy and conservation program for Modern buildings.

The Hadrian Award

Every year, WMF gives the Hadrian Award to international leaders who have advanced the preservation of world art and architecture. The 2008 award will be given to Houghton and Doreen Freeman, and the Freeman Foundation, at a gala in New York City on October 18, 2008.

Recipents of the Hadrian Award:2007: Rahmi M. Koç, Semahat Arsel, Suna Kiraç, and the Koç Family; 2006: His Highness Maharaja Gajsinghji II of Jodhpur; 2005: John Julius, Viscount Norwich; 2004: Carlos Slim Helú; 2003: Eugene Thaw; 2002: Hélène and Michel David-Weill; 2001: James D. Wolfensohn; 2000: Harvey Golub; 1999: The Sainsbury Brothers; 1998: Richard Hampton Jenrette; 1997: Phyllis Lambert; 1996: His Highness The Aga Khan; 1995: Lord Rothschild; 1994: David Rockefeller; 1993: Dominique de Menil; 1992: Marella and Giovanni Agnelli; 1991: Mrs. Vincent Astor; 1990: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales; 1989: Paul Mellon; and 1988: Carlo De Benedetti.

World Monuments Watch

Beginning in 1996 with the support of American Express, WMF has published the World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. This is different from the World Heritage List and List of World Heritage in Danger maintained by UNESCO, although the WMF Watch list often has sites from the broader UNESCO List. The World Monuments Watch list draws international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, development, natural disaster, or climate change. Through the Watch, WMF fosters community support for the protection of endangered sites, and attracts technical and financial resources to aid the sites.

Watch sites are selected by an independent panel of experts from nominations submitted by governments, preservation professionals, NGOs, and others. Sites of all types and from all time periods—from ancient to modern—are eligible. “Monuments” can be archaeological sites; residential, civic, commercial, military, or religious architecture; cultural landscapes; and townscapes.

The 2008 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites was announced June 6, 2007 by Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund. This year’s list highlights three critical man-made threats: political conflict, unchecked urban and industrial development, and, for the first time, global climate change. The 2008 Watch List clearly shows that human activity has become the greatest threat of all to the world’s cultural heritage, causing irreparable harm to many of the important places in the world that provide unique access to shared human history.

"We have met the enemy and he is us" -- Walt Kelly, Cartoonist & Environmental Activist

The 2008 List includes

ites threatened by global climate change

* Herschel Island, Canada
* Chinguetti Mosque, Mauritania
* Sonargaon-Panam City, Bangladesh
* Leh Old Town, Ladakh, India

ites threatened by conflict

* Cultural Heritage Sites of Iraq
* Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghanistan
* Church of the Holy Nativity, Bethlehem
* Famagusta Walled City, Cyprus
* Sarajevo City Hall, Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Srinigar Heritage Zone, India
* Freetown Historic Monuments, Sierra Leone

ites threatened by economic and development pressures

* Tara Hill, Ireland
* Rock art at Dampier, Australia (Murujuga), and Macusani-Corani, Peru
* Machu Picchu, Peru
* Saint Petersburg Skyline, Russia
* Old Damascus, Syria
* Hasankeyf, Turkey

Historic cities

* Srinigar Heritage Zone, India
* Lima Historic City Center, Peru
* Amber Town, India
* La Huaca Historic Neighborhood, Veracruz, Mexico
* Kandy, Sri Lanka
* Ohrid, Macedonia
* New Orleans Historic Neighborhoods, United States

Modern architecture

* Main Street Modern, United States
* Modern Shanghai, China
* Florida Southern College Historic Campus, United States
* St Peter's Seminary, Cardross, Scotland
* The Salk Institute, California, United States
* Montemar Institute of Marine Biology, Chile
* Joan Miró Foundation, Spain

Geographical regions of note

Africa and the Middle East

* Ikom monoliths of Cross River, Nigeria
* Historic Kilwa, Tanzania
* Wa Naa's Palace, Ghana
* Loropeni Ruins, Burkina Faso
* Medracen and el-Khroub Numidian Royal Mausolea, Algeria
* Shunet el-Zebib at Abydos, Egypt
* Al Azhar Mosque in Fez, Morocco
* The ancient baths of Qusayr 'Amra, Jordan
* Bumbusi National Monument, Zimbabwe

The Americas

* Tutuveni Petroglyph Site, Hopi Tribal Land, Arizona
* Brener Synagogue, Moisés Ville, Argentina
* New York State Pavilion, Queens, New York
* Historic U.S. Route 66, United States
* Teuchitlán Guachimontones Archaeological Zone, Mexico
* Capitanes Generales Palace, Guatemala

External links

* [http://www.wmf.org/ World Monuments Fund home page]
* [http://www.wmf.org.uk/ World Monuments Fund Britain]
* [http://www.worldmonumentswatch.org/ World Monuments Watch website]
* [http://www.wmf.org/modernism.html Modernism at Risk]