Amsterdam/New
York
City,
December
8, 2010
. . .
The
Prince
Claus
Fund
(PCF)
and
World
Monuments
Fund
(WMF)
today
announced
that
work has
begun on
the four
projects
that
have
been
identified
as the
initial
focus of
the
collaborative
PCF/WMF
Cultural
Heritage
Emergency
Response
program.
The
partnership,
which
addresses
the
recovery
of
monuments
and
important
sites in
the wake
of
natural
and
man-made
disasters,
underscores
the
profound
impact
of such
disasters
on
cultural
sites
and the
critical
role of
heritage
preservation
in the
recovery
of
affected
communities.
The
program
provides
emergency
assistance--both
financial
and
practical--where
it is
most
needed,
and
draws
attention
to the
plight
of
communities
and
their
heritage
in the
aftermath
of
catastrophe.
The
primary
focus of
the
partnership
is on
sites in
Africa,
Asia,
Latin
America,
and the
Caribbean.
Each
organization
has made
an
initial
commitment
to
contribute
$500,000
to the
program
over a
three-year
period,
for a
total of
$1
million.
To date,
the
partnership
has
identified
projects
in
Bhutan,
Haiti,
Indonesia,
and
Pakistan.
Bonnie
Burnham,
president,
World
Monuments
Fund,
states,
"From
the
Venice
flood of
1966 to
the
earthquake
in
Abruzzo
last
year,
WMF--like
the
Prince
Claus
Fund--has
responded
when
major
structures
have
been
damaged
by
disaster.
The new
PCF/WMF
partnership
will
strengthen
these
efforts
while
supplementing
other
emergency-response
work
undertaken
by both
organizations."
Els
van der
Plas,
director,
Prince
Claus
Fund,
adds, "Cultural
heritage
is too
often
neglected
after a
disaster
has
struck a
society.
By
joining
forces,
the
Prince
Claus
Fund and
the
World
Monuments
Fund
hope to
help
rectify
this,
conveying
the
message
that
culture
is a
basic
need--along
with
food,
water,
and
medicine--and
to
engage
other
organizations
in
supporting
solutions
for
saving
cultural
heritage
at
risk."
Inaugural
Projects
·
Bhutan
On
September
21,
2009, an
earthquake
in
eastern
Bhutan
left a
trail of
devastation
throughout
the
region,
damaging
or
destroying
more
than
4,500
houses
and 600
temples.
Efforts
will
focus on
two
ancient
monasteries
that
were
severely
damaged
by the
quake:
the
16th-century
Dramatse
Lhakhang
and the
12th-century
Trashigang
Dzong,
which is
one of
20
iconic
dzongs,
or
fortresses,
in the
country.
·
Haiti
Just a
few
months
after
the
Gingerbread
Houses
of
Port-au-Prince
were
selected
for
inclusion
in the
2010 WMF
World
Monuments
Watch, a
devastating
earthquake
struck
Haiti
and
brought
international
attention
to the
conditions
of
millions
of
Haitians
affected
by the
tragedy. The
remarkable
houses,
with
their
decorative
ornament
and
steep,
pitched
roofs,
reflect
a time
of
prosperity
and
creativity
at the
turn of
the 20th
century,
and they
have
been
given
high
priority
by the
government
in the
post-earthquake
rebuilding.
In 2010,
WMF and
PCF
sponsored
a
mission
to Haiti
to
assess
community
conditions
and
counsel
local
authorities
and
property
owners
on
alternatives
to
demolition
of these
historic
structures. WMF
and PCF
plan to
sponsor
a second
phase,
which
will
provide
technical
assistance
for the
conservation
and
repair
of the
houses,
as well
as
training
and
workshops
for
local
owners
and
contractors.
·
Indonesia
Program
funding
will
support
the
rehabilitation
of the
historic
city of
Padang,
in West
Sumatra,
where on
September
30,
2009, an
earthquake
took the
lives of
at least
1,100
people,
razed
infrastructure,
and
damaged
more
than 200
irreplaceable
monuments.
Funds
are
being
provided
for the
restoration
of the
17th-century
Lubuak
Bareh
Mosque
and the
1903
Gothic
Revival
St. Leo
Monastery.
A manual
on
post-earthquake
reconstruction
and
rehabilitation
will
also be
developed
for use
by
owners
of
heritage
buildings
in the
region.
·
Pakistan
The
Diamer-Basha
Dam Area
petroglyphs
constitute
a vast
landscape
of
50,000
rock
carvings
and
5,000
inscriptions
dating
from the
10th
millennium
b.c.
to the
16th
century
a.d.
These
petroglyphs--standing
testament
to the
ancient
cultures
that
once
settled
in this
region
and the
merchants,
pilgrims,
and
conquerors
who
later
journeyed
through
it--came
to
international
attention
thanks
to their
inclusion
on the
2010
Watch.
Before
long,
many of
them
will be
submerged
as a
result
of a new
dam that
will be
constructed.
The PCF/WMF-sponsored
Cultural
Heritage
Emergency
Response
project
will use
and
augment
existing
documentation
of the
site to
create
an
emergency
action-plan
for the
entire
cultural
landscape.
World
Monuments
Fund is the
leading
independent
organization
devoted to
saving the
world's most
treasured
places. For
45 years,
working in
more than 90
countries,
WMF's highly
skilled
experts have
applied
proven and
effective
techniques
to preserve
important
architectural
and
cultural-heritage
sites around
the globe.
Through
partnerships
with local
communities,
funders, and
governments,
WMF inspires
an enduring
commitment
to
stewardship
for future
generations.
Headquartered
in New York,
WMF has
offices and
affiliates
worldwide:
www.wmf.org.
Through its
biennial
World
Monuments
Watch, WMF
has drawn
the world's
attention to
a diversity
of heritage
sites that
are facing
neglect,
demolition,
and
catastrophe,
and that
illuminate
current
issues in
the field of
international
heritage
preservation.
One of WMF's
core program
areas
focuses on
disaster
recovery,
enabling the
organization
to respond
quickly and
decisively
to natural
and man-made
disasters by
assessing
damage,
undertaking
emergency
conservation,
and
assisting
with
long-term
recovery
plans.