AUTUMN – 2014 A FINE HALF-CENTURY Special anniversary edition celebrating 50 years of WMF 1 MESSAGE FROM JONATHAN FOYLE, IN THIS ISSUE... CHIEF EXECUTIVE Autumn 2014 FEATURES World Monuments Fund Britain Ltd 70 Cowcross Street 50th Anniversary 2 London EC1M 6EJ Telephone: +44 (0)20 7251 8142 Fax: +44 (0)20 7490 4795 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wmf.org.uk Charity number: 1126578 Registered company number: 6730565 Staff Dr Jonathan Foyle Chief Executive Ewa Manias Finance Director Andrew Rye Development Manager Melissa Marshall Project Manager Sarah Meaker Outreach Manager WMF’s story is as compelling as the Sophie Buchanan Project Officer hundreds of sites it protects Trustees Mr Pierre Valentin, Chairman Ms Susan Daniels REGULARS Dr Lois de Menil Profiles 5 Dr Peter Frankopan Charities rarely stay the same, for they must respond to their 2 3 Mr William Loschert Ruthie Dibble Mr Richard Mansell-Jones own past, to present need and future opportunity. Staying vital Dr Christopher Tadgell Mrs Catrin Treadwell has forever been this way: Mary Beard talks of human ritual as The Viscount of Norwich, Chairman Emeritus being “always a mixture of scrupulous attention to precedent, Monumentum is generously supported convenient amnesia, and the ‘invention of tradition.’” by The Paul Mellon Estate A glance ahead to WMF’s 50th anniversary year reminds us Cultureshock Media that there is much work to address. We witness conflict tearing Art Direction & Production w w w.cultureshockmedia.co.uk down cultural monuments with a new ferocity, particularly in Africa, and the Middle East where the cultural heritage of Syria was included on the 2014 Watch. The climate is changing, as Our 2014 Yale Scholar reports from extreme weather hurls new meteorological records at our fragile Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire historic environments. Meanwhile, much regular funding has 4 Project update 6 been withdrawn from the support of historic assets. The criteria for success from major funders are also tougher. Today, we expect business-ready solutions with guaranteed audiences. It’s not enough simply to repair a damaged roof so that untold people can share the pleasure of living within a pattern of crafted historic buildings. For buildings to stand, they have to be useful. To properly care for these ancestral gifts we ourselves need Cover image: to evolve and recast our own tradition to face new opportu- News from Zanzibar, Coventry Three of the seven Ahu Akivi moai which nities. To help us, we are delighted to welcome Andrew Rye and Newstead Abbey look out towards the Pacific Ocean on 1 Guests attending the Study Day at Hampton Easter Island. Photographed in c.1966 from the Royal Shakespeare Company as our new Development Court in April were treated to a day of Events 12 after conservation. expert talks and behind the scenes access. Manager. Now the 6- year project for Stowe House and its public Autumn/Winter events schedule 2 A week of 50th anniversary celebrations access is approaching completion we will be undertaking announced was rounded off by a dinner at Stowe House Photo Credits on 13th June. We welcomed many of those who original research on the state of the cultural environment for a Inside cover: (Image 2) © David Jensen had donated to Stowe and the craftspeople Page 1:(Jonathan Foyle) © Paul Clarke broad public audience, and in the coming months a refreshed and specialists involved with the (Moai) © Max Donoso/World Monuments Fund conservation process. Here Bonnie website will present a new portfolio of projects with opportu- Page 8: © Coventry Cathedral Burnham, President of WMF addresses the Page 9: (Fran Scargill) © Andy Marshall nities to profoundly engage communities and supporters. audience in the Music Room ahead of dinner (Richard Mansell-Jones) © Richard in the Marble Saloon. In this anniversary year, we hope you might join us in Holttum/WMF 3 The first of our ‘Architecture &…’ series Page 10: © Nottingham City Council whatever way you can to help us evolve, so that we can support kicked-off with ‘…Memory’ on 9th June. Page 11: (Quarr Abbey) © Quarr Abbey We welcomed William Dalrymple and John our historic buildings toward a better future. EVENTS Page 12-13: (Jung Chang) © Jon Halliday Julius Norwich whose dulcet tones were (Stowe Lion) © Andy Marshall enjoyed by the full-house at The May Fair (Gingerbread house) © Carrie Stephens Hotel’s Screening Room. on Flickr: http://bit.ly/1qjKQ5B 4 June was also the month we hosted our annual Mellon Lecture at the Art Workers Guild. We welcomed Architectural Advisory Committee member Stuart Tappin who spoke MONUMENTUM AUTUMN 2014 on the history and challenges of concrete use in buildings. REVIEW 1 COVER STORY TURNING 50 Over the past half century, WMF has supported more than 600 important and vulnerable heritage sites around the world, and the story of our history is just as compelling as the sites we are dedicated to protecting Opposite Conserving It begins back in 1965, when James A. Gray – a retired Leaning Tower of Pisa, before his fledgling organi- the rock-hewn Coptic churches US Army colonel with a keen interest in solving en- sation took on its first project at the deteriorating of Lalibela was gineering problems and a passion for ancient sites twelfth-century rock-hewn Coptic Christian WMF’s first- ever project in – founded the International Fund for Monuments, as WMF churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia. Gray was able to the 1960s. was originally known. Gray had no professional match donors to projects, and the challenges of experience in conservation, but having witnessed these early initiatives – technical issues, financial UNESCO’s international campaign to move the needs and a lack of public awareness – still drive Nubian Monuments at Abu Simbel before the con- WMF’s expertise today. struction of Egypt’s Aswan High Dam, he became The task at Lalibela was to find a method to convinced that far more could be done to preserve remove a bituminous wall coating causing the deteri- Colonel Gray cultural heritage if the private sector was engaged oration of delicate murals within the sanctuary. The examines one of the moai figures in the effort. US government funded five years of archaeological during its The creation of WMF stemmed from Gray’s survey and trained an Ethiopian work force to un- transportation to Washington DC powerful conviction that private interest and dertake the restoration – a project that ran until the where it was put on investment in conservation should support and country’s government fell to revolutionaries in 1972. display to raise public awareness of strengthen government resources to protect the In the late sixties, Gray successfully transported one the unique heritage historic environment. He began with feasibility of Easter Island’s 1000 year old Moai figures to the US of Easter Island. studies to address the progressive tilting of the in a promotional tour that brought the threatened site international attention and the funds to instigate a long-term conservation project. Although the same approach would never happen today, WMF’s work at the island continues, helping support conservation at Rano Raraku and Oronogo, two distinguished ar- chaeological sites in the Rapa Nui National Park. The campaign to preserve Venice in the aftermath of the 1966 floods was IFM’s focus throughout the 1970’s, and by 1980, the growing organisation began to apply its skills across Europe, with the support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. In 1990, WMF presented HRH The Prince of Wales with its annual Hadrian Award in recognition of his efforts in ad- vancing the conservation of world architecture, and in his acceptance speech HRH called attention to the MONUMENTUM AUTUMN 2014 3 3 PROFILE ‘The ability to leverage local 50th priority projects investment in projects is a RUTHIE DIBBLE Five priority projects have been selected to celebrate defining characteristic of the 50th anniversary – learn more at www.wmf50.org As part of the 2014 Yale WMF’s success...’ Scholarship, History of Art PhD 1. Mughal Gardens, Agra, India 1 student Ruthie Dibble wrote a Restoration of the original planting research report on Sulgrave Manor schemes and water systems of two in Northamptonshire – a 2014 Watch riverfront gardens built by the Mughal site famed as the ancestral home Emperors – Mehtab Bagh (“the of George Washington. Here Ruthie Moonlight Garden”) and the Garden shares her experiences of the site of the Tomb of I’timad-ud-Daulah – to support Agra as a sustainable tourist Top destination. “This summer I set out to help Sulgrave Manor support for sites urgently in need of help – from the The recovery from the develop a cohesive and inspiring vision, which 1966 Great Floods in Taj Mahal to Strawberry Hill and Machu Picchu to Venice was WMF’s focus 2. Phnom Bakheng Temple, Ankor, will enable them to take full advantage of their Gorton Monastery. The ability to leverage local in- throughout the 1970s. Cambodia nomination to the 2014 Watch. The property 2 vestment in projects is a defining characteristic of Bottom Training a team of conservators to restore has fallen on hard times in recent years. Despite WMF’s success, aided greatly by the philanthropy of HRH The Prince of Wales the late-ninth-century temple and sur- a thriving primary school programme, the was presented with the late Robert Wilson, who in 1998 offered a chal- the Hadrian Award in rounding shrines, and implement a building, collection, and grounds are suffering lenge fund of $100 million on the condition that 1990 in recognition well-managed visitor system to ensure from neglect brought on by lack of funding. of his commitment to WMF secure match funding from local partners. the conservation of minimal damage from tourism.