I r J L L 2 0 0 2 Adventures in Preservation Past in Peril IN THE MAYA RAINFOREST Hawksmoors London Proud supporters of the WORLD MONUMENTS WATCH The World Monuments Fund and founding sponsor American Express created the World Monuments Watch in 1996. American Express has committed through 2005, $10 million dollars over ten years, to fund preservation projects. For the past five years,TRAVEL + LEISURE Magazine, has devoted a special section to raise awareness of and funds for the World Monuments Watch. We are proud to be a part of the cause and each year donate ten percent of all net advertising revenue generated through the special section to the World Monuments Fund. RAVEL LEISURE WORLD MONUMENTS FALL 2002 FEATURES Adventures in Preservation In the field with extreme conservator Kent Diebolt LJmbrian Frescos Inborn The Renaissance murals of Pieve di San Brizio Triumph at Trianon The curtain rises on Marie-Antoinette's theater at Versailles after a major restoration Ancient Maya Past in Peril Defining the limits of acceptable change ('asiles in the Sand The mudbrick marvels of Yemen Architecl of Faith The genius of Nicholas Hawksmoor DEPARTMENTS From I he Editor \c\\s Expedition: China ON THE COVER A conservator examines the New Jersey State House dome. Photo by Jon Reis/www.Jonreis.com World Monuments ICON (ISSN 1539-4190) Is published quarterly by the World Monuments Fund: 95 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, tel +1 646-424-9594, fax +1 646-424-9593, e-mail [email protected]. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: one year, 517.95; two years, S32.95; Single numbers, S4.95, Foreign orders, add 55.00 per year. Supporters of the World Monuments Fund receive ICON as a perquisite of membership. Manuscripts, books for review, and advertising inquiries should be sent to the Editor, World Monuments ICON, 95 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. All manuscripts subject to review. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. All rights reserved. © 2002 World Monuments Fund t J> printed on recycled paper CHRISTIE'S Helping Collectors Since 1766 For more Information about buying or selling at auction please call 212 636 2000 or visit us at www.christies.com I K. T 1 EDITOR From I he Editor Angela M.H. Schuster ART DIRECTOR or nearly four decades, the World Monuments Ken Feisel Fund has been on the forefront of preservation, PHOTO EDITOR Keith Porteous working to save sites around the globe. For CONTRIBUTING EDITORS every project we have undertaken, there are Colin Amery Glenn Boornazian seemingly dozens of stories to be told, of lessons learned, Brian Curran FORMER CURATORS OF THE KABUL MUSEUM, WHICH Leila Hadley Luce WAS DESTROYED BY THE TALIBAN, SIFT THROUGH WHAT of technologies developed, and of strategies devised to Patwant Singh REMAINS OF THE INSTITUTION'S ARCHIVES. Andrew W. Solomon make sites economically self-sufficient and enhance the Lisa Zeiger lives of those who live in their midst. We have launched ICON with the belief that, by sharing our experiences in EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Mica Ertegun the field, others will be encouraged to work to preserve the past for future generations. We invite you to join us Cornelia W. Higginson Henry Tzu Ng as we explore the world's most treasured, yet endangered, sites and the cultures that created them. Peter M.F. Sichel John H. Stubbs As this issue went to press, WMF participated in an international symposium on the future of Afghanistan's cultural heritage, held in Kabul on the eve of the meeting of the Loyajirga, the multiethnic grand council charged WORLD MONUMENTS FUND with shaping that country's future. Many have asked, "After decades of war, is there truly anything left to pre­ BOARD OF TRUSTEES HONORARY CHAIRMAN serve?" Having seen the country firsthand, the answer is a resounding "Yes." Afghanistan lies at one of the greatest John Julius. Viscount Norwich cultural crossroads the world has known—evident in its abundant remains from the Greek, Buddhist, and Islamic OFFICERS Dr. Marilyn C. Perry, Chairman periods. The conservation challenges that this war-torn nation faces are great, but not insurmountable. As we The Honorable Ronald S. Lauder, Vice Chairman have learned, it is within the human spirit to prevail. H. Peter Stern, Vice Chairman Robert W. Wilson, Vice Chairman and Treasurer Robert J. Geniesse. Secretary & General Counsel Angela M.H. Schuster PRESIDENT EDITOR Bonnie Burnham TRUSTEES Paul R. Beirne ConlrihiTtors John A. Bult Bonnie Burnham DIANNE MODESTINI, a specialist in painting PAMELA JEROME, adjunct associate professor at Mica Ertegun conservation, is an adjunct professor in the Columbia University's Graduate School of Patricia Falk Conservation Center of New York University's Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, is a Senior Louise Grunwald Institute of Fine Arts. She divides her time between Associate in the New York architectural firm of Ashton Hawkins New York and Florence, where she is a lecturer at Wank Adams Slavin Associates, LLP (WASA). Prince Amyn Aga Khan the Roberto Longhi Foundation. Peter Kimmelman Nina Joukowsky Kóprülü Jonathan S. Linen Dr. Lois de Ménil BERTRAND DU VIGNAUD. chairman of Christie's COLIN AMERY, an architectural correspondent Samuel C. Miller Monaco, is a trustee of WMF and chairman of WMF for the London Financial Times for 20 years, is a Nancy B. Negley France. A frequent contributor to fine art magazines, director of WMF in Britain. He is the author of Bernard Selz du Vignaud served as deputy director of the Caisse several books, including Vanishing Histories (Harry Peter M.F. Sichel Nationale des Monuments Historiques for France Abrams, 2001), written with Brian Curran. In 1988, Andrew W. Solomon and secretary general of the Conseil Supérieur du he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Gayfryd Steinberg Bertrand du Vignaud mécénat Culturel, prior to joining Christie's in 1991 . Institute of British Architects. \VM I .ORG imwsWORLD MONUM ENTS BEYOND BAMIYAN: WILL THE WORLD BE READY NEXT TIME? n March 2001, the preservation world stood speechless as the Taliban destroyed Afghanistan's famous Buddhas of Bamiyan, Ihewn out of living rock more than 1,500 years ago. The eradication of the Buddhas was accompanied by the wholesale looting and destruction of the Kabul Museum. "How," queried the media, "could preservationists let this happen?" At the time, those charged with overseeing humanity's cultural heritage—in both the public and private sector—seemed to be at a loss for answers. Recently, however, a dialogue on this very issue began in the hopes that future "Bamiyans" can be averted. On April 2, WMF hosted an informal meet­ ing of representatives from UNESCO, the World Bank, the Asia Society, the U.S. State Department, and various agencies concerned with preservation. The meeting was held on the eve of a symposium at the Asia Society, cosponsored by WMF. Among the issues raised at both meetings were the efficacy of the Hague Convention of en fragments and covering them with tyvek to 1954 and its amendments, UNESCO's 1972 shield them from the region's heavy winter World Heritage Convention, as well as snows. Bucherer, who has been active in the UNESCO's ability, or lack thereof, to deal with preservation of Afghanistan's cultural heritage crisis situations such as Bamiyan. for more than three decades, is a leading pro­ "The Hague Convention was drafted in the ponent of reconstruction. "The desire to wake of World War II," said Mounir Bouchenaki, rebuild is not fueled by religious fervor; there UNESCO's Assistant Director General for are no Buddhists left in the region." Bucherer Culture. "It was written with an expectation told ICON, "Rather, the reconstruction of the that cultural heritage would be threatened by Buddhas is seen as a critical step in the rebuild­ regular armies fighting conventional wars. As ing of the region's sense of place. Locals have we have seen with Dubrovnik, Mostar, and told me, 'We want our statues back. Only then Bamiyan, this is clearly no longer the case. will we know we are rid of the Taliban!'" These events were internally driven." In 1999, Although archaeologists and conservators Bouchenaki notes, revisions were made to the wince at the idea of rebuilding the Buddhas, Hague Convention in an attempt to address this conservation work must be undertaken at the issue, but these have yet to be ratified. "As the site to prevent further destruction. A series of wanton destruction so clearly illustrates," said lateral cracks—caused by wind and water ero­ WMF President Bonnie Burnham, "current legis­ sion and reverberations from the Buddhas' lation is woefully inadequate in protecting cul­ destruction—have developed within the niches. tural heritage in rogue nations." Left unattended, they will widen, destabilizing Beyond the issue of protecting sites at risk, the cliff and causing the niches to collapse. the topic of rebuilding the Buddhas was also As this issue went to press, WMF was in addressed. In the wake of the destruction, Paul Afghanistan as part of an international team THE LARGEST OF THE BAMIYAN BUDDHAS, TOP, IS REDUCED Bucherer and a team from UNESCO, and the invited to assess the state of the country's TO RUBBLE IN MARCH 2001. A PHOTOGRAMATRIC MAP OF Swiss-based Afghanistan Institute, documented surviving cultural heritage and what it will THE STATUE, ABOVE. what was left of the statues, labeling their fall- take to preserve it. ICON- FALL 2002 ENDANGERED MODERNIST MASTERPIECES FOCUS OF WMF EXHIBITION orn of the political upheaval that Less than a century after their design engulfed war-torn Europe in the early and construction, Modernist master­ Bdecades of the twentieth century, pieces—critical documents in the history the Modernist Movement was inspired by of architecture—are being routinely the development of new materials and demolished, disfigured, or abandoned.