2008 Annual Report - World Monuments Fund

Cultural Legacy
World Monuments Fund has a long legacy of protecting singular monuments that
represent great beauty, symbolize a cultural era, or express a particular period of artistic
expression. These are sites of universally recognized importance, where we are often the
catalyst bringing together financial resources and expertise to implement the most effective
conservation measures.
Capacity Building
We focus on more than just the physical aspects of restoration. It is becoming ever
more apparent that cultural heritage can be used to advance economic development
through tourism. Our capacity-building program helps local communities build the
governmental, financial, and technical infrastructures needed to preserve, protect, and
sustain their heritage sites. We assemble teams of specialists to assist in designing the
overall preservation strategy, conduct pilot projects, develop training programs, organize
workshops, and plan for productive long-term use. Our objective is to give our partners
the capacity to practice sustainable conservation on their own. We assess, document, plan,
advise, and, most importantly, start the process through demonstration projects that can be
continued locally.
Workers remove a capstone
from the Churning of the Sea
of Milk gallery at Angkor Wat,
Angkor Archaeological Park,
Cambodia. The reconstruction
of this gallery will provide
valuable lessons about how
to preserve the rest of this
complex monument.
The November 2008
inauguration of Juanqinzhai
(see page 22) in the
Forbidden City, Beijing,
China, marked the
completion of the first
phase of a long-term
partnership with the Palace
Museum to restore the
Qianlong Garden. Pictured
here is the Qianlong
Emperor’s private theater.
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