Cultural sites at risk

Cultural sites at risk 08/10/2009

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) released this week its 2010 World Monuments Watch, a biennial list of cultural heritage sites around the world which are threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict or disaster. The idea of the report is to raise awareness, increase participation and generate effective solutions. The list is put together by a panel of experts from the worlds of archaeology, architecture art history and preservation and since the launch of the project back in 1996, 630 in 125 countries have featured, many of which have received funding as a result.

This years list includes sites which are being threatened du e to urban development, such as Gaudi's Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona which is could be affected by a new underground train line being built close to its foundations. Political situations also come into play, for example in Haiti, where the island's traditional Gingerbread Houses of Port-au-Prince have fallen into decay. In Pakistan, 50,000 petroglyphs will be flooded by the construction of a dam, highlighting the conflict between history and the needs of modern-day lifestyles.

Tourism is of course another cause for concern, notably in New Mexico, where the village of Taos Pueblo, which has been inhabited for over 1,000years, is attracting more and more visitors, endangering the site's living heritage. However it is not only 'old' architecture that is under threat. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and Taliesin West in the States as well as Belgium's Sanatorium Joseph Lemaire are in danger. Finally, conflict and disaster play a role too, no more so than in Iraq, where in fact the entire country was placed on the list in both 2006 and 2008. This time it is the al-Hadba' Minaret which is feared for, one of the few remaining elements of the medieval Nur al-Din complex. Closer to home the Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church in Belfast is also on this year's list.

For more information on the WMF and their 2010 Watch, log on to their website.

The Editorial Team.

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