News from World Monuments Fund

On My Watch Event Series: Conversations on At-Risk Cultural Heritage

We are thrilled to announce the launch of On My Watch, a new series of virtual events beginning January 2021. Featuring conversations with architects, urban planners, preservationists, local stakeholders, and World Monuments Fund (WMF) project managers, On My Watch will explore the political, cultural, and technical issues around the preservation of at-risk cultural heritage sites on the World Monuments Watch around the world.

Join us for the On My Watch inaugural event, Ontario Place: Towards an Inclusive Preservation Dialogue, on January 7 at 12 PM (EST). Once a shining example of government support for the arts, education, and recreation, today Ontario Place is endangered by redevelopment. Its inclusion on the 2020 Watch calls for community dialogue to ensure this public waterfront amenity is protected and the original vision of its creators is fulfilled.

A New Generation of Landscape Preservationists

On December 3rd, the inaugural class of WMF’s Bridge to Crafts Careers (B2CC) Landscape Preservation program came together for a virtual graduation ceremony.

Over a period of three months, the 14 graduates alternated in-person training at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx with online classes to develop the necessary skills to protect cultural landscapes.

This graduation marks the end of the first edition of WMF’s expanded B2CC program, launched in September 2020.

Safeguarding Japan’s Ryokan Tradition

In July 2020, torrential rains in southern Japan caused major flooding and landslides, resulting in more than 80 casualties and damaging close to 20,000 buildings. The Hitoyoshi Ryokan, a historic Japanese hot spring inn dating to 1934, was submerged with water and mud.

Local students from the Kuma Technical High School in Hitoyoshi came to the rescue and started manually removing the excess mud from the site. With support from WMF’s Crisis Response Program, the Kumamoto Machinami Trust has carried out various recovery initiatives at the site, including mud removal and disinfection. 

Fake Heritage: Why We Rebuild Monuments

On October 21, World Monuments Fund hosted a virtual event to celebrate the publication Fake Heritage, a new book by John Darlington, WMF Britain Executive Director.

Dive into the questions of historical authenticity and ethics behind cultural heritage with the book’s author and discover examples of fake heritage stories from around the world. Also featuring author, journalist, and broadcaster Sir Simon Jenkins.

2022 World Monuments Watch

Nominations are open for the 2022 World Monuments Watch, WMF’s two-year program to discover, spotlight, and take action on behalf of heritage places facing challenges or presenting outstanding opportunities of direct relevance to our global society.

The 2022 Watch cycle seeks to highlight innovative solutions to some of the greatest challenges to cultural heritage today: climate change, underrepresented heritage, and imbalanced tourism.

Do you stand with a heritage place that speaks to these global issues? Join us by nominating a site to the 2022 Watch or helping us spread the word.

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