World Monuments Fund raises 62 million for the arts

Since 1985, the WMF in Rome has supported restoration projects such as the Galleria dei Carracci at Palazzo Farnese, the Temples of Hercules and Portunus, the Arch of Janus, Santa Maria Antiqua and the Farnese Aviaries. To date, the WMF has raised more than $23.5 million for projects in Italia, thanks to the support of the Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage, which has contributed over $10 million and mobilised a further $14 million in co-funding, including over $6 million allocated by the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Support the reconstruction

The WMF has also secured endowment funding for some of its most crucial programmes, including a donation of $1 million from the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust for the Crisis Response Programme, with the aim of supporting local communities in the immediate aftermath of war, climate-related disasters or other emergencies, helping them to safeguard their cultural heritage.

Italia, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. I portici a spirale, le colonne slanciate e la balaustra sinuosa poggiano su gradini in pietra d’Istria, le cui facce esterne sporgono dalla muratura esterna in mattoni. Veduta dopo il restauro., 1996

Italia Nostra: working to preserve Italy’s heritage

In Italia, there are numerous heritage sites that are in need of funding and attention. This was stated by Italia Nostra on 21 October in Rome, in the Sala Igea of the Treccani Italian Encyclopaedia Institute, during the presentation of the new Red List of cultural heritage at risk. The name risks causing some confusion, as it refers to the Red Lists that ICOM has been publishing since 2000 – lists of the categories of cultural heritage most vulnerable to illicit trafficking in specific countries or geographical areas.
Italia Nostra’s Red List, on the other hand, catalogues immovable heritage (monuments, villages, churches, villas, archaeological sites and industrial architecture) threatened by neglect, deterioration or inappropriate interventions.

What is new is not the list itself – which the association has been compiling since 2011 using reports from members of the public – but the fact that it has been made available to the public. The records, which were previously confidential, have been fully verified and uploaded to a dedicated website (listarossa.italianostra.org), where anyone can check which properties are at risk in their local area and submit new reports by filling in a dedicated form. In this way, the List becomes a tool for participatory action.

The figures paint a telling picture of the deterioration of many Italian heritage sites. Over the past 15 years, 520 reports have been received, of which 402 have been verified. Today, 341 heritage sites are at risk; 58 have been restored and included on a ‘Green List’, whilst three have been irretrievably lost and remain documented on a ‘Black List’. It is precisely this Black List, like a memento mori, that serves as a reminder of what could not be saved and acts as a warning for future conservation efforts.

The cataloguing system adopts a classification of cultural heritage that, in simplified form, mirrors that used by the Ministry of Culture. There are 23 categories, ranging from archaeology – including industrial archaeology – to rural architecture, from places of worship to stately homes. They also include villages and historic centres, historic infrastructure such as railways, ports and sheep tracks, historic shops, theatres and cinemas, right through to agricultural, cultural, natural and urban landscapes. For each asset, its state of conservation is indicated on a six-level scale, ranging from ‘good’ to ‘ruin/irreversibly compromised’. Precise criteria also govern the transfer from one list to another. A property is added to the Green List when the causes of risk have been removed, at least in part, and conservation measures consistent with its values have been carried out. The presence of a long-term management plan, protective measures and resources allocated by the relevant authorities, as well as the return of the property for public enjoyment, are also viewed positively. Conversely, a site is placed on the Black List if it has been destroyed, lost, deteriorated beyond any possibility of restoration, or altered by inappropriate interventions to the extent that it has lost its historical and cultural value.

“Behind every record lie stories, identities, landscapes and communities that risk losing a significant part of their collective memory,” says the national president of Italia Nostra, Edoardo Croci. “Only by making these assets recognisable, accessible and meaningful to the community once again will it be possible to ensure effective and lasting protection over time.”