RIYADH: The World Monuments Fund, which celebrates its sixth decade this 12 months, has strengthened its official presence in Arab nations, organizing an exploratory tour in a number of nations together with Saudi Arabia.
The group has made vital contributions to the preservation of tangible heritage and has carried out 68 initiatives in 13 Arab nations for the reason that mid-Nineties.
On the finish of final month, WMF organized an exploratory tour in a number of nations, together with Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The delegation, composed of 45 people, was led by the fund’s president and CEO, Benedicte de Montlaur, with the attendance of Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, board member of the fund, and Dr. Elie Flouty, the fund’s consultant within the Arab nations, together with different members of the group.
This tour marked the start of a stronger official presence of the WMF within the Arab area, coinciding with rising official and unofficial Arab curiosity in heritage points, preservation, and integrating this into financial, tourism and social growth plans. This aligns with the WMF’s sixtieth anniversary celebration.
Dr. Elie Flouty stated: “We will now say that the WMF has an official presence within the area, which is wealthy in world heritage websites. We’ll work with all Arab governmental and non-governmental entities and worldwide establishments to safeguard our historic Arab heritage. WMF is at the moment energetic in 14 websites throughout varied Arab nations and collaborates with each governments and native communities to implement these initiatives, offering funding and experience.”
Among the many most vital initiatives of the WMF is the World Monuments Watch, a listing of endangered websites issued each two years, which incorporates 25 historic locations.
For the 2025 listing, three websites from the Arab area had been included — the Jewish heritage in Debdou in Morocco, the historic city material of Gaza, and the water reservoirs (majels) within the Outdated Metropolis of Tunis.
The delegation’s tour within the Gulf area included a number of stops, beginning in Kuwait the place it visited the Arab Fund for Financial and Social Improvement and Dr. Mohamed Al-Rumaihi mentioned the historical past of Kuwait and its main financial and social milestones. The delegation visited the Soof Heart for Spinning and the Grand Mosque, designed by architect Mohamed Saleh Makiya.
In Saudi Arabia, it visited the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, explored the Outdated Metropolis of Jeddah, and toured the house of architect Sami Angawi, which displays the structure of Hijaz.
In addition they visited Madinah and its main spiritual landmarks and concluded their go to to AlUla, a website wealthy in human heritage, pure and cultural landmarks.
In Bahrain, the delegation visited the town of Muharraq and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Pearling Path, the Bahrain Nationwide Museum, and a number of other homes inside the Sheikh Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa Heart for Tradition and Analysis. In addition they visited Bahrain Fort and its museum, the Dilmun Burial Mounds listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage listing.
WMF is the world’s main non-governmental group for heritage preservation. Headquartered in New York, the fund has places of work in Peru, London, Paris, Spain, Portugal, India and China, with initiatives in 112 nations. It has labored on greater than 700 heritage websites. WMF’s mission is to avoid wasting essentially the most threatened landmarks, whether or not from conflict or local weather change.
