Exemplary initiatives

Preserving the artistic and cultural heritage of Europe; promoting the exchange of cross-border know-how in this field; and encouraging “exemplary initiatives” in EU member states: these are the main objectives that have inspired the award of the Prize for the conservation of Europe’s cultural heritage since 2002, promoted by the European Commission and “Europa Nostra”. The winners of this year’s Prize will receive the award during a ceremony in Stockholm on 8 June. URBAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. Over the last five years, this initiative “has made a crucial contribution to the identification of exemplary practices for the conservation of the European heritage”, explains JÁN FIGEL , Commissioner for Culture. “These practices are now a central plank of EU action in this field”. In the organization of the competition, the Executive is working hand in hand with “Europa Nostra”, the pan-European federation for the cultural heritage. Founded in 1963, it represents 200 associations and non-governmental organizations that work for the protection of urban and environmental quality, the safeguard of historical buildings and monuments of outstanding artistic importance, the improvement of architectural and building standards, and the sustainable planning of urban and rural areas. The President of “Europa Nostra” is the prince consort of Denmark, Henri-Marie de Laborde de Monpezat who, together with Commissioner Figel and the Swedish Minister for Culture Llena Adelsohn-Liljeroth, will present the prizes to the five winners, 16 medals to the runners-up, and 13 diplomas to those in third place on 8 June. TURKEY, A BYZANTINE CHURCH SAVED. The projects awarded this year’s prizes include, in the section “Conservation of the architectural heritage”, one concerning the church of Sarica in Cappadocia (Turkey). “The building – says the citation -, is an important example of a Byzantine church hewn into the rock. Although it has suffered serious erosion due to infiltrations of rainwater, as well as cracks and corrosion, it was saved and made accessible to visitors”. The prize for the “Conservation of the landscape heritage” goes instead to an Italian project, more precisely that for the conservation of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, near l’Aquila. “The visionary initiative of a private investor has enabled a medieval fortified village in the hinterland of the Abruzzi to be rescued just in time”. Its restoration has permitted its re-conversion into hotel facilities, “also permitting – says the jury – to revive local traditions and crafts”. HUGE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE. The prize for the category “conservation of works of art” goes instead to a German project: the Farbdiaarchiv zur Wand und Deckenmalerei (photographic archive for murals and ceiling paintings). Collaboration between the Zentral Institut für Kunstgeschichte München and the Bildarchiv Foto Marburg has given rise to “an ambitious project that has permitted the creation of an electronic data base comprising the archive of coloured slides, taken during a major photographic campaign conducted between 1943 and 1945 to document valuable murals and other decorations within buildings at risk of destruction from allied bombing raids”. The archive comprises 40,000 images of approximately 480 buildings in six countries, many of them damaged or destroyed during the last three years of the war. “Now accessible free of charge on the internet, the archive has become an indispensable research tool on which to base the restoration of damaged buildings” throughout Europe. THE “ATLANTIC WALL”. The prize for the category “Studies of exceptional value” goes to three scientific institutions that have long worked together. The project, called “The Atlantic Wall – Linear Museum”, has been jointly sponsored by the Politecnico in Milan (Italy), the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation in Louvain (Belgium) and the École d’Architecture de Versailles (France). The basic idea, in this case, is the promotion of research (and its dissemination to the public at large) “on one of the last great defensive lines of the 20th century, the Atlantic Wall, erected by the German occupation forces in the period 1941-1944”. The results of the project include the publication of a catalogue and an atlas, a photographic collection, various conferences and the creation of a special website. SAXON HERITAGE IN TRANSYLVANIA. Romania and the United Kingdom share the prize for the category “Specific services”, awarded to “The Mihai Eminescu Trust”. “By repairing over 300 historic buildings and training over 100 local craftsmen in traditional crafts”, this NGO has made “enormous efforts and obtained impressive results in the conservation of the Saxon heritage in Transylvania”. The award of the prize is recognition of the activity of this NGO that has worked since 1989 to revive the social and economic life of the region and to support such activities as ecological tourism, biological farming and ancient crafts.