Getty helps fund Iraqi salvage

The Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles and the World Monuments Fund in New York have announced a joint effort to save Iraqi archeological sites damaged in the war.

With financial support from the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the cooperation of Iraqi authorities, the GCI-WMF Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative will mobilize international resources to protect endangered buildings, repair damage and rebuild Iraq’s capacity to manage its cultural heritage.

The new initiative has awarded two emergency grants -- one to the Massachusetts College of Art, to reinstall roofing at Nineveh, the other to the American Assn. for Research in Baghdad, to protect sites in central Iraq that are being looted. Long-term plans call for a database that will document Iraq’s cultural resources and set priorities for conservation.