U.S. Embassy Gives New Roof to Ethnographic Museum

June 26, 2012.

U.S. Ambassador Mary Burce Warlick visited the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade with Minister of Culture Predrag Markovic for a press conference announcing the completion of construction of a new roof. U.S Embassy Belgrade gave the museum $65,200 to replace its 75-year old leaking roof which had put priceless collections of costumes and textiles at risk of damage.

This grant is from the Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, which has provided financial support to more than 700 cultural preservation projects in over 180 countries. Established by the U.S. Congress in 2001, this special fund has given more than US$33 million to help countries around the globe preserve historic sites and manuscripts, museum collections, and traditional forms of music, dance, and language.

In addition to this project, the American Embassy has used these funds to help seven other conservation and restoration projects in Serbia: Felix Romuliana ($65,800 in 2011); St. Ana Roman Catholic Church in Bela Crkva ($44,500 in 2009); Studenica Monastery ($33,900 in 2008); Viminacium Roman amphitheatre ($31,200 in 2007); mekhteb adjoining the “Altun Alem” Mosque in Novi Pazar ($35,000 in 2006), Memorial School in Orasac ($24,450 in 2005) and Rakovica Monastery ($17,000 in 2001).