MIAMI, FLA.- The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU hosted a presentation by the World Monuments Fund’s Executive Vice President and COO, Lisa Ackerman, entitled What the Past Reveals: Heritage Conservation and Value across Time. The event was part of a series of lectures about the Lod Mosaic exhibition, “Predators and Prey: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel” which makes its final U.S. stop in Miami at the Frost Art Museum FIU before its return to Israel.

Increasingly, protection of cultural heritage sites is in the news because of attacks on sites in war-torn areas (and by extension, attacks on cultural identity). The Miami presentation of the Lod Mosaic is generously underwritten by Patricia and Phillip Frost.

On loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Shelby White and Leon Levy Lod Mosaic Center, the international tour has made stops at some of the world’s most noted museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Louvre Museum in Paris and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Due to popular demand, the exhibition has been extended until May 29.

“The Lod Mosaic’s excellent state of preservation and the superior conservation by the Israel Antiquity Authority (IAA) allow us to appreciate how the finest mosaic work can bring alive the ancient world,” said the Director of the Frost Art Museum FIU, Dr. Jordana Pomeroy. “This exhibition has afforded us the opportunity to host a presentation by the World Monuments Fund, inspiring a lecture series featuring the insights that Lisa Ackerman has given our audience.”

“I have been looking forward to this opportunity to look more carefully at the Lod Mosaic while at the Frost Art Museum FIU, and feast my eyes once again on the intricate design and superb craftsmanship,” said Lisa Ackerman of the World Monument Fund. “Our presentation in Miami highlighted the context in which the Lod mosaic was found and what objects and structures from the past mean to the local community. We often are attuned to seeing objects in a museum, and our work at World Monuments Fund emphasizes that places have value and preserving historic places is as much a portal to the past as a window on cultural traditions today.”

Ms. Ackerman pointed out that the awareness of historic site destruction is heightened today due to the immediacy of broadcasting and social media, and the videotaping of these dramatic destructions. Site destruction was equally prevalent during WWI and WWII but was not as visibly reported. Historic sites have always been caught in the crosshairs of warfare.

Since 1965 the World Monuments Fund has devoted its activities to partnerships around the world that assist with advocacy, documentation, conservation and interpretation of historic architectural and archaeological sites. While the emphasis is physical conservation, benefits include increased caring for sites, greater public awareness of the importance of preservation, and a re-imagining of how the past and present intersect at historic places.

“In the wake of wars and catastrophes, from Easter Island to Toledo and from Latin America to the Middle East, we must heed a global call. Monuments are part of our collective heritage, places with power that extend beyond borders,” added Ackerman.