"While travelling across Western Europe, I have seen people in London and Paris and Vienna adopt the principle that public cleanliness and heritage protection are public issues. (?) Such initiatives are the best way to call people's attention to that," Bozóki said, brush and bucket in hand.
The International Day for Monuments and Sites was created on 18th April, 1982, by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and later approved at the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983. This special day offers an opportunity to raise public?s awareness concerning the diversity of the world's heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as to draw attention to its vulnerability. Hungary has organised events for the day since 1984.
Bozóki was joined by many other volunteers and professionals who cleaned statues around the capital and removed graffiti from the Chain Bridge.
"Wherever graffiti appears, it should be removed as soon as possible because the second, the third, the fourth, and more incidences tend to follow soon after. The same principle applies to garbage: wherever a small amount of waste is deposited, a large amount of waste will appear soon," one of the initiative?s organisers, Ákos Hanzély of the Lát-kép Association said, adding that work on the Chain Bridge will last four days and cost about HUF 1 million.
The Lát-kép Association was one of many not-for-profit organisations which participated in the effort. They were joined by the Cultural Heritage Protection Office, the Hungarian National ICOMOS Committee and two private companies.
Soure: Hungarian Press Agency (MTI)/ICOMOS
