The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities launched an initiative to clean and maintain statues at Egypt’s public squares, spearheaded by Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Enany and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri.
The two officials toured the streets and squares of Cairo to oversee maintenance work on various statues, particularly the Lions of Qasr al-Nil and the statue of Simon Bolivar in downtown Cairo.
Launched in cooperation with the concerned governorates, the ministry’s initiative aims to preserve public square statues regardless of their archaeological status.
The cleaning and maintenance work is carried out by restorers of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to highlight the beauty of these statues, as part of the state’s efforts to add more of a cultural and aesthetic touch to Egypt’s public squares/
Work began on Monday across 22 governorates, involving the removal of graffiti and dust via dry and wet mechanical cleaning depending on the statue’s materials. It also involved the protection, correction, isolation, revival and gilding of legitimate texts on the statues.
