France and the United Arab Emirates organized on December 2 and 3 in Abu Dhabi the first international conference on the protection of endangered cultural heritage. Bosnia and Herzegovina participates as well. On this occasion, the French Ambassador to BiH Claire Bodonyi addressed the public.
“I greet the decision by the organizers to invite Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be represented by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić. Destruction of the ancient Syrian town Palmira, the Muslim mausoleum Timbuktu in Mali, robberies of museums in Iraq showed us that we must work more on protecting cultural heritage endangered by conflicts,” said the Ambassador.
At the initiative of France, the conference of Abu Dhabi has the aim of establishing an international fund for protection of endangered cultural heritage. The intention is to reach the amount of 100 million USD. With these funds, certain good will be moved to the international network of temporary refuges, and the destroyed facilities will be reconstructed.
“I want the participation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on a high level to emphasize the importance of the issue of protection of cultural heritage in the country. It is needless to remind of the numerous destructions of historical buildings, hundreds of stolen works from museums in the period from 1992 until 1995. Significant buildings were reconstructed, such as the Sarajevo City Hall, the Old Bridge in Mostar and the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka.
However, cultural heritage in BiH is still endangered. Because of that, the Embassy of France supports the institutions of BiH in their work on the protection of cultural heritage. That is why the Embassy of France supports the work of the Center for fight against art trafficking with the aim of raising awareness of the public,” Bodonyi emphasized.
The French Embassy also wants to support the National Museum in BiH, which is the main institution of its heritage, and whose work is still endangered due to lack of public support.
“Financial support from France will enable the museum to better protect some of its historical treasure and bring it closer to public,” the Ambassador said.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the opportunity to convey its experience in protection of heritage during the war and in reconstruction of damaged facilities. However, that mobility has to continue in BiH, its entities and cantons, with the aim of better protecting the country’s heritage. I am proud that France will contribute to that in the following years,” Ambassador Bodonyi said.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba)
