The head of the Islamic and Coptic Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Gamal Mostafa explained more of maintenance work being done on the Qasr al-Nil Bridge bronze lion statues, which has sparked widespread controversy across Egyptian social media.
During a phone call with the Sada al-Balad Channel on Tuesday, Mostafa said that those carrying out the restoration work are professional specialists in their own field, and assured that Cairo Governorate owns the statues.
Mostafa explained that what was done was a maintenance process and not a full-on restoration, and the current color is the natural color after cleaning and adding materials to protect the statue from erosion factors.
He assured that after a period of time, the two statues will return to their usual color after the accumulation of dust on them.
Several claims spread online were issued by non-specialists, he said, noting that the periodic maintenance work has been completed.
Controversy spreads
Outrage spread across social media due to the circulation of photos showing the restoration of the Qasr al-Nil Bridge lion statues using paint rollers, which the Syndicate of Fine Artists described as a major mistake and a violation of the scientific and technical rules of maintenance work.
The union also noted that this method damages the artistic value of the statues.
The chief archaeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Magdy Shaker, said that the restoration of any antiquity must be done by specialized experts, pointing out that there are faculties at Cairo University specializing in antiquities or fine arts that have the ability to work with antiquities.
He noted that instead this task is assigned to private companies, which in turn are not very familiar with the process needed.
Shaker also added that despite the fact that more than 100 years have passed since the construction of the Qasr el-Nil statues, they are not considered antiquities.
The formation of the committee, in cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture, came after the restoration process was completed, he said, which indicates a lack of full coordination between the concerned parties in the restoration of these famous statues.
