12-02-2010, 06:49 AM
Quote:There isn't adequate money in the EEC as a whole to preserve it all !!roll:
Nah. It is all about priorities and attitudes. The problem is not only that Big Sil Berlusconi keeps cutting the culture budget (which to begin with was pretty austere and now is at something like 0,21 of the national GDP) - this is only the symptom. It is that preservation, restoration and conservation is not sexy for politicians....or, I sadly have to admit, many of the people who lead the institutions responsible for preserving cultural heritage. On the attitude side, I have always found it sort of amusing that Italy's most well-known monument, being round and all, is surrounded by a roundabout and busy road traffic. I guess it helps bring in the tourist buses.
Mentioning Greece is also somewhat amusing. I recently read that Greek private spending rose by 30-40% from 2000 to 2009 (now, of course, things are different) but the money spent on preservation and conservation was not quite so meteoric. This is ALL about priorities, nake no mistake.
Sometimes, I think we need another large loss of cultural heritage and a new Venice Charter initiative.
