The open letter of the employees of the National Museum supporting the students, asking for protection for the General Staff and showing solidarity with colleagues from the Republic Institute for Protection and the National Library of Serbia who are trying to preserve these institutions is a big change in the local culture
The majority of the employees of the National Museum in Belgrade sent an open letter of solidarity in which they emphasize that they support the students in the blockade, that they appeal to the Government to protect General Staff, that they are in solidarity with colleagues from Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments , and with colleagues from National Library of Serbia.
We are reprinting the letter in its entirety.
"We, the majority of the employees of the National Museum of Serbia, the central institution for the protection of movable cultural property, support the demands of the students who have been blocked for four months. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues, workers of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
We appeal to the Government of the Republic of Serbia to revise the decision on revoking the building's status as a cultural asseti General Staff, because it is a rough precedent that will have long-term consequences for the cultural heritage of our country.
This kind of violation of legal and ethical standards opens up the space for the complete relativization of the values on which, throughout history, the hard-fought protection of cultural heritage rests.
We appeal to transform commercial, one-off ideas that are the result of individual interests into publicly transparent debates about the lasting values of cultural heritage.
Selflessly, we share the concern of colleagues in our sister house, the National Library of Serbia, for the safety of the priceless fund and building that are threatened by the construction of an underground garage.
As direct actors in the protection of cultural heritage and the culture of memory, we cannot and do not want to stand and watch while the "canopy collapses".
The care we have committed to cultural assets and every museum story we are proud to tell visitors obliges us to raise our heads and stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are today seeking justice in protests across Serbia.
Without students, pupils, educators, actors, scientists, pharmacists, farmers, lawyers, artists, curators, conservators and other social groups, museums are empty cabinets of rarities.
Our museum ancestors did not preserve heritage for princes and nobles, servants and slaves, but collected and preserved heritage that was a national inspiration, a dream of freedom, justice, truth and humanity of every citizen of this country.
We remind you that solidarity is the duty of every human being and the basis on which human societies rest."
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