An Assessment of Practices of Conservation and Its Challenges: The Case of Monuments and Statues in Addis Ababa

Abstract

Addis Ababa Culture and Tourism Bureau registered about 17 historical monuments as cultural heritage of the city. Half of the Historical Monuments are inaugurated in Arada Sub city the rest are found in different sub cities: three in Kirkos, two in Yeka, one in Lideta and one in Nifas Silk sub city. These historical monuments had been erected with the blessing of rulers of those times and sculptured by different foreign professional architects in different times and places of the city. They have various motives to be inaugurated. The Historical monuments have been erected to represent the country’s history, culture ,and political and even statues of famous individuals from inside and outside Ethiopia. They were constructed to dedicate the contribution these individuals have made for Ethiopia at different historical junctures. However, for the purpose this research only seven selected historical monument of Addis Ababa have been described well. The criteria for selecting the following historical monuments are historical significance, aesthetic value, landmark value, political value and social value. And except Tiglachin monument all are public monuments which are found on road cross section of the city. The purpose of the study is to assess about the practices of conservation and challenges in the case of monuments and statues that are found in Addis Ababa. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather the necessary data. The data gathering tools applied in this study were questionnaires, in-depth interview, field observation and secondary data. The findings of the study observed that there is no doubt about the attractiveness of the monuments and statues of Addis Ababa. They could be visited as much as other heritages of Ethiopia are visited. But most of them are not visited as main tourist destination areas and most of the monuments and statues are not protected and conserved well. The study found out several challenges facing historical monuments: accessibility problem, lack of recreational facilities in the premises and around them, lack of promotion, lack of descriptive information, locational disadvantage, lack of maintenance and restoration, lack of awareness among host community, cleanliness and hygiene problems, and having controversial historical meaning and value.