Kentridge frieze saved, Rome's historic bridges still blighted by vendors

The controversy over street vendors blocking William Kentridge's 500-meter frieze 'Triumphs and Laments' on Rome's Tiber riverbanks has led to a decision to clear the area but relocate the vendors to the sides of historic bridges. The author criticizes the selective outrage, noting that bridges like Ponte Sisto (1479) and Ponte Fabricio (62 BC) have long been obscured by vendors without similar protests. The Ministry of Culture and Commissioner Franco Tronca, under Minister Dario Franceschini, ordered the removal of stalls from the frieze area, but the vendors' concessions were merely shifted to the bridges, where vending was previously prohibited. The author argues that this decision prioritizes a 2016 private artwork over centuries-old public monuments, highlighting a systemic failure to address Rome's pervasive street vending problem that degrades historical, artistic, and landscape heritage.