Romanian museum dresses statues with woollen hats in an appeal against indifference towards homelessness

Homelessness is a growing phenomenon in Romania.

And just like the rest of the world, Romania also shows a clear indifference towards the homeless.

Statues at Romania's national art museum sported colourful hats and scarves.

To help handle this alarming situation, artists come together to shed some considerable light on the issue.

The statues at Romania's National Art Museum sported colourful hats and scarves as a part of an "appeal against indifference" towards homelessness in one of the EU's poorest member states.

A 19th century statue named Mihai the Madman, by Romanian sculptor Stefan Ionescu-Valbudea, is decorated with a winter hat.

The winter woolies adorned a dozen bronze sculptures in the garden of the National Art Museum of Romania (MNAR) in the campaign set to run through February.

"A museum must protect works of art but also people, especially those in need," museum director Liviu Constantinescu told AFP.

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The goal is to "send an Artistic message but also an appeal against indifference," Constantinescu added.

The "Sheltered by Art" exhibit in the former royal residence in central Bucharest includes information panels on how to help the homeless.

A statue named The Spring, by 19th century Romanian sculptor Ioan Georgescu, decorated with a winter scarf.

"We will stop to admire a sculpture, but when we encounter a homeless person we pass by quickly, often visibly annoyed," reads a write-up about the initiative on the museum's website.

No official estimates of the number of homeless among Romania's nearly 20 million people are available, but activists say several thousand are affected in the capital alone.

A woman takes a picture next to a bronze sculpture adorned with a woolen hat to "guard against the cold."

"Their number remains almost unchanged: some of them reintegrate, but new ones arrive," said Sabina Nicolae, head of Samusocial Romania, which co-organised the exhibit.

The group helps around 1,600 homeless people a year, including families with young children.