Acropolis Presentation Greeting by Angela Gerekou, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Hellenic Republic

The New Acropolis Museum has given a new perspective not only to the city of Athens, but to the whole of Greece.
Melina Merkouri’s vision is gradually being realised.
The Parthenon Marbles finally found their “home” and the reunification is now more crucial than ever.
The return of the Marbles is not only a Greek petition but a petition for humanity.We know that this is what the majority of the British public feels.
With the New Acropolis Museum, the city of Athens has gained a symbolic site for its history and its identity.
Within a few months since its opening, more than 1 million people visited the Museum.
This means that we have a new attraction for our visitors, as well as a very strong argument for the fair petition of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.
The visitors of the Museum themselves, unite their voices to support our efforts for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.
We remain loyal to Melina Merkouri’s vision and we will continue the battle what she passionately started, hoping that the day of the reunification will not be long.

World Travel Market, London, 11/11/2009

Sofia Panagiotaki, Director of the Greek National Tourist Office in London

Sofia presented with great enthusiasm the many attributes of Athens as a city. Its ease of access for British travellers, just three hours flying time. A city that is affordable with over 5,000 years of history, culture and many fascinating monuments. A modern city with superb shops, restaurants and bars, hotels to suit all tastes from boutique to family friendly. Many areas have been regenerated such as Gazi and Psiri. The new Acropolis Museum is an iconic new attraction for visitors, infact over a million had visited this fantastic museum since its opening in June. To find out more about Athens log onto www.breathtakingathens.com

William St Clair, is a Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. His books include Lord Elgin and the Marbles, The Godwins and the Shelleys and, most recently, The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period. At the end of a Civil Service career he was under-secretary with responsibility for Treasury control of the Civil Service. He lives in London and Cambridge.

William had travelled to Athens to visit the new museum and meet with Professor Pandermalis just a few weeks ago. He spoke of Athens as a green , modern and comfortable city.

He praised the Acropolis Museum and its design. He stressed that the museum had not been designed to upstage the exhibits. So much had been exposed below ground level too adding to the experience for the visitor. He liked the fact that there were no spotlights, it was not a boutique museum, there was condescension.

Christina Borg, journalist

If I may, I’d like to start by thanking the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon marbles for inviting me to take part in today’s event. Also thanks must go to the Greek National Tourist Office for organising this event during World Travel Market. I’d also like to say huge thanks to Spyros Diamantis of the Greek embassy, who learning of my support for their campaign arranged my trip to Greece in June this year, where I had the privilege of being one of many writers and journalists to attend the press preview for the opening of the New Acropolis Museum. The inauguration on June 20th was as some of you can imagine an extremely momentous and exciting occasion for many, especially Greeks both home and abroad, as it marked the dawning of a new era, where the debate for the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures is concerned. This debate, has gone on for two centuries since Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin began his hasty removal of the sculptures in 1801 and brought them back to England, only to sell them to the British Government in 1816.

The day after the ceremony in Athens, much of the international press buzzed with stories to celebrate this superlatively designed new museum, the work of the Swiss born architect Bernard Tschumi and Michael Photiadis, who after winning the contract to design the museum developed a clear vision of how they wanted it to look. Tschumi didn’t want to imitate the 5th century sculptor Pheidias but to create a structure, starting from a level of abstraction, inspired by Pythagoras the master of mathematics and geometry.  Despite the mostly positive press however, there have been a few dissenting voices writing since. Some deigning to describe the museum’s exterior as resembling ‘a car park’, but having visited the museum, I can tell you, with its excellently organised exhibition spaces, and it upper levels aligned with views of the Parthenon, its windows and glass floors through which light permeates it couldn’t be less so! It is extremely elegant and exactly fit for purpose. In a recent article, Simon Jenkins described the museum “not so much an argument as a punch in the face”, claiming that it takes the debate a step backwards. Well, my feeling is - it takes it forward.

Speaking movingly of the legacy of the Parthenon and the Acropolis and why the sculptures should be returned to Athens, the Minister of Culture at the time, Antonis Samaras said, “These artworks are symbols of the highest aesthetic aspirations human beings have ever felt and it is no accident that they were created in the wake of the most revolutionary political development in the history of the world. 500 years before Christ a brave new idea emerged on the slopes of this sacred hill that stood in bold defiance of the structure of all previous societies, which were all a succession of tyrannies. This radical concept proclaimed that society functions best if all citizens are equal and free to shape their lives and share in the running of their state. In a word: Democracy.”

If therefore, democracy is to mean anything in our society today, I believe it is ‘undemocratic’ of the British Government and the British Museum to ignore the voice of the people. Earlier this year, an overwhelming majority, 94.8 percent of the public polled on the Guardian’s website, voted in favour of the sculptures return to Athens.

We therefore have to ask ourselves, if the sculptures belonged to one of the world’s Superpowers would they still be in the British Museum?

Many believe that the time has come for the British Museum to rise to the challenge, and universal demand to do the right thing. And I say - to have the courage to fulfil the expectations of the will of the common people; that is what is called democracy. When I interviewed Christopher Hitchens last year, who is a strong advocate for repatriation, he said that this could already have taken place while Jules Dassin the filmmaker and partner of Melina Mercouri was still living. Sadly, Dassin did not live long enough to see the opening of the new museum. But In 2012, the British Museum will be presented with yet another opportunity. They may have missed the last train but there’s another one to catch. How honourable and fitting a tribute it would be if at the opening of the Games of the 30th Olympiad in London an announcement is issued by the Board of Trustees of the British Museum that the Parthenon sculptures are to be ‘respectfully reunited’ with their other halves in the New Acropolis Museum, in Athens. These games, I can assure you will never be forgotten and this will become a unique landmark in history.

|  Return   |