The article 'British museums weigh the cost of repatriating exhibits', by the Marketplace, quotes Tiffany Jenkins: 

“It’s about knowledge, about understanding, about preservation, about audiences. And it’s not about righting the wrongs of history,” Tiffany Jenkins said. “We should be thinking where can these objects be safest and where can they do the most good? Are objects going to be safe if they are returned to Nigeria, are they going to be seen by many people? I’m not convinced they are.”

Janet Suzman writes to Tiffany Jenkins and questions: "but we live in an age entirely devoted to attempting to right the wrongs of history do we not? All sorts of histories, pre-eminently that of slavery and the colonial occupations of countries and their peoples - and thus of those people’s cultures and possessions - are being questioned. And rightly so. Received mythologies of modern history are increasingly being re-thought and re-interpreted since the end of colonial powers. Britain’s was the most powerful and extensive and we know it took things because it could. The British Museum itself is an astonishing hymn to that concept.

Papers have reached their 50-year limit and are being released or coming to light. Those people who were there to tell the tale reveal are moved to recount the facts as they lived them before it’s too late. Things don’t stay hidden for ever. Pictures are being very slowly restored to their owners having been taken by the SS. Awareness of so many cultural appropriations is higher than ever it has been. Respect for others, so often falling short in practise, is, willy-nilly, now front and centre.

I’m a little surprised, too, that you don’t expand on what you mean by the phrase ’do the most good’. You were, I guess, being Aristotelean, but you might be doing the most good to a nation were you to return what is rightfully theirs, be it a precious skull of some ancient folk-hero, or works of sculpture unsurpassed in all of ensuing history.

Where can certain objects be safest you ask? I would suggest in purpose-built modern museums whose roofs don’t leak and in which the latest technology of temperature control and air conditioning exists. You yourself are an admirer of the stunning New Acropolis Museum in Athens (now more than 13 years old) as I've heard you say so. You cannot surely have a quarrel with the conservatory and scholastic skills at work there?

What I really fail to understand, though, is what the case can possibly be for denying a country authentic works of its own art. I know great art belongs to everyone, but nothing predicates that London is the sole place through which this ‘everyone’ passes. London’s days of being the centre of the known world are long gone. The internet has happened, and digital sharing amongst places of learning are normal. So is travel.

In any case, jaw-droppingly accurate digital replicas are now possible. Why on earth should the British Museum have the originals of the Marbles while denying them to Athens? Reverse that insular notion and hey-presto justice is done and excitement beckons as the BM discovers that no-one can possibly tell the difference. Indeed with perfect replicas of all the objects that were sneakily lifted by Elgin the BM might even rise to a corrective by restoring the exquisite patinas that once graced the Parthenon Marbles before they were scrubbed by crude wire brushes into institutionally white supremacist versions. The exquisite replicas can still ’tell their story’ as the authorities always put it. They could even be painted in the colours they once wore if the BM decided to create a block-buster show, or would that be too, too vulgar?

And as to being seen by many people, I must tell you that the BCRPM took a poll of the proportion of the 6 million annual visitors boasted by the BM only to find that only one sixth of them visit Room 18, the Duveen Galleries. That figure is easily matched and surpassed by the Athens Museum so please don’t worry about numbers.

Righting the wrongs of history is a tussle that the Western world is going through in a big way as I write this, and, Tiffany Jenkins, it has to be lived through and responded to else the BM and like-minded finders-keepers mentalities will hold us in thrall to the high-handed days of yore, which are mainly despicable in the light of modern sensibilities. Take a leaf, say I, out of the thinking that prevails in the great Dutch museums where a certain humanity prevails. Other museums feel the same it seems. UNESCO certainly does, as a whole body.

Nothing bad will happen, only good, if arguably the greatest of the national museums were to behave like a mensch and give the blasted Parthenon Marbles back to the Greeks."

Respecfully and sincerely,
Janet Suzman

When Emily Sheffield wrote: "I’m sorry, dear Greeks, but the Elgin Marbles simply must stay here." There was an outcry, not just by readers of the Evening Standard but those that were trying to understand how such a statement was meant to show empathy towards a global community that has supported the reunification for decades.

We're guessing that the ES, as the London paper, is quite happy for the Parthenon Marbles to remain divided as it might suit Londoners to pop into Room 18 to have a look at this peerless collection of sculptures. That they are referered to as 'Elgin Marbles' is an afront given the history. But then Emily Sheffield has also been quick to criticise MP Elizabeth Truss for wanting to rewrite history, when the BM has being doing so for some time.

If London visitors don't appreciate that what is exhibited in Room 18, isn't the whole collection, nor that there is another half in the Acropolis Museum, that's just geography. The fact that Lord Elgin removed these sculptures, or rather he paid men with metal saws and crowbars to remove the best ones at a time when Greece had no voice, well that's just a tragic part of history. A part of history museum visitors have to come to terms with too. Well, at least according to Emily Sheffield and the British Museum.

Read Emily Sheffield's article here.

BCRPM's tweet thread on reading the article below, on 21 January 2023.

Pictured above Victoria Hislop in Room 18 on the 13th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum, June 2022. Protest led by BCRPM and supporters.

the Acropolis Museum's 9th anniversary, annual protest at the BM, this was led by R.E.T.U.R.N

Fact: in reuniting these sculptures with their other surviving halves in the Acropolis Museum, the British Museum can still continue to showcase all of the world's cultures under one roof. The sky isn't going to fall in.

typo in above tweet , *nation* ought to be without an 's', apologies. The image quote for legibility below: 

Friday 01 July 2016, 18.30–20.00 @ British Museum's BP Lecture Theatre a 'special event' for the 200th year anniversary of the British Museum’s acquisition of the Elgin collection.

Chaired by Curator Ian Jenkins, British Museum, panellists include David Bindman, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at UCL, Athena Leoussi, Associate Professor in European History at the University of Reading, and author and historian Dominic Selwood. Introduced by Lesley Fitton, Keeper of the Department of Greece and Rome, British Museum.

And a reminder to Dominic Selwood that if he believes Lord Elgin 'saved the Parthenon marbles' - BCRPM's response is as follows:

1. Whether or not Elgin "rescued" the Parthenon Marbles, that is no excuse for holding on to them now;

2. The Greeks fought their war of independence in the name of Hellenism, a concept and a spirit preserved and transmitted through their language throughout centuries of conquests and occupations;

3. The Parthenon is a monument of unique significance not just for Greece but for western civilisation;

4. The Parthenon is a fixed monument and it is in Greece;

5. The sculptures are integral architectural elements of it;

6. Both the Parthenon and it's other sculpted elements lack artistic integrity while they are separated;

7. Admittedly, the sculptures can no longer be re fixed to the Parthenon or indeed displayed anywhere in the open. However in the glass walled Parthenon Gallery of the magnificent Acropolis Museum, glassed walled and in line of sight of the Parthenon, and only there, they can be viewed simultaneously with the building to which they belong. Thus the case for reunification of the Parthenon marbles is not a legal one about rights of ownership, current or historic, but cultural and ethical. The onus of justification should be on those who resist restoring the integrity of the sculptures from the Parthenon - the Parthenon a UNESCO World Heritage monument, the very emblem of UNESCO itself.

London, Thanasis Gavos

The idea of  "rotating" loans for the sculptures from the Parthenon is unsatisfactory when one also considers that Greece's ask is wholly justified. The ask is for the permanent reunification of all these sculptures. A request that was first made shortly after Greece gained her independence.

British supporters for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles consider the possible "deal" described by a Bloomberg report on Tuesday night to be disappointing.

Citing sources on the ongoing talks, the news articles said parts of the sculptures could be returned over time and "on a rotational basis" from the British Museum to the Acropolis Museum, as part of a "cultural exchange".

In light of this, Professor Paul Cartledge, Vice-Chair of the British Committee for Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and Vice-Chair of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), said that he understands that the Bloomberg report has been denied by the Greek Ministry of Culture .

"I can understand why both the British Museum is keen to give the impression that it is not just saying no (to reunification) but that it is interested in some kind of negotiated solution, while on the other hand I fully understand why the Ministry of Culture in Greece would accept nothing less than the return of all that the British Museum and, incidentally, other museums - as a whole and for eternity" the former professor of Ancient Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge told SKAI.

"None of these piecemeal 'here you go, you can have this piece of frieze and then we expect some nice things from you back and then we'll give you some more of the frieze', i.e. we'll lend them to you, we won't give them to you of course," Mr. Cartledge added, rejecting the content of the deal described by Bloomberg sources.

The British professor agrees, however, that even if we have not reached the desired outcome, the constant references to talks and possible agreements prove that progress has been made.

"I think the pressure is intensifying. The fact that the Pope has agreed to give back – and not in some way lend or raise any legal issue – the pieces held by the Vatican Museums, is the latest in a series of different things that have been achieved outside of Britain. All this leads to the conclusion that it is obvious that the British Museum's Chair and Trustees should do the right thing and enter into negotiations on the basis that the relevant laws (preventing reunification) should be amended or withdrawn for this specific case. But also that they wish, not that they are obliged, that they wish to give back (the Sculptures) as they normally should. So there is no doubt that (there is) this  idea of the deal, as if the British Museum has some basis on a moral basis, which we believe it does not have," Professor Cartledge noted.

The rotation of the Sculptures would not solve the issue of ownership. Another thorn, of course, is the British Museum Act of 1963 which prohibits the removal of exhibits from the British Museum's collection.

A possible way out of this is the British Charity Act of 2022, as pointed out by lawyer George Dimaras who specializes in cases of mixed national jurisdiction and works in Greece, Britain and other countries: "Greece's ownership arguments remain strong. However, there is also the recent change in legislation in Britain in 2022 and the Charity Act, which allows museum to request the return of objects found in British museum collections on the basis of moral obligations. Although this is a difficult issue, perhaps the new law could affect decisions regarding the Parhenon Sculptures," the Greek lawyer, George Dimaras told SKAI.

It should be noted, however, that the implementation of two crucial articles of the new law has been put on hold by the British government in order to  carry out additional research in order to "thoroughly asses their impact" on museum collections.

Source: skai.gr

To liten to the report, follow the link here.

A Modern Caryatid Pleads for her “Sister’s” Return

Walking down Euston Road on my way to the tube, I see the familiar sight of the St. Pancras Church caryatids looking down on me. These elegant, sculpted figures replace normal columns, supporting the building of which they are part. No one else seems to notice them or pay them much attention, but I stop to admire them, six ancient Greek women, standing tall, overlooking the London traffic; I feel proud looking up at them.

I know these girls well not only from the Acropolis, but from my own small village in Laconia, Karyai (Karyes), from where these maidens are said to come. The 2nd century AD travel writer Pausanias describes how they would have performed dances for Artemis of the Walnut-trees in her open air temple. There’s a replica of the caryatids in my village as well, which I remember climbing and clambering over since I was young. Standing at the top of a cliff overlooking the village’s entrance, our monument stands guard over the village of Karyai and establishes the caryatid’s Lakonian roots, which no one can claim from them.

To contrast this, in the Acropolis Museum, five of the originals from the Athenian Acropolis are joined by an empty space – an empty space waiting for the sixth caryatid, stolen by Lord Elgin in 1802, and today in the British Museum, to join her Athenian sisters.

As a PhD student in Classics (Classical Art and Archaeology) at the University of Cambridge, I place emphasis on the importance of unification. This is where the crux of the issue lies: the sculptures taken from the Athenian Acropolis are integral parts of monuments and Greece is their home. From the moment in which there is an ideal locale for their display, and here I refer to the New Acropolis Museum (built in 2009), whose galleries will enhance their impact and appreciation due to their visual and physical proximity to the Acropolis, there is no excuse for them not to be returned, to be appreciated as close as possible to their original context. The impact of a full Parthenon frieze and pediments would be nothing short of magnificent, giving for the first time in over 200 years a sense of the monument’s true grandeur.

The compromise to display treasures which have never before left Greece’s shores in the British Museum is more than fair, and in fact could be used as an opportunity to discuss also the impact of these objects on British antiquarians and intellectuals. Neo-classicism was a current so strong it prompted men like Lord Byron to die for a country that was not theirs by blood (although it certainly was by love, hence the term Philhellene) and this is something for which we Greeks are eternally grateful, as our bi-centennial celebrations this year demonstrated. I believe the display of other treasures would highlight this special 200-year relationship between Greece and the U.K. in a more equal and egalitarian way than stubbornly holding on to the Sculptures as if they are the singular prize. That would be true Philhellenism, of which Lord Byron himself would be proud.

The British Museum has the power to make the moral choice, the just choice, in the current negotiations. As an institution which is dedicated to preserving human history through its art and culture, I have no doubt the Museum and its Trustees will have also taken the time to understand history’s lessons. In this way, the six caryatids could finally be together again.

N.b. The caryatid in the British Museum, although an ‘Elgin’ marble, is not, in stricto sensu, one of the Parthenon sculptures.It is also not included in Greece's request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, currently displayed in the British Museum's Room 18.

Daphne D. Martin is PhD Candidate, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge

This article was also published in Ta Nea on 24 January 2022.

TA NEA 20 November 2021

Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with the British Prime Minister, brought the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures back onto the world stage. Boris Johnson's response was limited to the long-established rote, that this is a matter for the British Museum, and despite UNESCO’s recent decision that the issue should be discussed between two nations: Greece and the UK. The British Prime Minister's answer has been used before, and has become a standard reply.

The British Museum is not a state museum. However, it is generously subsidized by the state. And, of course, it is subject to British law. According to the current law (1963), its Trustees are not entitled to consent to the removal of the Sculptures. However, this does not mean that the British Government is not entitled, if the will is there, to amend this law.

Elgin was an opportunist and used illegal and illegitimate means to fircibly remove and export the Sculptures from Greece for his own purposes, to decorate his ancestral home. This is a blatant act of theft, accompanied by unprecedented vandalism, which caused incalculable damage to the monument, in addition to the physical damage and aesthetic integrity.

Elgin, acted as a looter, when he went on to sell the Sculptures to the British government, which in turn placed them in the British Museum. The British government , knowingly, accepted products of theft, ignoring the scandal that erupted in public opinion at that time, the strong objections and protests of prominent figures in Britain and Europe. The historical data of the Ottoman rule proves that there was no legal acquisition of the Sculptures by Elgin and, consequently, not by the British Museum also.

The struggle of Greece for the repatriation of the Sculptures began almost immediately after the establishment of the Greek State. It became international in the 80’s with Melina Mercouri’s passionate, official request, made to both the British Museum and UNESCO.

Our position has been from the outset and remains national, unanimous, unchanging, and clear. The violent and destructive forced removal of the Sculptures from the Parthenon and their subsequent division from their natural and conceptual environment is contrary to the current laws, the common sense of justice and the morals of the time, which took place, are still evident. Today, it is also still contrary to national and international law, international agreements, and conventions, as well as to commonly accepted principles and concepts for the protection and management of cultural heritage.

The Greek State does not recognize the British Museum’s right of ownership, and possession of the Sculptures. On the contrary, it is constitutionally and morally obliged to claim and pursue by any  appropriate means their final, permanent return, in order to restore the law and moral order, and above all to restore the integrity of the monument.

Our claim for the reunification of the Sculptures has in addition a broader and universal cultural dimension. Unlike other looted monuments, the Parthenon Sculptures are integral parts of a complex architecture and artistic creation, constituting a single and indivisible natural, aesthetic, and conceptual entity. At the same time, the Parthenon is in direct relationship and relevance to the buildings that surround it and, which, constitute an inseparable unity, which is determined and highlighted by the natural landscape of the Acropolis. This unity has a specific ideological and conceptual background, while it conveys specific messages and symbolisms.

Perpetuating the breakdown of the integrity of the Parthenon, with its universal symbolic value and unifying power, is a constant moral and cultural crime. For this reason, the Greek request was not limited to a national context. It acquired an international dimension. It has emerged as a universal, urgent, and always timely demand of civil society everywhere. On a symbolic level it has become synonymous with the international demand for universal respect for and defense of the common cultural heritage of humanity.

On the other hand, the British Museum, and those behind it, remains attached to colonial origins, starting from a basic component of their character and mentality, the competitive collection and demonstration of all kinds of "acquisitions" and "trophies".

The Greek State, at the highest level, has declared its intention to remedy the void that the return of the Sculptures will create in the British Museum, offering temporary exhibitions of outstanding antiquities. At the same time, however, it assures the British side that as long as it persists in its refusal, Greece will continue to intensify the pressure internationally, until it becomes unbearable, and the British are forced to reconsider their stance.

Dr Lina Mendoni
Minister for Culture and Sports

To read the original article in Greek, visit Ta Neaand we've added a link to a pdf of that page.

The possible solution to Greece's long-standing request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures from London may be held by... robots.

It is the first time in history that one of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum has been replicated using digital 3D technology and a robot.

The famous chariot horse head of the goddess Selene: the ancient Greeks believed that a goddess Selene carried the moon across the sky each night. They imagined her driving a horse-drawn chariot with two white horses. Selene's crown lit up the moon as her white horses galloped across the night sky. And the horse's head in the British Museum is the exquisite sculpture carved by Pheidias in 5th century BC, and this year, 2022 digitally reproduced and carved by robotic 3D imaging machines.

The director and founder of the Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA), Roger Michael described to ERT how they managed to scan the sculptures after the British Museum refused them permission.

"We asked the British Museum for permission to scan some of the items. We were surprised when they refused to give it to us, but we decided to take matters into our own hands and so we did the scans using portable equipment at the British Museum. We then converted these scans into a 3D model and from that 3D model, we then created this amazing marble sculpture carved from precious Pentelian marble," Roger Michael told ERT .

The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) chose the head of a horse of Selene, which adorned the right end of the Parthenon's East pediment, as their first work of perfect reproduction.

“It's one of the most well-known works of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum, and we chose it for that very reason, because one of the things we're trying to show with this installation is how great the technology is, how close to the original we can be with this reconstruction. Because it shows an animal reaching the limits of its effort, it's really an incredible sculpture," said Mr. Michael.

"It's chilling, this accuracy! I think it's great that we can feed information into a machine that makes a perfect copy of a work made by a human hand. The magic of it is amazing," Dame Janet Suzman, the Chair of the  tells ERT.

Ms. Suzman, a multi-award winning actress was introduced to the plight of these sculptures, and the campaign by “ the tornado that was Melina Mercouri when she came here to the UK and swept us all along with her, she was a strong wind. And we were like autumn leaves falling and that's when I got excited," as she described her meeting with the culture Minister at the time.

Shuttershock image, user ID 361013921. Photo of Jane Suzman with Melina Mercouri and Vanessa Redgrave 

The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) is proposing to replace the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum with exact replicas, something that covers the museum's argument as an educational institution and at the same time restores the Greeks' connection to their ancient heritage.

The debate has been intense in recent months about the Greek request, the people support it as shown by the opinion polls, and the Chair of the British Museum, George Osborne himself said that "an agreement is possible". But has the time for such an agreement arrived?

"Greeks love sculptures not only because they represent Greece in that part of history. Greece has many sculptures from the fifth century that do a much better job than these objects of representing this art. They love these works because of what they represent. They are part of their national pride, their heritage, for sentimental reasons, and that is why the originals must return to Greece. Britain needn't care about any of this. It's not their story. It is not their national heritage. It's not their national pride," Roger Michael told ERT.

Asked if she thought the British Museum would take up the idea, Dame Suzman replied: “ It's very imaginative at the moment. That seems to be the case. They haven't gotten there yet. But I think they will. Because they have to. They need to get their feet out of the mud. They are stuck in the mud. They are stuck."

"For 200 years, these things did their job, to awaken British academic, historical, social circles, and the awareness of the classical world was a huge resurgence of research and science , which these guys did," she says, pointing to sculpted replica of the horse's head.

"As my grandmother would say, enough already. They have to go home. They have to go." Dame Suzman stated categorically.

Roger Michael reveals to ERT that he spoke to the Chair of the British Museum, George Osborne in the summer and "there is no doubt that this will happen".

George Osborne has already told The Times "there is a deal that can be done".

The founder of the Digital Technology Institute said Greece's Ambassador, Ioannis Raptakis was speaking directly to Mr Osborne and he thought "negotiations are going very well."

Mr. Michael emphasized that, " in fact, I would not be surprised if when the Prime Minister of Greece comes to England next week he makes some very optimistic announcement. George Osborne is very clever. He is very successful. He's a politician, but he's also the publisher of a major newspaper, so he not only understands politics, but how to communicate politics. He is a man who cares about his heritage. He does not want to be the last who against the moral judgment of the whole world hangs from these things like grim death. He wants to be the man who finds a solution to a 200-year-old conflict and to be a hero, here in Britain but also in Greece, that's the person he wants to be. I guarantee you that's what I got from talking to him. And this is what I take from the knowledge of people who know him. But Ambassador Raptakis is exactly the same, a very pragmatic man but also a man who I think also cares about his legacy and would like nothing better than to be the man who negotiates an agreement ," Mr. Michael pointed out, noting that the problem may be the word to be used, however diplomacy is working in this direction and he thinks "we will hear some good news very soon."

Roger Michel of the Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA), the 3D sculpted horse's head at the Freud Museum and Ambassador Ioannis Raptakis, Greece's Ambassador to the UK

ERT asked the British Museum about the new proposal and received the following answer:

”There are replicas of the British Museum Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum, where they are displayed alongside the sculptures that remained in Athens. Our Greek colleagues from the Acropolis Museum have been to the British Museum in 2013 and 2017 to scan sculptures from the Parthenon."

The horse's head is on display at the Freud Museum in London. "The construction time of the copy was about two months, while it costed about 100 thousand euros"  explained Alexi Karenovska, Director of Technology of the Institute of Digital Archaeology and added that "the next copy will be the depiction of the Battle of the Titans from the Metopian fragment of Parthenon, also in the British Museum."

The first exact copy of the Parthenon Sculptures, the Selene's horse head in the British Museum with the help of 3D digital technology took its place in history, reviving hope for the repatriation of the originals to the Acropolis Museum.

Interview by: Evdoxia Lymberi, to read the article online and watch the news bulletin, follow the link to ertnews.gr here.

All News from Greece and the World @ ertnews.gr

TAN The Art Newspaper 23 November 2021

Martin Bailey reports on the classified documents on the sculptures from the Parthenon, compiled in 1991. 

David Miers, became British Ambassador in Athens in 1989 and in 1991 organised a visit to Athens for the then Conservative arts minister Timothy Renton. After this visit, David Miers wrote a report for the Foreign Office which was passed on to the Office of Arts and Libraries (a precursor to the government’s culture department). In this report the UK Ambassador referred to the Parthenon Marbles as an "issue on which we can never win: the best we can do is to keep our heads down as far as possible: and avoid using defensive arguments here in Greece which will sound hollow in Greek ears.”

“For instance I do not think the argument about the trustees of the museum is a very good one for use here. The Greeks know that we could legislate [to allow deaccessioning] if we wanted: the problem for them is that we don’t want [to].” 

A separate letter in the file argues that the Marbles would be safer in London than Athens. A foreign office official wrote that the British government cited “environmental concerns as further reasons for keeping the Marbles in their controlled environment in the British Museum”, in view of “severe air pollution in Athens”.

Then in 2009 the Acropolis Museum opened, and  this year the British Museum has closed Room 18 for maintenance. Reports of the leaking glass roof began in December 2019 and in January and February 2020 heaters where placed in this room whilst in the summer months, the fire exit door was left open for ventilation, underlining the lack of climate controls. This year's closure of Room 18 continues.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Johnson, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pointed out that Greece still holds the UK government responsible for the continued presence of the Marbles in the British Museum.

To read the full article, please follow the link here.

Telegraph 26 November 2021

The Telegraph article cites The Art Newspaper article quoting the British Ambassador to Greece, Sir David Miers, admitting that the UK would not win the argument on the division of the Parthenon Marbles between Athens and London.

The Telegraph also picks up on a letter written by Johnson in 2012 when he was Mayor of London, where he admits that the sculptures from the Parthenon "should have never been removed from the Acropolis."

Saturday 27 November 2021, TA NEA

UK Correspondent Yannis Andritsopoulos interviews Denis MacShane and writes about the opportunity to reunite the sculptures when Tony Blair became Prime Minister.

Denis MacShane goes on to add that he'd met up with George Osborne at a recent function and the matter of the sculptures was raised, however George Osborne, just into his position as the new Chair of the British Museum, was 'full of contempt'.

George Osborne as part of the establishment will no doubt feel that he can be dismissive on this issue and follow the well rehearsed example of successive British Museum Directors and Chairs of the Trustees.

When Hartwig Fisher described the continued division of the Parrthenon Marbles as 'creative', the media world exploded, and when Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis failing yet again to accept the UK governments responsibility, the media world found more letters and documents to prove that this dismissive attitude by the UK Government is not new. And yet times are changing. Where will the UK stand as more museums are doing their best to return artefacts removed from countries of origin where the voice of that nation, at that time, was not to be heard? History doesn't have to be rewritten for old wrongs to be put right, for there are cases when we can do better than just roll out contempt.

George Osborne made his first official speechduring a dinner held at the British Museum by the Trsutee on Wednesday 24 November. And in reading it, one can but conclude that there will be no visionary changes at the British Museum, with the exception of the new Museum in Nigeria to house the Benin Bronzes.This museum is designed by architect David Adjaye.

Angelina Giovani from Flynn & Giovani, Art Provenance Research took to twitter to respond to Emily Sheffield's Evening Standard article. It's a thread that deserves to be conserved. Thank you Angelina.

You can read Angelina Giovani's thread on 'The Provebance Research Blog' which responds to Emily Sheffield's Evening Standard article: "I’m sorry, dear Greeks, but the Elgin Marbles simply must stay here."

Saturday 22 July, 2023, the Aspects of History pocast with Oliver Webb-Carter discussed the long running culural conundrum that keeps the Parthenon Marbles mainly divided between two great museums of the world: the Acropolis Museum, Athens and the British Museum, London.

Aspects of History's editor, Oliver welcomed Paul Cartledge, ancient historian and the author of countless books on ancient Greece with Dr Tessa Dunlop, author, biographer and presenter.

Helen Glynn, from BP or not BP? said:

‘The Troy exhibition has inspired us to create this magnificent beast, because the Trojan Horse is the perfect metaphor for BP sponsorship. On its surface the sponsorship looks like a generous gift, but inside lurks death and destruction. This is our 40th performance intervention at the British Museum: for eight years our peaceful creative protests have been dismissed and the museum has continued to back BP. Now the planet is literally burning. So we invite everyone to come along to our mass action tomorrow and make sure the museum can no longer ignore the fact that, in order to have a liveable planet, BP Must Fall.’

Those that gathered on Saturday 08 February 2020 to support the activists and the performers, were all targeting BP’s sponsorship of the museum’s current Troy: Myth and Reality exhibition.

Multiple groups from around the world came together in the museum to make the links between climate change, fossil fuel extraction, colonialism, human rights abuses and workers’ rights, using the museum as a backdrop for calls for justice and decolonisation and reimagining what a truly enlightened, responsible and engaged British Museum could look like.

Room 18, The Parthenon Galleries was no exception. Groups gathered to hear Danny Chivers of BP or not BP? helped by Marlen Godwin of the BCRPM, to explain the connection of Saturday's protest againt BP sponsorship of exhibitions at the British Museum, with the unfair 200 year plus division of the Parthenon Marbles. The peerless collection of the sculptures from the Parthenon are mainly exhibited between the British Museum in London and the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

BCRPM has been campaigning for the return of the sculptures from London to Athens, since 1983. The 'new' Acropolis Museum was officially opened in June 2009, picking up an award in London in November 2010. In June 2019, it celebrated it's 10th anniversary and BCRPM helped Hellena Micy sing her song for the Parthenon Marbles in Room 18. Hellena sang  her song 10 times, once for every year that the museum in Athens has welcomed visitors from all over the world. To listen to Hellena's song, please follow the link here.

2020 is also Melina Mercouri year. With that in mind, BCRPM had t-shirts printed for the day and included in the presentations in Room 18 the background to Melina's pleas for the return of the sculptures. We would like to thank the Melina Mercouri Foundation for their kind permission to use the image of Melina on the t-shirt. If you would like to order one, kindly email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Celebrating the activist Melina Mercouri, who had championed for all freedoms, from the freedom of speech and to more, BCRPM also remembered their Chair, Dame Janet Suzman when she had campaigned and protested against  aparththeid in South Africa. These two activist women share a great deal, from acting to their passionate protests, to their love for the Parthenon and its sculptures. To this day Janet continues to be enthusiastic about protests in the BM, so much so that in 2018, she wrote words that Danny Chivers read out in Room 18.

In 2019 at another BP or not BP? protest, Cambridge University stdent Petros Papadopoulos also quoted Janet during his passionate plea for the 'RETURN' of the marbles to Athens.

 And so to the protest on 08 February 2020, Janet's words were heard in Room 18 once again: 

These unmatched sculptures that you see before you have a home waiting for them. These figures, part of an ancient belief system, have been stranded in the grandest refugee centre you’ve ever seen - the great British Museum itself. But home is where they were created two and a half thousand years ago.

In Athens stands a fine building especially built to house them, and this year in June, the New Acropolis Museum will celebrate its eleventh anniversary. On its top floor there are yearning gaps where these very sculptures should be sitting, joined with the other half of the pedimental carvings and in direct sight of the ancient building from which they were chopped, and which, astonishingly, still stands proud on its ancient rock. That fact alone makes these sculptures unique; we can still see exactly where they first displayed themselves, for they were never intended as separate 'works of art', but as part of the mighty whole of Athena’s glorious temple. Who, one wonders, was a mere occupying Sultan to sign away the genius of Periclean Athens?

Now is the time to do the right thing. SIMPLE JUSTICE DEMANDS IT! GO BM! Do it! 

The protest was also covered in Ta Nea with an article by Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK Correspondent for Ta Nea, based in London. 

'Leaving aside the “thin end of the wedge” argument for a moment, consider this: what if that act of restitution was regarded not as a loss, but as a gain?' writes and questions Charlotte Higgins, chief culture writer for the Guardian. 

Charlotte also talks to Esme Ward, Director of the Manchester Museum. After a £15m renovation, the museum will re-open on the 18th of February with 'a physical and ethical renovation'. Esme Ward says she has been determined to broaden the definition of the idea of “care” that sits at the heart of the idea of curatorship. She believes that curatorship should go beyond the basic obligation of a museum to preserve artefacts; it should also care for its community.

And so, after long conversations and exchanges, in 2020, Manchester Museum returned 43 sacred objects to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Esme Ward speaks about this as a gain for the Manchester Museum. "Above all it is a gain in knowledge; the kind of haptic, experiential knowledge of place and use that can be absent from dry descriptions of artefacts in museum catalogues. The gain is also by way of a relationship with the Australian institution – one that may result in long-term cooperation, including possible loans to Manchester. And even considered in bald binary terms, her museum has “lost” only 43 collection items out of around 4,000 relating to Aboriginal communities."

And we also know that the British Museum has over 100,000 Greek artefacts with just over 6,000 on display. We also know that for the last two decades, Greece has been suggesting that should the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles be failitated, Greece would lend the BM artefacts not yet exhibited outside of Greece.

Charlotte Higgins also quotes the BM: “we operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle the museum’s collection as it tells the story of our common humanity. We are however looking at longterm partnerships, which would enable some of our greatest objects to be shared with audiences around the world. Discussions with Greece about a Parthenon Partnership are ongoing and constructive.”

We would add that no one wishes to see the BM break the law but basic moral decency is needed in this particular case. The case for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles has been a steadfast request, made by Greece nearly 2 centuries ago, post independence. This requst has never been for ALL Greek artefacts to be returned. It currently asks for a peerless collection of fragmented sculptures to be given a new 21st century chapter in the Acropolis Museum. An opportunity for all of hmanity to celebrate the reunification of these sculptures, as close as it is physically possible to the Parthenon, which still stands and crowns the Acropolis: a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We've been around this block so many times, we're dizzy, and this October, BCRPM celebrates 40 years of campaigning. It seems we'll be embracing more campaigning before the solution to this historical impasse amongst two nations that are friends, might be respectfully found.

To read Charlotte Higgins' Guardian article, follow the link here.  

Yannis Andritsopoulos reports in Ta Nea on 21 September 2019: Britain has rejected Greece’s request to hold talks on returning the Parthenon Marbles after Athens proposed a meeting between experts from the two countries, it can be revealed.

Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper, has obtained a letter written last year by Jeremy Wright the then culture secretary, which states that the UK will not enter a discussion with Greece about the permanent reunification of the sculptures.

“If the expert meeting is being convened to discuss (the Marbles’) permanent transfer (to Greece), the British Museum cannot participate in further discussion on this issue,” the UK culture secretary wrote on December 3, 2018.

Wright was responding to a letter written by his Greek counterpart, Lydia Koniordou, in which she asked the British government to discuss the matter with Greece “at the appropriate interstate level”.

Koniordou sent her letter on August 10, 2018 and suggested that “a bilateral expert meeting” should take place in Athens “preferably in October or November 2018”.

However, Wright’s response to this request arrived four months later. His letter was addressed to Myrsini Zorba, who had since replaced Koniordou as Greece’s culture minister.

In his letter, the British culture secretary rejected Greece’s invitation, telling his Greek counterpart that any request regarding the Parthenon Marbles should be submitted to the British Museum rather than the British government.

“As is very well known, the Parthenon sculptures in London are owned by and are the legal responsibility of the Trustees of the British Museum, which is independent of Government, and they have been on permanent and prominent public display at the museum for the last two hundred years,” the letter reads.

Wright goes on to say that “the Trustees believe that the British Museum is the best place for the sculptures to be seen in the context of their rich contribution to the history of the whole of humanity. The UK Government fully supports the Trustees' position on the sculptures.”

Responding to Greece’s request for a bilateral meeting in Athens, Wright stresses that it is the British Museum, rather than the government, that should participate.

“The British Museum would therefore be an essential contributor, and indeed lead on any meaningful expert meeting concerning the Parthenon sculptures in their collection and, accordingly, my officials have sought their opinion on Ms Koniordou's proposal.”

However, the British Museum advised that it would not take part in such talks. Subsequently, the Greek government’s request was rejected by the UK government.

“The British Museum's view is that if the expert meeting is being convened to discuss permanent transfer, they cannot participate in further discussion on this issue. Their position on this is very clear, including on the historical, cultural, legal and ethical dimensions of the case, which have been explored at length in recent decades,” the letter reads.

Wright adds, however, that “the Trustees will consider any request for any part of the collection to be borrowed and then returned, provided the borrowing institution acknowledges the British Museum's ownership and that the normal loan conditions are satisfied.”

However, Greece insists that it is the rightful owner of the Parthenon Marbles. The Greek government says that the sculptures were illegally removed from the Parthenon during the Ottoman occupation of Greece in the early 1800s.

‘Deep cultural trauma’

Responding to Wright, Zorba sent her counterpart a letter dated May 30, 2019, in which she says that the ‘dismembered’ Parthenon Marbles “constitute an open wound to a World Heritage Site of the stature of the Acropolis. This is nothing less than a deep cultural trauma in the eyes of mankind.”

Zorba adds that “the return and-re-integration of the Parthenon Marbles remains a firm demand”, stressing that maintaining a dialogue on the issue is “an objective of major importance and of cultural responsibility towards both History and the moral order.”

“We would be willing to participate in it, provided it will not be rendered unrealistic through the insistence on such kinds of prerequisites. We call upon you to re-examine all of the facts, in order for us to be able to resume a well-meaning sincere dialogue, free from prerequisites or binding admissions and able to bear fruit in the future,” Greece’s then culture minister says.

The UK government has not responded to this letter. However, on June 10, 2019, arts minister Rebecca Pow wrote a letter to Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, in which she repeated word for word Jeremy Wright’s response to Zorba.

Dame Janet had previously written to Wright, saying that “the Government and the British Museum must attempt to show respect for the Parthenon and therefore also for its sculptures”.

“Keeping these very specific sculptures divided smacks of imperialism, an era we surely cannot continue to pay homage to without seriously re-considering the mood of the world we live in. Continued excuses not to reunite this peerless collection ring hollow,” she stressed.

Athens has repeatedly called for the permanent return of the 2,500-year-old sculptures that Lord Elgin removed from the Acropolis temple. The British Museum has consistently ruled out giving back the marbles, saying they were acquired legally.

“With an overwhelming sense of awe for the comprehensiveness of the collections in the British Museum, I yet cannot help being equally overwhelmed by its sense of superiority. The same rather smug ownership song is being sung,” Dame Janet Suzman told Ta Nea.

“Can the Director and Trustees not see that there is a different mood in the world? Can they not see that the Duveen Gallery is just one of a myriad of world exhibitions under its impressive roof?,” she added.

“Can they not admit that millions of their visitors find that they have entirely missed the Marbles due to other fascinations? In any case the visitor figures the BM gives out never indicate a figure for those who specifically visit the Marble galleries.”

“The New Acropolis Museum in Athens has an entirely more focussed task; it stands in sight of the Parthenon, and every floor of it is concentrated on the glories that were Greece. The spaces that should be filled by the BM’s Parthenon collection are a painful lacuna.”

“Every decent impulse for reunification should be awakened and seriously discussed by the both the BM Trustees and the British Government instead of repeatedly providing statutory replies. Depressingly they are not. When will they both wake from their Rip van Winkle-ish slumbers and realise the world has changed? The Empire is so very over.”

“Ex-Director Neil MacGregor himself says that the British think of their past in order to comfort themselves, whereas the Germans (he is a student of German history) reflect on their history in order to look to the future. They should start to emulate that honesty before another period of intellectual arthritis sets in,” Dame Janet added.

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr)    

Publication date: 21 September 2019   

English version: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exclusive-uk-turned-down-greek-request-experts-return-andritsopoulos

Original version (in Greek): https://www.tanea.gr/print/2019/09/21/politics/agapitoi-ellinescrta-glypta-anikouncrsto-mouseio-mas/

Ta Nea, article by UK Correspondent, Yiannis Andritsopoulos

The Institute of Digital Archaeology to appeal against the British Museum's refusal to allow access to the Parthenon Sculptures

The Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA) in Oxford will take legal action against the British Museum following the institution's inexplicable refusal to allow the Parthenon Sculptures to be scanned in order to make marble replicas of the fragmented pieces, housed in London since 1816.

'TA NEA' reported on the rejected response, which infuriated the Institute, as it was denied access to the Duveen Gallery where the masterpieces of Pheidias are housed.

“I'm really surprised at how short-sighted people can be. This arbitrary refusal reveals the intransigence of the British Museum, its arrogance and snobbishness", stated the director of the Institute, Roger Michel, to TA NEA.

IDA is a partnership between the universities of Oxford and Harvard. The project of reproducing the sculptures "with millimetre precision", which was reported in TA NEA in January: the Institute will offer the copies to the British Museum, inviting it to return the originals to Greece. The initiative received wide publicity in Britain and was 'applauded' by the conservative press, the ‘Times’ and the ‘Telegraph’.

The request to photograph these sculptures with three-dimensional imaging cameras was submitted on 08 February. The answer came the day before yesterday. "Digital scanning plays an important role in research and can lead to new discoveries related to various objects such as the Parthenon Sculptures," the response reads, adding, however, that "we are not in a position to approve your request. However, the reasons for the decision shall not be disclosed, nor shall any justification for declining the request be provided."

"It took almost a month and a half to reply to our request. Every week they would email me and assure me that the request we made is very common and it will be effortless for them to respond positively. In the end, they rejected it, without giving us any explanation," says Michel, a scientific fellow of Trinity College of Oxford.

It was precisely this fact that made him choose to use the judicial route. "This is an arbitrary and irrational decision. The Museum's refusal conceals a prejudice towards us. I do not think it is legally correct. The Museum, as a state-funded institution, must provide unhindered access to its premises."

In April, the head of the Institute will appeal this decision in a London court, stating that he is confident that he will be vindicated. "The Museum is obliged to treat all requests in the same way. As a public body, it is not entitled to act unjustifiably and arbitrarily. It does though. That's why I believe that eventually we will be given (by the court) the right to scan the Sculptures".

AFTER THE APPEAL. At the same time, Roger Michel argues that his move may pave the way for something much bigger: the return of these sculptures to Greece.

"I sincerely believe that our recourse to justice can be a catalyst for developments. The legality of the transfer of these sculptures to London and their retention by the Museum is blurred. So far, the judiciary has not been concerned that the international conventions to which Britain is bound will not allow it to hold onto cultural heritage. Is the British Museum violating some of these international agreements by keeping the Marbles in London?"

Litigation can drag on quite a bit. However, Michel is not going to shelve his ambitious project. "We are able to complete this even without the participation of the British Museum. With the material we have already gathered in other ways, we will be able in a few days to begin the three-dimensional imaging of the sculptures, on the basis of which we will make high-fidelity marble replicas."

The Museum did not provide Ta Nea with any justification for rejecting the request of IDA, other than: "It is not possible to meet all the requests we receive," a spokesman said.

20 March 2022

Sunday Telegraph

21 March 2022

The Times

Article also in 3D Printing Industry, to read more, follow the link here.

In 2011, the mindset of the British Museum was very different to that of 2022. Architect Niall McLaughlin told The Architectural Review, that his decision to 'quote' the Marbles on the athletes' block came after "researching the history and significance of the screen in architecture through the writings of Gottfried Semper and Karl Bötticher."

In the event, the decision to use the Marbles was prompted by "a clandestine conversation with senior curator Ian Jenkins late one night in the British Museum." Why clandestine?

"The last thing I want is for people to think it is to do with representing the origins of the Olympics," said MacLaughlin. 

God forbid that the Parthenon Marbles in London might be permitted to refer in any way to their Greek origins. After all, they are now what McLaughlin himself aptly describes as "deracinated". (Deracinated, for those without a dictionary to hand, originates from the late 16th century French term 'déraciner' — to tear up by the roots) wrote Tom Flynn.

This story was also covered in The Architectural Review, 30 March 2011. So what has changed 11 years later? A new Director at the British Museum, a new Chair of the Trustees at the British Museum, new Trustees, the 'retain and explain' mantra laid down by UK's current government? 

Chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne announced a new chapter for the British Museum, one that reimagines the museum. A masterplan costing £1 billion, aimed at making the British Museum, "the global museum of common humanity" with more details to be revealed next spring. 

The British Museum is also looking to change the way that it engages with communities whose treasures the museum holds in trust.

In The Times today, George Osborne insisted that the collections would not be permanently broken up, but that “some of our greatest objects” would return to their countries of origin if common ground could be found: “My message is: if you’re ready to find the common ground, then so are we.” The article goes on to highlight that the  "Western sculpture galleries will be transformed, while some of the Greek revival architecture of the building will undergo restoration. George Osborne also promised a programme of rebuilding, and a museum powered by a new energy system to make it “a net zero carbon museum — no longer a destination for climate protest but instead an example of climate solution.”

This follows the unveiling at the Freud Museum on Tuesday of a 3D replica of the chariot horse head, of the goddess Selene. The replica created by the Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA) was crafted from the same marble that all of the Parthenon sculptures were made. Roger Michel of the IDA hopes that the precision of this replica will sway the BM to support the reunification of the sculptures that have survived, and in so doing, respond to the global community's wishes to view them in the Acropolis Museum.

BCRPM's quote of 2012, continues to hold true today as it did a decade ago: 'the Parthenon Gallery in the Acropolis Museum is the one place on earth where it is possible to have a single and aesthetic experience simultaneously of the Parthenon and its sculptures. It is time for the UK to enter into dialogue with Greece about the terms of, and conditions under, which the return of these sculptures could be facilitated.'

More on the news regarding the refurbishment of the British Museum by Cristina Ruiz in The Art Newspaper from Thursday 03 November and followed on Friday 04 November, by Tessa Solomon in ARTnews.

Ahdaf Soueif, a Trustee of the British Museum since 2012, resigned a few days ago.This is the first time that a Trustee from the British Museum has resigned for moral and ethical reasons.

"Public cultural institutions have a responsibility: not only a professional one towards their work, but a moral one in the way they position themselves in relation to ethical and political questions. The world is caught up in battles over climate change, vicious and widening inequality, the residual heritage of colonialism, questions of democracy, citizenship and human rights. On all these issues the museum needs to take a clear ethical position." wrote Ahdaf SoueifAhdaf Soueif.

On twitter, we've been retweeting articles about this resignation with the hashtag #WednesdayWisdom, not because we wish to have another go at the British Museum but because we sincerely hope that Dame Jane Suzman's Cambridge debate address delivered with passion on 25 April,  will be heard again, especially when she said: 'the Parthenon Marbles can no longer be kept hostages of time in Room 18.' This was fueled by her visit to Athens ten days prior to attend a conference organised by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, where he said how "miserable and completely unworthy of Britain's tradition is the attitude of the British Museum's officials today, who thus end up appearing inferior to the circumstances and the necessities pertaining to the defence of World Cultural Heritage and our common Civilisation and, furthermore are unrepentant accomplices of Elgin's cultural crime.” 

Ahdaf Soueif announced her resignation in an open letter published by the London Review of Books blog: ‘My resignation was not in protest at a single issue; it was a cumulative response to the museum’s immovability on issues of critical concern to the people who should be its core constituency: the young and the less privileged.’

Asked whether she thinks that the British Museum should be engaged in talks with Greece about returning the Parthenon Sculptures, Soueif told Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent of Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper: “I believe it would be in everyone's interests for the Museum to engage in open, honest and transparent discussions with everyone who feels they have a claim on objects held by the Museum.”

Asked if she thinks that the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece, Soueif said she “cannot really comment more specifically,” but added that “these claims can only be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.”

BCRPM took part in the BP or not BP? protests with campaigner Danny Chivers, reading a statement from Dame Janet Suzman on Saturday 8 December 2018 in the Parthenon Gallery.

This was followed by 22 year old campaigner Petros Papadopuolos, a second year Cambridge student speaking in Room 18 during the BP or not BP?  'Stolen Goods Tour' of 04 May 2019.

Ahdaf Soueif raised her concerns with BP’s high-profile sponsorship of exhibitions at the museum: ‘It was an education for me how little it seems to trouble anyone – even now, with environmental activists bringing ever bigger and more creative protests into the museum.The public relations value that the museum gives to BP is unique, but the sum of money BP gives the museum is not unattainable elsewhere.’ she is quoted as saying in Frieze.

Just last week the Director of the British Museum Hartwig Fischer announced that the Museum will continue its relationship with BP.  From 21 November this year to 08 March 2020, BP will sponsor the museum’s upcoming exhibition “Troy, Myth and Reality”.

Soueif also raised her concern over the museum’s failure to respond to a report published in 2018, which recommended the full restitution of looted African artefacts. The report noted in that some 90% of African cultural heritage currently exists outside of the continent and is displayed in major Western museums. Economist Felwine Sarr and art historian Bénédicte Savoy were charged by Macron to develop a clear framework of what this restitution means, philosophically and politically, and what needs to be done.

In the resignation letter, Soueif goes on to cite the museum’s employment policies, which she says pushed workers into ‘economic precarity’ with its unwillingness to rehire workers following the bankruptcy of service provider Carillion in 2018. 

Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the BCRPM salutes Ahdaf Soueif and hopes that her resignation will ensure a change of heart with the British Museum's Board of Trustees. "What Ahdaf Soueif has said and done, must not fall on deaf ears or be swept aside and ignored. The time for change is here."   

"As governments are never tired of reminding us, the responsibility for all decisions on the British Museum’s holdings lies with the Board of Trustees, as an independent body. We can only hope that a new Trustee can be found who is as principled and well-informed as Ahdaf Soueif." Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Hon President of BCRPM

03 September 2019 Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper wrote his report following Prime Minister Mitsotaki's offer of a loan to the British Museum made in an article published in the Guardian.

The Greek government must acknowledge the British Museum’s ownership of the Parthenon sculptures before its Trustees consider whether or not to lend the marbles to Greece, a museum representative told Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper.

“A precondition for any loan would be an acceptance of ownership of those objects by the Trustees / the Museum”, a British Museum spokesperson told Ta Nea, commenting on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s recent statement that he will ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to approve a loan of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens in a temporary swap with other ancient artefacts.

“The Trustees will consider any loan request for any part of the collection. As yet there has been no direct contact from the Greek authorities regarding the proposal made over the weekend”, a British Museum’s spokeswoman said, stressing that “as an arms-length body, this would be a matter for the Trustees not the UK Government.”

“The British Museum is committed to sharing its collection as widely as possible, as one of the leading lenders of objects in the world we lent over 5,000 objects to venues in the UK and internationally last year,” she added.

“The Parthenon Sculptures are legal property of the British Museum. They are free to view, have been on display for over two hundred years, and millions from across the world have seen them”, a Downing Street spokesperson told Ta Nea.

“Decisions relating to their care are taken by the Trustees of the British Museum - free from political interference,” the UK government’s spokesperson said.

Mitsotakis told the Observer on Sunday that he would ask the new British prime minister to lend the marbles to Greece as part of its bicentennial celebrations in 2021.

“Given the significance of 2021, I will propose to Boris: ‘As a first move, loan me the sculptures for a certain period of timeand I will send you very important artifacts that have never left Greece to be exhibited in the British Museum’,” said the Greek premier.

On 7 June 1816, British Parliament voted to purchase from Lord Elgin his collection of sculpted marbles from the Parthenon and elsewhere on the Acropolis of Athens. They were then passed to the British Museum, where they are now on display. The British Museum is an arms-length body not under the control of the UK government.

“The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) and the twenty National Committees worldwide congratulate and firmly support Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his efforts to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens for the festive bicentennial commemoration of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 2021”, Dr Christiane Tytgat, President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) told Ta Nea.

“The loan proposition Prime Minister Mitsotakis successfully agreed with French President Macron last week - the South metope X of the Parthenon on display in the Louvre in return for a collection of bronze artefacts from Greece - was a first step on the way to making a breakthrough in the long ongoing claim by the Hellenic Government for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens,” she added.

“We warmly welcome the announcement Prime Minister Mitsotakis made in an interview with The Observer stating that he is going to propose to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, [quote] “as a first move, to loan me the sculptures for a certain period of time and I will send you very important artefacts that have never left Greece to be exhibited in the British Museum.”

“We sincerely hope that Prime Minister Johnson, as a philhellene and Classically educated person, will give this proposition consideration, and we wish Prime Minister Mitsotakis every possible success in his campaign to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in 2021,” Dr Tytgat said.

“The difference between Macron’s thoughtful, sensible and sensitive attitude to ill-gotten colonial gains stands as an admonishment to the BM’s present snooty inflexibility, which won’t deign to enter a discussion on the matter but maintains radio silence through diplomatic channels and tells outdated stories through public ones, but we fervently hope for better things from the dear British Museum very soon, as times they are a-Changing,” Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea.

“A twinge of discomfort might be starting to manifest itself since the BM has, we are told, printed up in the Duveen Galleries for the general public to digest, a pamphlet telling its ageing trope about universality. We would like them to show a further inclination to fair debate by publishing alongside their screed the now current view that it is high time the Parthenon marbles were graciously returned to be exhibited next to their other halves in the Parthenon Gallery of the superlative Acropolis Museum,” Dame Janet said. 

She added that “it would be nice if the Museum manifested a more Macronesque largesse of spirit in regard to what belongs to the Sacred Rock and the people of Greece.”

“A mutually agreed exchange of loans is certainly far preferable to the BM's shameless soft diplomacy 'loan' of 'Ilissos' to President Putin some five years back. That I thought was a calculated insult to the Greek government. President Macron's statements on the unconditional return/reunification of 26 African art objects from France paved the way for the recent talks between Greece and France,” Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, University of Cambridge, Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea.

“But of course we of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and the International Association for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) hope for and expect much more in due course - namely, the total reunification in the Acropolis Museum of ALL pieces originally from the Parthenon that are currently held in museums outside Greece (not only in the BM)! But of course we campaign especially on behalf of the Marbles currently held (prisoner) in the BM,” Professor Cartledge said.

“For that eventual reunification the Greek Govt of the day will certainly reciprocate most handsomely with spectacular loans - such as those that are scheduled or will be scheduled to go to the Louvre no doubt will be,” he added.

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr) on 03 September 2019

 English version: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/greek-pm-told-he-must-recognise-british-museum-secure-andritsopoulos/

Original version (in Greek): https://www.tanea.gr/print/2019/09/03/lifearts/tha-eksetasoume-crto-aitima-sas-monon-ean/

Calls for return of Parthenon Sculptures mount as Acropolis Museum celebrates 11th anniversary

Βy Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper 

Boris Johnson loves Ancient Greece. He studied classics at Oxford, he used to speak ancient Greek at home with his siblings, his hero is Pericles and he often tries to impress his audience by reciting extracts from the Iliad.

His love for the ancient Greek civilisation seems to be so deep that, apparently, he wants to keep a piece of it forever: the Parthenon Sculptures. They have been on display in the British Museum since 1817, a year after they were sold to the British government by Lord Elgin who had controversially removed them from the Parthenon.

Just over 200 years later, Britain's refusal to engage in talks with Greece about the Marbles’ return has sparked an international backlash.

On the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the Greek Culture minister, three British MPs and the Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles are calling for the Parthenon Sculptures’ return in exclusive comments published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper.

British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer told Ta Neathat the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum “are complementary in their approach,” adding that the museum “looks forward to continuing our collaboration and fruitful dialogue with our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum.”

Opinion polls show that the British people think the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Athens. The most recent YouGov survey was released in June 2018 and it indicated that 56 percent said the Marbles belong in Greece.
However, the British government and the British Museum say the issue is out of the question.

A UK government spokesperson told Ta Nea: “The UK’s position on the Parthenon sculptures remains unchanged – they are legally owned by the British Museum. This will not be up for discussion in any future trade negotiations.”

A British Museum spokesperson confirmed that the institution's position on the issue has not changed. The museum has previously said that a permanent return of the Parthenon Sculptures is not being considered, and if Greece wants to borrow them, it must first acknowledge the British Museum's ownership.

Mr Johnson is opposed to the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. He has said that the Marbles “were rescued, quite rightly, by Elgin” and has criticised George Clooney for suggesting Britain should return them to Greece.

However, his father, Stanley Johnson, has said there should be “a fruitful dialogue between the Greek and the British authorities (on this issue).”

 Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni told Ta Nea:

“Perhaps the main argument that the British Museum has been making for years in order not to return the Parthenon Sculptures - since 1982, when Melina Mercouri raised the issue at a UNESCO Conference of Ministers - was that Greece did not have a modern museum that could house the masterpieces of Phidias.

“Since September 2003, when the construction work for the Acropolis Museum began, Greece has been systematically demanding the return of the Sculptures which are on display in the British Museum, because they are products of theft.

“The current Greek government - like any Greek government - is not going to stop claiming the stolen sculptures which the British Museum continues to hold illegally contrary to any moral principle.

“The British government, which is washing its hands of the issue, is in stark contrast to the British public, the vast majority of which support the return of the Sculptures to their homeland.

“It is sad that one of the world's largest and most important museums is still governed by outdated colonialist views of the 1880s, and keeps on dismissing basic values of modern scientific ethics.

“Let's not forget that it was not only Elgin who mauled the Sculptures, but also the British Museum itself, using inappropriate and unscientific methods during their conservation.

“It is time for the British Museum to do what moral law and the monument (of the Parthenon) itself demands, which is also what the international public opinion is increasingly demanding.”

Dr Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, told Ta Nea:

“We send our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum our very best wishes on the occasion of their 11th anniversary: the museum provides a fantastic window into classical Athens, and is one of the great museums of the world.

“The Acropolis Museum and the British Museum are complementary in their approach, one providing an in-depth view of a major ancient city, the other a sense of the wider context and sustained cultural dialogue with the neighbouring civilisations of Egypt and the Near East in antiquity, and more recently.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration and fruitful dialogue with our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum, which in recent years has included scholarly workshops, staff placements and sharing knowledge from researching ancient polychromy to questions of display and presentation.”

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale told Ta Nea:

“While I do not hold to the view that all artefacts should be returned to their country of origin it does seem to me that the Parthenon Marbles have a good home to be returned to and a facility in which they can be properly displayed in home surroundings for the benefit and enjoyment of visitors from all over the world.”

Labour MP Mary Glindon told Ta Nea:

“I have enjoyed several classical tours of Greece and a highlight of those tours has always been the visit to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. But it’s sad that the Parthenon Marbles are in London. While they are seen in the British Museum by many people, as many, if not more, would appreciate seeing the Marbles as part of the amazing cultural experience to be enjoyed when visiting the Parthenon and the Acropolis Museum. The Marbles belong in Athens.”

SNP MP Margaret Ferrier told Ta Nea:

“The Acropolis Museum has enabled the sections of the frieze and the metopes to be enjoyed in their original context and it is now time for the Parthenon Marbles to join them. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit negotiations are continuing at pace and calls are growing for the Marbles to be returned to Greece. Returning them would be a sign that the UK is genuinely committed to looking outwards to the world after Brexit.”

Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea:

“There’s always an anniversary to celebrate. June 16th marked the 44th year since the student uprising in Soweto that was a turning point in the downfall of the apartheid state. A global reaction to the murder of a black man in America is sweeping the world, and those same students, grown much older if they survived at all, want to honour that murder by urging “a move away from a world centred on white supremacy and violence to one centred on justice and equity”.

“That argument was taken further when last week a statue was torn down from its plinth in the city of Bristol in England and thrown into the waters of the harbour where the slave ships used to anchor. Bristol, aware too well of its past, has decided that the statue should now be placed in the city museum with a full explanation of how the trader became so rich. Visitors can then understand that the defaced bronze figure is not just a benefactor of the city but a man who grew rich on other people’s misery, by exploiting the cruellest of white supremacies - the slave trade.

“And in Greece, the end of the Ottoman Empire’s occupation will be celebrated next year. Taking over bits of the world and ruling them according to your own values is an occupation that the British know only too well; at its height that Empire ruled a third of the world. So when Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman court, decided he wanted to send back bits of the Parthenon to adorn his house in Scotland, he didn't bother to ask the subject Greeks, he greased the palms of functionaries from Istanbul, persuaded his own king to provide a ship and made off with the glory that was Greece. They landed up in Room 18 of the British Museum and for 200 years have been one of its star attractions.

“So we need to ask The British Museum, hiding from the tsunami of anti-colonialist feeling sweeping the whole world, whether they would have the decency to provide visitors with the full story: how did these incomparable pieces of sculpture torn from the greatest building in the western world get to sit - out of context - in the grey grandeur of Room 18? Reunification of the Marbles would seem to be a move away from white British exceptionalism and a move towards a world the survivors of Soweto are desperate to see. While supremacy stole them away and a white sense of justice should see them restored. But until that time comes, as it surely must: tell the story. Let the people judge the fairness of their captivity in London. There is a museum waiting for them in Athens.”

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr)
Publication date: 20 June 2020
English version: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/calls-return-parthenon-sculptures-mount-acropolis-andritsopoulos
Original version in Greek (paywall): https://www.tanea.gr/print/2020/06/20/lifearts/lifestyle/epistrepste-lfta-glypta-lftou-parthenona/

Thursday 25 April 2019, Cambridge Union Debate 

This House Would Return Looted Art Back to its Country of Origin

Proposition:

Alice Procter:
Alice is an independent tour guide and art historian, best known for running the often sold-out Uncomfortable Art Tours, telling the ‘ugly truth’ about the artefacts in Britain’s museums.

Dame Janet Suzman:
Dame Janet is a renowned actor and director of both stage and screen and an Academy Award nominee. She is currently co-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, a significant lobby group working to ensure the Marbles’ return to Athens.

Professor Lord Colin Renfrew:
Hailed as, ‘The Great Restitutionist,’ Lord Renfrew is an archaeologist and Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. He is a former Master of Jesus College and a former President of the Union.

Opposition:

Dr. Kevin Childs
Kevin is a writer and lecturer on art history and has recently developed a series of pieces looking at the contribution to culture and history made by LGBT people over the millennia. He writes regularly for Independent Minds and the Independent.

Neil Curtis
Neil Curtis is Head of Museums and Special Collections at the University of Aberdeen. He is Convenor of University Museums in Scotland, Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the Ethics Committee of the Museum Association.

Lewis Thomas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Lewis is a third-year historian at Sidney Sussex College.

Below Dame Janet Suzman's prsentation

Mr President,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The burning of Notre Dame should remind us all how much a building can mean to a people.

               Fellow debaters, ladies and gentlemen,

               I am here pleading for some exquisite pieces of stone to be returned to their birthplace. They have been given shelter for 200 years and now they need to go home. They can no longer be kept hostages to time.

              I am not the first by a long shot -

              In 1986, Melina Mercouri - in a similar debate in what you no doubt call the Other Place - the Oxford Union - was tremendously moving on this special case - specialbecause of what the Parthenon means to the Greeks…

               …means to the world.

               You might say all of Western culture is predicated on this building. It is the logo of UNESCO. Every classical building in the ancient - and modern world - springs from its genius.

               It's where democracy was born.

               And single-mindedly, incomprehensibly, a mere lordling from these isles cut bits off that edifice, which, so perfect in its symmetry, is a work of art in itself.

               The temple tells the thrilling story of the pan-Athenaic procession - carved in relief by Phydias' incomparable team - surging at a gallop round the entire building; Olympians and their creatures once adorned the pediments.

              These marbles were wrenched from a building that belonged - not to 'the one true god', not a tyrant, nor a king - but to the people.

              And there - astonishingly - it still is. After two thousand years plus it still stands atop the sacred rock, bloody but unbowed, and in the eye-line of millions of Athenians going about their business down below. It is embedded in their national identity.

              Imagine the dome of St Paul's sitting in Potzdammerplatz? A Stonehenge dolmen standing in the Tuileries - no, there IS no national equivalent here.

             I was privileged to have had a meeting with His Excellency, President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos in Athens last Monday the 15th April, while I was attending a conference on the subject of these marbles.

               He wanted to make a very clear point - that the Greek government has never asked for any other piece of statuary in any other museum in the world to be returned to them. And that it never would.

               On the contrary, he said - the Greeks are very proud that the Louvre has the Winged Victory of Samothrace - they are happy to see it there.  

              They are NOT happy that Elgin attacked the Parthenon. They want their marbles back where they belong.

               The British Museum, via the Dept of Culture, stays tight-lipped. That insulting silence is way past its sell-by date.

              The reply to the President's latest request to re-consider by the Culture Secretary prompts me to offer him this simple advice: "Do NOT attempt to 'follow the logic of restitution to its logical conclusion', Mr Wright". Museum acquisitions were not exactly logically obtained, why should restitutions follow suit?

No slippery-slope-ism allowed; each case on its merits if you please.

                              --------------------------------------------------------

               A brief reminder: Greece was under Ottoman occupation when Lord Elgin was appointed Ambassador to Athens.  

               Napoleon was invading Egypt. So, on the principle of 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' sacrificing the Parthenon's glories to Elgin's whims was probably for the Sultan a mere bagatelle.

               However, exactly what 'glories' was Elgin allowed to take? Did the Sultanate specifically designate which?

               Proofs, if they exist, have hitherto skulked in murky clouds of smoke and mirrors.

               There is vague wording in an Italian transcript of a 'firman' - an official permission - in the Elgin archives - which give him leave to take 'qualque pezzi di pietra' - the word qualqueindicating 'some' or 'a few pieces of stone'.

               He was permitted to 'copy, draw, mould and dig' around the base of the Parthenon only.

              Dr Tatiana Poulou, an archeologist working on the Parthenon site today likened his depredations to the destruction by ISIS of Palmyra. That is, catastrophic.

               Prof Dimitrios Pandermalis, Director of the New Acropolis Museum, understates these barbarisms of Elgin's as: 'at least surrealistic…' as he wryly points out the upper part of this horse and the lower legs of that.

              Scholars have known, and further Turkish research has confirmed that there exist no permissions to take the friezes and pediments, and none to take down the metopes.

               Hence this headline in the Greek edition of The NY Times: Dated April 16th - the day after my meeting with the President:

               "Acropolis Museum director says Ottoman archives debunk the claim Lord Elgin had permission to remove sculptures".

               The historian William St Clair knows more about the smoke and mirrors than anyone and is soon to publish his further findings, and I think he won't mind if I say that the headline above will not rock his boat.       

                                             -------------------------------------------------

               Ladies and gentlemen - there is far too much to say about the manner of Elgin's acquisitions: his huge bribes to Ottoman high-ups, his trail of 'shattered desolation' - as a witness described the rape of the metopes - the ship that sank with the marbles aboard (Poseidon briefly rejoiced!), Elgin's bankruptcy forcing him to sell to the nation instead of hiding them in his Scottish pile. Yes…he had wanted them for himself!

              Elgin was a terrible imperialist, but the truly colonial-imperial act was that of the British Parliament in 1816 in recognizing Elgin's title to his loot by buying it from him. That Act of Parliament thereby claimed 'ownership'.

               But the BM is not a private company with a board of directors. Trustees are required solely to look after things entrusted to their care, not play at politics.

               Does culture exist outside of politics? I think not.

               Anyway, look, it's done. The BM has them.

               The hornet's nest of Ottoman legalities still unraveling leads me to dwell rather on the NOW, not the THEN.

                                -----------------------------------------------------------

               Post-World War II, international laws should surely persuade parliament to re-think its position?

               Questions arise: does an occupying power have legitimacy to dispose of a vassal nation's heritage for the rest of history?

               Should Britain own a mass of foreign heritage for the rest of time?

               The ownership title that Britain exercises today surely should end at these shores?

              The BM's Director, Hartwig Fischer, has developed a trope about separation being a 'creative act'. Well, he would, wouldn’t he? The Marbles are one of the BM's star attractions.

               The Rodin show last year re-inforced the marbles' supremacy in execution and their diminished meaning in isolation.

               The BM once said the Greeks couldn’t look after their own marbles. The stunning New Acropolis Museum opened all of ten years ago, with the Parthenon serenely in view from every glass-walled gallery. One of them empty of its own. But waiting…

               We can't put Humpty together again but now you can visibly link the two - a revelation for visitors.

              The BM is a great encyclopaedic institution - and the Aladdin's Cave of conquest.

               There's a mood abroad that it must wake up to.

               A revolt against colonialist attitudes.

               The violence of the "Rhodes Must Fall" movement at Cape Town University made sure he did. That's the blunt end of hurt feelings.

              The Museums Association takes a more nuanced and ethical approach. When the balance of power was so heavily skewed towards imperial authority, blunt 'no's are not enough, it says. Polls taken in 2012 are 73% for the return of sculptures to Greece.

               The director of the Rijksmuseum recently said: "It's a disgrace that the Netherlands is only now attending to the return of colonial heritage…We should have done it earlier and there is no excuse".

                Guidelines for their return, he suggests, intend to offer a framework similar to existing directives for Nazi loot claims.

               The V & A is showing an open mind, Macron is thinking out of the box, St Mark's horses are back in Venice, Sweden has returned Icelandic Sagas, Easter Island will have its guardians back, Nigeria its Benin figures - and look! - the heavens have not fallen!

              It is high time the BM showed us a heart within the beast. Make models for heavens sakes! - but do the right thing!

             In the name of fairness and morality' said Melina in 1986 'please give them back. Such a gesture from Great Britain would ever honour your name'.    

20 June 2019

The New Acropolis Museum was officially inaugurated on 20 June 2009 and celebrates this year 10 tremendous years of successful activity. It has grown to be one of the best museums in the world and has received over 14.5 million of visitors. Between 13 and 20 of June the Museum has organised a series of festivities to commemorate its anniversary, with as a major event – on June 20 – the opening of the archaeological excavation underneath the museum. The architectural remains of Late Antiquity (4^th-7^th century AD) excavated during the construction of the museum give an unrivalled insight into the everyday life of an ancient neighbourhood at the foot of the Acropolis. From 21 June 2019 , this new archaeological site will be open to the public.

The history of the New Acropolis Museum goes back to the 1970s. The museum built on the Acropolis itself, whose initially construction dates to the 19^th century, was by then outdated and could no longer cope adequately with the large number of visitors. Moreover, important restoration and conservation works carried out on the monuments of the Acropolis from 1975 on rendered the exhibition space in the old museum too small to accommodate the sculptures that were being taken down from the various Acropolis buildings to preserve and conserve them from the urban pollution.

In 1976, less than two years after the restoration of democracy in Greece, President Constantinos Karamanlis conceived plans for the construction of a new Acropolis Museum and selected the site upon which the Museum was finally built, located in the historic neighbourhood of Makryianni, a natural extension of the south slope of the Acropolis hill. Between 1976 and 2000, no fewer than four architectural competitions were conducted, before the award finally went to the project by design architects Bernard Tschumi, Michael Photiadis and their associates.

The New Acropolis Museum is a three-storey building facing the Acropolis, a transparent construction of structural concrete, stainless steel and marble, with liberal use of glass for the facades and part of the floor. It achieves an interplay between the museum, where the antiquities of all periods of the Acropolis are on display, floating over the in-site excavation, and panoramic views on the Acropolis and the city. The concept of the building is ingenious, divided over four levels: the ground floor of the Museum is suspended on pylons over the archaeological excavation; a gentle slope ending up in a monumental staircase connects the ground floor with the first floor; the top floor or Parthenon Gallery is arranged around an indoor court and rotates slightly so that its orientation corresponds exactly to the orientation of the nearby Parthenon temple. The concept of the Acropolis Museum can thus be seen as an evocation of the topography of the Acropolis in ancient times: a Sacred Way leads visitors from the city up the slope of the Acropolis hill, then up the steps towards and through the Propylaea to the Parthenon.

The display of the artefacts in the Museum strengthens this image. The ruins of part of the ancient city of Athens are situated on the lowest level. The finds excavated on the slopes of the Acropolis in secondary temples, shrines and caves, are on display on the ground floor, along the gentle sloping path. The numerous sculptures and architectural fragments – most of them unique treasures of art – found on the Acropolis, including parts of the Archaic temples, the Erechtheion, the temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea, are presented on the first floor and can be viewed from all sides. The ambient natural light in the exhibition rooms, changing throughout the day, particularly suits the sculptures on display. The top floor is dedicated to the surviving Parthenon sculptures in Athens, completed with plaster casts of the sculptures actually on display in the British Museum in London. This juxtaposition of original parts with plaster copies underlines the call for the return of the originals in the British Museum. The display in Athens (unlike that in the BM’s Duveen Gallery) is exquisite, the sculptures can be seen exactly as they were placed on the Parthenon, but in a lowered position for the convenience of the visitor. The glass enclosure provides ideal light and enables direct view on the context of the original environment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

The New Acropolis Museum is a thematic archaeological museum, geographically limited to the finds of the Acropolis, the slopes of the hill and its monuments, chronologically limited to artefacts dating from the earliest period to Late Antiquity. It is a “living” museum, constantly in motion and constantly replenishing its exhibition with new finds, as a result of the ongoing archaeological research and the restoration works conducted in the area by members of the Greek Archaeological Service.

In just 10 years, the Acropolis Museum has grown into a leading world museum, with a highly scientific programme, a very competent restoration and conservation department, a strong cultural-museological management, and a suite of dynamic projects for the future. Therefore, one can only regret the more deeply that not all surviving parts of the Parthenon Sculptures – a number of them are dispersed in other museums and collections besides the British Museum – are today reunited in this beautiful museum.

The most important collection of Parthenon Sculptures abroad is actually on – poor – display in the British Museumin London. They were “taken” by the British diplomat Lord Elgin with a view to decorating his mansion in Scotland, at the beginning of the 19^th century, at a time when Greece was under Ottoman rule. In the process several were destroyed. Financial problems too meant that he had to sell the Sculptures, which finally were purchased from Lord Elgin by Act of the British Parliament and entrusted to the care of the Trustees of the British Museum. The young free Hellenic State began negotiations for the return of the Sculptures as early as 1842. A crucial turning point came in 1984 when Melina Mercouri, then Minister of Culture, made a formal request to the British Museum for the return of the Sculptures to Greece and simultaneously a request to UNESCO, which was immediately entered on the agenda of the Intergovernmental Committee on the Return of Cultural Goods to the Countries of Origin. The claim from Greek governmental side for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures is regularly repeated, without reference to legality, but the stance of the British Museum Director and Trustees – a harsh ‘no’, without even a willingness to enter into formal discussions – remains unchanged until today.

The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens is not only a claim made by Greece. It is supported by International Cultural Organisations and by individuals worldwide. The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), founded in 2005 and consisting of 20 national committees, spread over 18 countries, supports the claim for reunification, in close collaboration with the Greek authorities, who do not wish to engage in litigation at this moment, but prefer a policy of cultural diplomacy. A policy line that the IARPS respects. New approaches are therefore necessary to reach a breakthrough in the dispute. As the Parthenon Sculptures were made for and constitute an intrinsic part of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis – an emblematic building, symbol of Western Democracy and recognised as a World Cultural Heritage, it is above all, a moral obligation to return and to reunify all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum, where they are in direct visual contact with the Parthenon temple. Only in this way they can continue satisfactorily to fulfil their mission: testimony of the great craftsmanship of the ancient sculptors in the 5^th century BC and a reminder of the origins of Democracy.

Dr Christiane Tytgat

Historian - Archaeologist

President International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

President of the Belgian Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures