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Sunday 10 March, 'In the footsteps of the lost Caryatid', London and Athens

The Greek Children's Library of London and the Museum of School Life and Education in Greece are co-organizing a museum education activity, "In the Footsteps of the Lost Caryatid", which will take place at the British Museum and the New Acropolis Museum on Sunday 10 March 2024.

Children will have the opportunity to discover the history of the Caryatid, become journalists for the day and conduct interviews, chat online with children in Greece to learn more about the other five Caryatids housed in the New Acropolis Museum.

This hands on activity will be conducted in Greek with creative writing and a treasure hunt of ancient Greek exhibits.

Date: Sunday, March 10, 2024, Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM at the British Museum.

This event is open to children 6 to 12 years old, and will last  2 hours.

To book follow the link here.

 

caryatid BM

The Cayatid in the British Museum, read more here.

 

caryatids resized for BCRPM website

The five Caryatids in the Acropolis Museum. For more information, follow the link here, plus individual descriptions of each one:

 

Erechtheion. Karyatid. Kore A

Erechtheion. Karyatid. Kore B

Erechtheion. Karyatid. Kore D

Erechtheion. Karyatid. Kore E

Erechtheion. Karyatid. Kore F


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Remembering and celebrating Melina Mercouri's passionate appeal for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

Wednesday 06 March 2024 and our thoughts are with the Hellenic spirit that was Melina Mercouri.

Three decades since Melina passed away, at every protest, every campaign, every thought that is directed at the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, also embraces Melina's soulful and heartfelt pleas.

As Greece's Minister of Culture and Science, Melina Mercouri's commitment for the return of the sculptures removed from the Acropolis in the 19th century continue to inspire all that also feel strongly and view this long-standing request as a just cause.

“I hope to see the marbles return to Athens before I die. But if they return later, I will be reborn to see them.” Melina Mercouri said, a phrase repeated by other women whose lifetime dedication to this cause continues. 

The reunification of the Parthenon Marbles campaign began at the UNESCO General Policy Conference in Mexico (1982) when Mercouri, then Minister of Culture and Science for Greece, put forward Greece's request for the return of the sculptures. And it is at UNESCO's ICPRCP meetings that this request continues to dominate.

On 29 September 2021, UNESCO ICPRCP Intergovernmental Committee, for the first time in its history, adopted by consensus Decision 22 COM 6, which is specifically dedicated to the Parthenon Marbles issue. The added value of that Decision is that for the first time the committee: "Recognized expressly the legitimate and rightful demand of Greece. Recognized that the case has an intergovernmental character and, therefore, the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely on the UK Government and expressed its disappointment that its respective previous Recommendations have not been observed by the UK."

There is global support for the reunification, especially post the opening of the superlative Acropolis Museum, and yet there is no British political will to amend the museum's law that could see these sculptures returning to Athens. Of the 50% of the original sculptures that survive, about half are in the British Museum and half in the Acropolis Museum. There are a few fragments in a few museums: the Louvre in Paris, the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Martin von Wagner Museum in the University of Würzburg.

The good and great news is that some fragments have been returned and that the campaign continues. Despite the lack of political will in the UK, there is plenty of public support and in fairness, that has been there for many decades.

Greece has also made repeated offers to provide the British Museum with Greek artefacts not seen outside of Greece, should the surviving Parthenon Marbles be reunited in the Acropolis Museum.

There are ongoing talks between PM Mitsotakis and the British Museum.

We continue to hope.

melina and janet


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King’s Classics Department's competition and the Parthenon Marbles

King’s Classics Department is hosting a competition to produce creative writing pieces of audio description (AD) that describe the Parthenon Marbles/ Sculptures exhibited at the British Museum.

The competition is open to King's students of all levels from all Faculties.

Entries can consider the whole of the Parthenon Marbles/ Sculptures, individual monuments, or anything in between. Inspiration could include helping someone visualise the sculptures, providing a historical or interpretive overview, or sharing a subjective response to the artwork.

Judges for this year’s contest are:

Tom Harrison (Keeper of the Department of Greece and Rome, British Museum)
Sarah Howe (Lecturer in Poetry, King’s College London)
Jonny Marshall (blind art lover and Research Officer, Royal National Institute of Blind People)
Jaime Prada (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, British Museum)
Will Wootton (Reader in Classical Art and Archaeology, King’s College London)

The deadline for submission is Wednesday 03 April 2024, and winners will be announced in early summer 2024.

For more information visit King's College London, news.


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Messengers and Communication in Ancient Mythology & Drama, a presentation at the Hellenic Centre,by Evdoxia Lymperi

On Thursday 29 Feb 2024, at 7 pm many gathered at the Hellenic Centre in London to hear Evdoxia Lymperi, the Greek Public Broadcaster and London based correspondent for ERT, present: Messengers and Communication in Ancient Mythology & Drama.

 

Hermes

What is the equivalent of journalistic correspondence in ancient drama? Who were the people tasked with reporting happenings elsewhere?

Theatrologist, brodcaster and London correspondent for ERT, Evdoxia Lymperi took the assembled on a special journey. From the awesome world of ancient Greek drama and mythology, along with real and fantasy characters who were created to deliver communications at that time, to current day, and the war correspondents that many of us hear at least once a day reporting from around the globe.

Messengers in ancient times brought events to life and journalists today reporting from around the globe also look to inform us. Commanding the respect of audiences past and present remains key and to do so, the reporting must be truthful. Today, and despite the added visual element provided, words continue to matter, as indeed they did in ancient times, when there was no visual. Words are key and how they were used by the mesengers then and journalists today, remains pivotal.

Joining the event were two very special guests: actor and brodcaster Alexis Conran plus actor and political commentaror, and broadcaster, Alex Andreou. Each performed a reading from Greek tragedy, both had us sitting up to capture every word!

With thanks to Evdoxia for her enlightening and enjoyable presentation.

This event was organised under the auspices of the Embassy of Greece in London.

Pictured below Janet Suzman, Chair of BCRPM, with Evdoxia Lymperi, Alexis Conran and Alex Andreou.

messengers presentation small


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UK dragging its feet returning museum artefacts to their country of origin linked to political will

"A lack of political will means the UK is dragging its feet when it comes to returning museum artefacts to their country of origin, say experts. Politicians have been accused of “muddying the waters” on museum matters and the Government of lagging behind much of the rest of the world in returning UK museum artefacts."Writes Sally Guyoncourt for inews.

And we couldn't agree more.

Read the full article, on inews.

Lewis McNaught, founder and managing editor of ReturningHeritage.com supports the growing groundswell of opinion on changing heritage legislation.The question of political involvement has also been criticised by Mr McNaught, who said museum boards are populated by Government appointees, who push agendas “which are not necessarily the best interests of the museums.”

Lewis McNaught believes a reluctance for restitution from Government comes from a determination to maintain the UK’s past reputation. “To return is to damage that reputation of Britain as a great trading nation,” he said and added that there was also a feeling that if we “started to return one thing then there would be a deluge of things”, which had to be returned. However, in reality the number of artefacts being requested to be returned to their country of origin is just a fraction of the items held in British collections.

Stalling restitution in the UK has put  the UK “out of step” with much of the rest of the world, according to Mr McNaught, and the DCMS  is also standing their ground by saying that there are no plans to change the  museum's law. This was also highlighted by the provisions in sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022, reported in the Museums Association.


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International Repatriation Specialist, Amy Shakespeare, joins BCRPM

Amy Shakespeare is an International Repatriation Specialist based in Cornwall, England.

As an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter,Amy's research aims to enable more UK museums to undertake repatriation through more anticolonial processes. She also focuses on how repatriation is interpreted for the public, and what is left behind following return.

Following a Smithsonian Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian, Amy founded Routes to Return - a website that aims to open up global networks, share information, and enable international repatriation. Amy is currently working for the Association on American Indian Affairs developing and implementing their International Repatriation Strategy. She also sits on the board of the Museum Ethnographers Group as their Repatriation Officer.


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Hellenic Engineers Society of Great Britain also adds its voices to the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

On Saturday 24 February, the 29th annual dinner dance of the Hellenic Engineers Society of Great Britain took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. This society has 400 members from Britain and Greece.

The Society started off with around eighty Founding Members in 1995 and since then has increased in membership year on year, firmly establishing its presence within the UK maritime industry. 

Just over 750 members, guests including Greece's Ambassador to the UK, Yiannis Tsaousis, and friends from all five continents, attended this unique event at the spectacular Great Room of the landmark London hotel.

The president of the Association Dimitris Monioudis during his speech addressed the continued division of the Parthenon Marbles. This year’s event booklet  was dedicated to the Parthenon Marbles, an issue which the President and those that were gathered support. The President lamented the sculptures division especially as it concerned two democratic nations and their peoples. Two nations with so much in common, allies, which ought to be able to resolve this long running issue of cultural heritage.

booklet

The Lyceum of Greek Women in London presented traditional dances from all over Greece at the annual dinner. The evening also included performance by the all female electric string quartet Fortissimo, which followed music by DJ Avgoustinos Galiassos. Avgoustinos is also a member of BCRPM.

Part of the proceeds of this year's event are to be donated to a number of charities.

Read more about the 29th event of the HESGB here, and visit the society's site too .


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