THE GREAT museums of the world are filled with artworks that have been plundered from somewhere else, sometimes after being stolen several times over. There is no chance that all the kidnapped statues and paintings in those secular temples of culture will be returned to their original homes. Nevertheless, the British Museum would be making a gesture of respect to Greece, the wellspring of Western culture, if it returned the statuary that came from the Acropolis in Athens and is now known as the Elgin marbles.

The opening last month of a much-lauded museum in Athens, situated within view of the Parthenon, has revived an old quarrel over where those figures belong that were torn from the frieze and pediment of the ancient temple to Athena. Lord Elgin was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire when he began removing the statues in 1801, with the consent of Ottoman authorities. From a Greek perspective, the official of a foreign empire with no title to those monuments had pilfered them with the permission of another imperial power that had no right to give them away.

The British Museum's claim that it bought the pirated marbles fair and square from Lord Elgin in 1816 is, at the least, rooted in a parochial notion of legality. And since the Vatican and the Heidelberg museum in Germany have generously returned individual pieces from the Parthenon, repatriation of the Elgin marbles would hardly be setting a dangerous precedent

Lord Elgin's purloined trophies should be given to the new museum in Greece not merely to redress an historical injustice, but to retrieve the artistic unity of a monument that was too often looted and abused.

Editor: Chris Price, Vice-Chair for the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenn Marbles

Mary Phillips, an American graduate with a degree in classical languages from the University of Pittsburgh wrote to the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) expressing her gratitude for their work. She also added that she was a supporter of the cause and outlined her plans to travel to London to make her stand.

On Sunday, November 22nd, from 11 am to 1 pm, Mary Phillips made her stand at the British Museum dressed as a caryatid. Despite the heavy rain downpour, Mary became the first attraction for Sunday visitors as she stood inside the grounds of the British Museum. Many took photos of her; others waved and gave her thumbs up as they ran into the Museum and out of the rain. This was Mary's first visit to London and it became a memorable one.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, stopped by briefly to have a look at Mary's peaceful protest and declared it 'an elegant gesture'. At the end of the day, English student and Plinthian, Sofka Smales joined Mary for a photograph.

Mary Phillips will be travelling to Athens on Tuesday 24 November 2009. During her five day stay in Greece's capital she will be revisiting the new Acropolis Museum (www.theacropolismuseum.com).

Mary strongly feels that the 98% of the surviving Parthenon Sculptures currently split between Athens and London, deserve to be reunited in Athens. She commented "the return of the Marbles would be a British cultural gesture of singular poignancy."

Notes to editors:
1.On 12 September 2009 the Fourth Plinth in the north west of Trafalgar Square, home to Antony Gormley's Project "One & Other", was occupied by Sofka Smales.

Nineteen year old Sofka chose to promote the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their birth place. "I feel really passionate about this", explained Sofka, a student of Criticism, Communication and Curation at London's Central St. Martins College. "I have always felt that the Parthenon Marbles should rightly be returned to their country of origin. Especially now, that a first class museum has been built to house them."

Sofka Smales, the 19 year old student of Criticism, Communication and Curation at London's Central St. Martins College arrives on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, at 12 pm on Saturday 11 September 2009.

From 6 July 2009 to 14 October the Fourth Plinth will be occupied by different people every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days. The rules are simple: you must stand on the Plinth alone, for the whole hour; you can do whatever you want, provided it is legal; and you can take anything with you that you can carry.

"I feel really passionate about this", explained Sofka. "My mother is half Greek and I lived in Greece for part of my childhood. I am really proud of that part of my heritage and have always felt that the Parthenon Marbles should rightly be returned to their country of origin. Especially now, that a first class museum has been built to house them."

Sofka arrived on the Plinth dressed in white with a sash and reflected lettering 'RESPECT' on the front and 'REUNITE' on the back. She carried onto the Plinth her posters, banners, plus the roll of wallpaper.

Below a crowd gathered as two acoustic musicians started to play popular Greek songs, others sang and some danced on what was a balmy September evening in Trafalgar Square.

Sofka's banners included one with an image of the New Acropolis Museum, others with images of the fragments and the frieze as seen in the British Museum. Large letters formed her slogan 'REUNITE', 'RESPECT CULTURE', 'RETURN THE PARTHENON SCULPTURE' and 'REUNITE THE MARBLES'. She also had the image of the horsemen used as a logo by the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, with London and Athens marked under each section. Sofka used these two hand held banners to show how the frieze divided between Athens and London, would be best when they are reunited.

During her 60 minute stint on the plinth, Sofka wrote a letter on a piece of wallpaper, to Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum. Below the crowd listened as she read it out load and cheered when she asked for the return of the Parthenon Scupltures to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

For photos, check out this link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/parthenonukcom/4146805411/

http://archflip.com/en/new-acropolis-museum-athens

New Acropolis Museum

British Museum, Sunday 03 May 2009

Forty five secondary school students and five teachers from the 2nd General Lyceum in Argostoli (Kefalonia), visited London in order to stage a peaceful protest for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens. This protest was supported by Marbles Reunited Friends of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. The day before the protest the students met with Mrs Cubiitt who was able to tell them how the movement in the UK was started in 1983 and she praised the students for their protest in the year that would also herald the opining of the Acropolis Museum. The students showed Mrs Cubitt their poems and songs, which she found inspirational.

The Parthenon Sculptures, removed from the Parthenon in Athens between 1801-1812, were subsequently bought by the British Government in 1816 and placed in the British Museum’s Duveen Gallery, where they have remained.

The first recorded request for their return was made by Greece in 1833. The British Museum has long argued why these sculptures should remain in London. One such argument was that Greece had nowhere to display the sculptures.

The New Acropolis Museum (www.newacropolismuseum.gr), designed by Swiss architect, Bernard Tschumi at a cost of around 130 million Euros, officially opened on 20 June 2009. It holds around 4,000 artefacts and has an exhibition space of 14,000 square metres.

At present the British Museum’s policy remains the same, that the Parthenon Marbles the largest collection of Parthenon sculptures outside of Greece, will remain in London. Greece has however received fragments from Heidelberg, Palermo and the Vatican.

Yannis Kosmatos from the Second Lyceum of Argostoli, Kefalonia commented “Our primary goal has been to sensitise students and the community, as well as voice our protest against the displacement of the marbles. We have divided the students into two groups, one considering the art, history and literary references to the marbles, the other the various efforts made to bring back the monuments.

“The protest we staged at the British Museum on Sunday 03 May, 2009 was heartfelt with some students holding banners, others playing Greek music while some performed traditional Greek dances. These unique sculptures were created to tell a story and they are best displayed together in Athens. We hope that the Director of the British Museum will see the merit of rejoining what has been divided unjustly for two centuries. ”