The river god Ilissos has been loaned by the British Museum to St Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum, Russia and will be on display there until mid-January 2015 before returning to London

So the British Museum "under a cloak of secrecy both for security and to ensure maximum impact" has lent a pedimental sculpture from the Parthenon to the Hermitage. Could we suggest a third reason? To delay and manage the predictable surge of outrage which this action has caused not only in Greece, of course, but in many countries around the world where groups campaign for the reunification of the sculptures of the Parthenon, not least here in Britain where opinion poll after opinion poll returns a substantial majority in support. The sculpture was transported by air and not by the more obvious means of road transport, perhaps to avoid formal or informal intervention en route. However the British Museum may well find that it has shot itself in the foot. Its action will widely be construed as at best insensitive and at worst frankly provocative and give a fresh stimulus to the campaign for the reunification of the sculptures of the Parthenon.

The accompanying news management by the British Museum scales new heights of disingenuousness. Lord Elgin did not "rescue" the sculptures. He collected them. His original purpose was not to introduce the British public to the wonders of Greek art. It was to decorate his home in far northeast Scotland, where precious few of the British public would have had the chance to see them.   By cutting them from the building he was not setting an example followed by the later Greek Government. It was mutilation. It never occurred to anyone to demount the sculptures until the advent of industrial pollution and acid rain. Their "reputation as art rather than decoration" was not "forged in London". They were art from the moment of their creation. They were never mere decoration. They were integral elements of a building which was itself a work of art.

The 7th Lord Elgin

The cultural warming of "chilled" relations with Russia is at the expense of a bonfire of relations with Greece and public relations in other countries and closer to home. The display of the Cyrus cylinder in Iran is not a good comparison. Are there no Russian treasures in the museum's collection which they could have loaned? Why a Greek treasure which they will not allow into Greece?

It is not true that they would loan to the Greeks but they would refuse a loan on grounds of disputed ownership. In 2002 they refused a request from culture minister Venizelos for a loan, and in 1995 culture minister Pangalos said, "Let's put aside arguments about ownership and talk about where the sculptures should be".   It is not only for "more than 40 years" that Greece has requested their return.   Published documents exist to show that the demand has been constant from the very inception of the Greek State as a legal entity.

Then what about the statistical conjuring trick of saying that 30 per cent of the 30 per cent that has been lost is in other museums. That sounds a lot until you realise that that is 9 per cent. And even that is an exaggeration when you add up one metope and one slab of maybe a metre of frieze in the Louvre and a few small fragments elsewhere.   But perhaps the most egregious example is the way in which the funeral oration of Pericles is traduced. Yes, Pericles did say that the whole world is a monument to those who die in war. It was his equivalent of our "age shall not wither them..." Intoned annually at memorial services. It stretches his meaning too far to transfer this to the sculptures as ambassadors of Athens in foreign lands. In fact Pericles in the same oration refers to "mighty monuments of our power which will make us wonder of this and succeeding generations." He did not need to point. His audience would almost certainly have looked across the Acropolis, crowned with the Parthenon. The Parthenonis still there. It does indeed immortalise Periclean Athens. Half (to be precise, just under half) of its surviving sculpted elements are there. Just over half in London. Surely the onus of justification is on NOT bringing them all together, and Athens is the only place where that can happen.

The Parthenon Gallery in the Acropolis Museum, the one place on earth where it is possible to have a single and aesthetic experience simultaneously of the Parthenon and its sculptures

Let us be clear: the case for the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures rests on the fact that those in the British Museum are part of an artistic unity with those in the Acropolis Museum and together they are part of a unity with the Parthenon. Separated, their artistic integrity is impaired. In some cases single sculptures are separated thus.

It is not a matter of who owns them, it is a matter of where they should be. Indeed argument about ownership is a diversion and distraction from the cultural arguments on which this matter should properly be resolved.

The sculptures of the Parthenon do not need the British Museum to demonstrate their quality and importance. No more does the British Museum need the Parthenon sculptures to prove its excellence. Sure they enhance it. But in essence they are essentially exemplars to illustrate its cross cultural narrative, chosen because of their existence in the museum's collection as a result of an accident of history - the divorce do the 7th Lord Elgin which bankrupted him and forced him to sell his collection to the government in a fire sale.

From the Times article by Richard Morrison, published 07 November 2014

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/visualarts/article4259899.ece

 Neil MacGregor: ‘There is no possibility of putting the Elgin Marbles back’

The British Museum director explains why the Parthenon Sculptures will not be returned to Greece during his tenure

During his 15 years in charge of the National Gallery, Neil MacGregor was nicknamed Saint Neil by his adoring staff, partly because of his Christian beliefs and partly because he ran that place with a heavenly touch. After 12 years at the helm of the BM the halo is still in place — just.

It’s hard to recall now how disunited and financially adrift the mighty Bloomsbury institution seemed before MacGregor arrived. He has pulled it round and his own adroit media achievements — notably the marvellous BBC Radio 4 seriesA History of the World in 100 Objects— have given its treasures a much higher profile. With a new book and another Radio 4 series, he is doing the same thing for the BM’s latest big exhibition:Germany: Memories of a Nation.

Yet in some quarters, particularly around southern Europe, MacGregor is regarded more as devil than saint. He has never wavered from his view that the Elgin Marbles (or the Parthenon Sculptures, as the BM officially calls them) should stay in Bloomsbury rather than be returned to Athens, from where they were removed by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1805. Now the Greeks are mounting their strongest attack on the BM’s position since the 1970s heyday of Melina Mercouri. They have hired a team of media-savvy human rights lawyers, including Geoffrey Robertson and Amal Clooney (wife of George). With a film about wartime art looting to publicise, Clooney himself also joined the attack earlier this year. Unesco, no less, has now called on Britain to take part in a “mediation procedure” with the Greeks to resolve the issue.

Saintly or not, MacGregor visibly bristles at that suggestion. “Unesco is an intergovernmental organisation but the trustees of the British Museum are not part of the British government,” he says. “The British government does not own the great cultural collections of this country. The pictures in the National Gallery, the objects in the British Museum, are held by the trustees and their duty is to preserve the objects for the study and enjoyment of the whole world. They have a charitable responsibility imposed by law to ensure that those objects give maximum public benefit.”

It’s the belief of MacGregor and his trustees (who, he points out, include “two Nobel prize-winners and distinguished people from all over the world”) that the Marbles will give “maximum public benefit” by staying in London, rather than going to a new museum in Athens. “From its beginning 250 years ago, the point of the BM was gathering together objects in one place to tell narratives about the world,” he says. “When the Parthenon Sculptures came to London it was the first time that they could be seen at eye-level. They stopped being architectural details in the Parthenon and became sculptures in their own right. They became part of a different story — of what the human body has meant in world culture. In Athens they would be part of an exclusively Athenian story.”

Athenian? “Yes. It’s not even a Greek monument. Many other Greek cities and islands protested bitterly about the money taken from them to build this in Athens.”

Surely one of the strongest Greek arguments is that all the Parthenon Sculptures should be reunited — and the obvious place for that to happen is as close to the Parthenon as possible. “Well, about 30 per cent of the Sculptures are in Athens and 30 per cent are here,” MacGregor counters. “You don’t have to be very mathematical to see that quite a lot of them no longer exist. So there’s no possibility of recovering an artistic entity and even less of putting them back in the ruined building from which they came. Indeed, the Greek authorities have continued Lord Elgin’s work of removing sculptures for exactly the same reason: to protect them and to study them.”

Another argument put forward by the Greeks is that the Marbles were illegally removed by Elgin. He certainly negotiated with the ruling authorities in Athens, but in the early 19th century that was the Ottoman empire, not the Greeks. “Was the acquisition legal?” MacGregor asks rhetorically before answering himself with a rather optimistic generalisation: “I think everybody would have to agree that it was.”

Isn’t the vital document giving Elgin the right to remove the Marbles missing? “You had to surrender the document as you exported,” MacGregor replies — now every inch the tenacious Scottish lawyer he once trained to be. “That’s the point. Everything was done very publicly, very slowly. In 1800 you couldn’t move great slabs of marble quickly. At any point the Ottoman authorities could have stopped it.”

Nevertheless, if artefacts acquired the same way as Elgin acquired the Marbles were offered to the BM today, wouldn’t modern ethical guidelines prevent their acceptance? MacGregor refutes even this, pointing to what he considers to be a present-day parallel. “The BM excavates in Sudan today at the invitation of the authorities,” he says. “And the Sudanese authorities allow us to keep some of what we find.”

So for all Mrs Clooney’s glamorous entreaties, is the BM still determined not even to talk to the Greeks about the future of the Marbles? “On the contrary,” MacGregor says. “The trustees have always been ready for any discussions. The complication is that the Greek government will not recognise the trustees as the legal owners, so conversations are difficult.”

Then how about lending the Marbles (or the parts fit enough to travel) as a temporary exhibition? After all, the BM is (as MacGregor points out) the most generous lender of all the world’s great museums. “The Greek authorities are not interested in borrowing them,” he replies. “That’s sad because these sculptures do belong to everyone. Letting them be seen in different places is important.”

Although the Elgin Marbles row may make him seem like one, MacGregor is far from being a conventional member of the British establishment. He accepted his appointment to the Order of Merit in 2010 but declined a knighthood in 1999 — the first National Gallery director to do so. When I ask him why, he clams up. “We have a convention in this country that we don’t discuss these things,” he says.

He is no more forthcoming about how much longer he might run the BM. “That’s for the trustees to decide,” he says. “I will say that this is a wonderful place to work: living daily with the greatest objects in the world and looking at them with the world’s greatest scholars.” From the fierce glint in his eye I surmise that he’s not going to quit just yet. And while he stays, so do the Marbles.

And our response to the Times

The one entity to which the Parthenon marbles indisputably and inalienably belong is the Parthenon, arguably the most significant of UNESCO  World Heritage Sites. They can never cease to be integral elements of its architecture.  Together they are one artistic entity, albeit no longer entire but still exceptionally so after 2,500 years.  Such a separation of such an important monument is surely unparalled.  They can no longer be displayed in the open air, anywhere, but in Athens alone you have the nearest possible alternative.  In the Acropolis Museum they can be viewed in direct line of sight with the Parthenon which can itself be part of the same visit.  The case for their reunification is unique and overwhelming.

Eddie O'Hara
Chairman, the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

 Other  related articles:

 The art world’s shame: why Britain must give its colonial booty back

Debate rages about rights of museums to resist claims on artefacts made by the countries of origin

Now that the dust has settled what is the net outcome of the highly publicised visit of Amal Alamuddin-Clooney to Athens to advise the Greek Government on its policy in demanding the return of the Parthenon marbles currently in the British Museum? Because of her A list status, her involvement has brought exposure of the issue, both in Britain and throughout the world, to people and places to which it has never before penetrated.

We know from experience that it will consequentially have brought an incalculably valuable boost in support for the campaign. But the principles and practices of the campaign remain the same. For the foreseeable future we carry on as normal, campaigning to persuade the British Government, either directly or through the pressure of all the public and professional opinion (of all sorts) which we can muster in our support to accept the case for the reunification of the Parthenon marbles.

"Professional" includes not just museum professionals, important as they are, but actors, authors, journalists, athletes, indeed anyone in the public eye who has a public following which can be reached through their interest. We have abundant evidence that when the public are made aware of the issue they tend by a large majority to support reunification. The more of this support we can demonstrate the stronger is the case we can make to the British Government that, if it won't search its own conscience, it is out of step with the public it represents in resisting demands for reunification.

So, thank you Amal Alamuddin-Clooney for your active involvement in the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon marbles. Not only have you created a surge of British public interest in (and, predictably, support for) this reunification but also the world wide awareness of the issue which you have caused will, predictably, bring discredit to Britain for as long as our government fails to respond. Please continue, with your husband, to demonstrate your support for our campaign.

Eddie O'Hara, Chairman, British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

For more artilcles:

As a Briton, I hang my head in shame. We must return the Parthenon marbles, Helena Smith, Observer, 19 October 2014 

LOOK, I'm as big a patriot as the next Briton but honestly, we have to give the Elgin Marbles back to Greece, Richard & Judy, Express, 18 October, 2014

George Clooney's wife Amal Alamuddin aids Greece's bid for return of Elgin Marbles, Nick Squires,  Telegraph, 08 October, 2014

 Amal has the Greek gods in her sights, Evening Standard, 08 October 2014

Amid the media attention of Amal Alamuddin-Clooney's visit to Athens to advise the Greek Government on its policy options to secure the return of those sculptures of the Parthenon held in the British Museum another piece of news was released: the decision of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin to stipulate a 6 month limit on the time for parties to respond to calls for mediation over disputed cultural property.

The "committee with the long name", as it is called affectionately by UNESCO aficionados, is the body which supported the Greek appeal for mediation over the Parthenon marbles in October 2013. It is worth noting that this issue has been a standing item on its agenda since 1984. The only response from the British Government in 12 months, and that only when asked, is that it will respond in due course. It is difficult to see what difference this new stipulation will make, other than moral pressure on the British Government, for what that is worth.

There is no legal mechanism to make the British Government comply. Even if it did agree to comply, that would only be the start of a long process. Presumably both parties would have to agree to mutually acceptable mediators, a predictably lengthy process. Then both sides would presumably have the right to offer evidence in a quasi judicial process. Then eventually, if a decision is reached, perhaps there might be a right of appeal. Finally, if a decision were made in favour of reunification, the British Government would have to repeal or amend the British Museum Act (1963) to make it legally possible for the British Museum Trustees to divest themselves of this cultural property held in their trust.

Add to this the competition on the right of British politics to show the most macho opposition to any hint of outside diktat to the British Government and we are talking of not just months but probably years. So, a quick fix it is not. But if the eventual outcome is reunification it is a journey worth travelling.

 Eddie O'Hara, Chairman

14 October, 2014. Today Amal Clooney and Geoffrey Robertson will tour the Acropolis Museum and hold talks with the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Konstantinos Tasoulas, the Culture Minister- as Athens renews its call for the reunification of the sculptures from the Parthenon.

Eddie O'Hara, chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon sculptures maintains that 'giving the schulptures from the Parthenon, displayed in the UK back to Greece, would be a grand gesture on cultural and ethical grounds.'

Two years from now, 2016 - will mark the 200th anniversary of the purchase by the British Government of the sculptures that Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon in Athens - when Greece was under Ottoman rule.

Their removal was criticised by Byron, among others, who denounced Lord Elgin as a vandal, and wrote in a poem "Dull is the eye that will not weep to see, Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed, By British hands ..."

Britain's refusal to return the marbles, also known as the Parthenon friezes, was a matter of shame, said Mr O'Hara, a former Labour MP for Knowsley South in Merseyside.

"If you visit the Acropolis Museum you see gaps in the displays, ghostly images of the pieces that remain in the British Museum," he told The Telegraph.

"Every time an international visitor sees them, that's to the discredit of the UK. Giving them back would be a grand gesture on cultural and ethical grounds.

"This monument has a special place in Western civilisation and it should have its integrity restored."

The friezes should be returned as "soon as possible" the British Committee argues.

Article by Nick Squires, in Athens for the Telegraph and to read the on line version, click here

Most of you have caught up with the news that Mrs Clooney, Amal Alamuddin, will be going to Greece with Geoffrey Robertson and Norman Palmer to discuss a way forward for the sculptures from the Parthenon.

We wish them every success with their endeavours and reflect on the British Committee's founder, Mrs Eleni Cubitt's own words of wisdom :"Imagine how wonderful it would be to create unity for the sculptures from the Parthenon and be able to celebrate this unity, whilst we still can."

 “We live in difficult times, facing many difficult issue, some perhaps so big, they may not be resolved for decades to come and certainly after my time. The continued fragmentation of the Parthenon marbles need not be an unresolved matter. The superlative new Acropolis Museum is the perfect place to reunite the surviving fragmented pieces of this peerless work of art.”    

By shifting attention onto a more positive path and by concentrating on the benefits of reunification, the acclaimed British Museum and its well respected director, Neil MacGregor, would put right a very old wrong and in so doing, they could be justifiably proud. It would demonstrate strong ethical and moral leadership, proving to the global community that there is a way forward for the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures.

"Cultural heritage should refer to those objects which are of central significance and vital importance to the sense of identity and dignity of any human group and whose removal by force or deception or even ignorance could cause great sorrow, pain and outrage to people who believe such objects belong to them as an integral and essential part of their history and their heritage.” Mrs Eleni Cubit, Founder for the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles www.parthenonuk.com