The Centre of Hellenic Studies, King's College London, in collaboration with Dr Victoia Solomonidis-Hunter and part of the "21 events in 21" series have organised a historic walking tour of C.P. Cavafy's West London (1870-1877).

The walk aims to illustrate the formative years that C.P. Cavafy spent in England as a young boy within the closely linked cosmopolitan Greek community. It will provide an insight to the subsequent development of Κ.Π.Καβάφης, an Alexandrian Greek, into C.P. Cavafy, a Victorian gentleman, a poet and a scholar, writing mostly in Greek and cherished by audiences around the globe to this day.

The walk is scheduled for 11:00 am on Saturday 06 November and will start from Queensbourough Terrace,the house where Cavafy, aged 11, lived with his mother Charikleia and his brothers George, Alexander, Paul and John, from 1874 to 1876.

To view the walk's poster kindly follow the link here and for the map, here.

The walk is free but numbers are limited, and anyone that is interested should reserve a place on this walk by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 Photo credit: Iason Athanasiadis                                                                                                               

It was a great honour and a wonderful experience to be asked by the New York Times to photograph the Parthenon. My image making process requires large boxes which I use as pinhole cameras. Each is outfitted with a single sheet of photographic paper, which, if all goes as planned, will yield one negative unique image. My effort is great, the images few. Because of my particular way of working and the enormous August heat in Athens, my days started early and went late. I received permission to arrive on the Acropolis before sunrise which meant my team and I, equipment shouldered, climbed the steep marble steps in pitch black night with Athens sleeping quietly to our feet. The tender warmth from the prior day still emitting from the old stones paired with the gentle order of cypress and pines. Wrapped in silence and warm scented air I arrived at the top facing the majestic Parthenon Temple. The ancient stones radiating silent authority will remain forever a lasting experience. Unforgettable to be there practically alone.

Just after sunrise, the security guards for the day had not yet arrived, a small unit of the Greek military marched in every morning. About 10 soldiers walking in a single file, the first carrying a folded Greek flag. As the sun rose over the horizon so did the flag on the eastern most side of the Acropolis, flag to sun. Once up the soldiers stood attention and sang the Greek anthem. We instinctively held still and watched in silence and respect. Not speaking Greek, I could not understand the words, but the ceremony was deeply moving regardless. Even my left leaning, liberally thinking Greek helper, held still watching his chest filled with pride. At sunset the same ritual repeated itself, no singing here, the flag once lowered, was taken off and folded to be carried away.

My team and I often spoke of the Greek Marbles removed from the Parthenon and from Greece. We felt deprived of a wholesome experience not being able to see at once, on the same day, all that survived millennia, all that so authentically belongs to this magnificent place where the heart of ancient and modern Greece lies.

 Vera Lutter

veralutter.net

Temple of Athena, Acropolis: August 25, 2021, courtesy Vera Lutter

British Museum’s Parthenon gallery 10-month closure prompts concerns from Greek officials and campaigners

Βy Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, 09 October 2021 

To read the original article, follow the link here.

Six of the British Museum’s Greek galleries, including the museum’s display of the Parthenon Marbles, have been closed for almost ten months, prompting concerns from Greek officials and campaigners that wet and damp could damage the ancient artworks.

The museum was forced to close on 16 December 2020 when a national Covid-19 lockdown was put in place. It reopened on 17 May 2021, but some of its Greek galleries remained closed due to ‘essential repairs’.

Ta Nea Greek daily newspaper visited the museum last week and confirmed that a total of six galleries of Greek art have yet to reopen; Rooms 15, 16, 17 and 18 are closed due to "maintenance"; Rooms 19 and 20 are closed to "comply with social distancing measures".

The Duveen Gallery (Room 18) which houses the Parthenon Sculptures, has been closed since December 2020.

Its leaky roof has made news many times before.

In December 2018, the glass roof of Room 18 began leaking after heavy rainfall in London. Witnesses reported seeing water dripping just centimetres away from the west pediment figure of Iris. More recently, leaks were caused by a heavy rainfall on July 25th that flooded central London.

The Greek government as well as campaigners for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles have expressed concern about the poor state of the rooms.

On August 15, the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), which represents 21 national committees around the world, wrote to the British Museum Chairman Sir Richard Lambert, its Director Dr. Hartwig Fischer and its Trustees. To read the letter, follow the link here.

A copy of the letter was also sent to Prime Minister Johnson, the newly appointed Chair of the Trustees, George Osborne and the then Secretary of Culture, Oliver Dowden.

It said that “the planned reopening of the Greek rooms, postponed ‘until further notice’, after months of lockdown, is a deep worry,” adding that the “possible humidity problem (creates) a dangerous condition for the sculptures”.

It also called on the Museum to "reconsider its viewpoint on the continued division of the Parthenon Sculptures", noting that “there is a moral obligation to return and to reunify all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum with a direct visual contact to the Parthenon”.

"It is saddening that Room 18 has been closed ‘until further notice’," IARPS President Dr Christiane Tytgat told Ta Nea, adding that "the inappropriate climate conditions in the room are upsetting".

"I hope," she said, " that we do not have to wait another 22 years before we can admire the Parthenon Sculptures on display in London again, as it happened before, when the Duveen Gallery was hit by a bomb in 1940 and reopened only in 1962! Even if the Sculptures were then stored in a safe place and undamaged."

Almost two months later, the Museum has not responded to the letter, which Dr. Tytgat described as "sad."

Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM), told Ta Nea: “I would be a happy person if Room 18 were permanently closed because those spectacular sculptures taken by the marauding Lord Elgin deserve to be reunited in the Acropolis Museum. No one can say for certain what remedial work is being done in the Greek galleries of the British Museum or for how long. The lack of climate controls in an old building are self-evident and has been questioned by BCRPM on other occasions: blow-heaters in winter, open exit doors in summer, leaking roof during the rainy season.”

“We urge the British Museum to stop repeating by rote the same mantra and to reunite those emblematic marble figures in the superlative Acropolis Museum, which has been built to the latest standards and allows visitors to view them in context with the Parthenon,” she added.

Professor Paul Cartledge, Vice-Chair of the BCRPM and Vice-President of the IARPS, told Ta Nea that he has found “the Trustees' failure to respond at all to the letter deeply disappointing - not at all the way to begin dialogue on this pressing cultural issue in a way fitting of its importance. Dismissing this very specific request is tantamount to not understanding the importance of cultural diplomacy. Time for the British Museum and the UK to join the 21st century, although it would have been good and great if they were to lead the way.”

Closed ‘until further notice’.

The website of the British Museum states that the Greek galleries are "closed until further notice", due to "regular maintenance works".

UNESCO recently expressed “concern that the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum is not currently open to the public due to essential repairs”, adding that it “looks forward to its reopening in due course.”

In his interview with Ta Nea, in January 2019, the director of the Museum, Dr. Hartwig Fischer, claimed that there was "a tiny leak" (in Room 18’s roof) which was “fixed right away ".

Lina Mendoni, Greece’s Culture minister has said that the conditions for exhibiting the Parthenon Sculptures at the British Museum “are not only inappropriate, but also dangerous”.

A British Museum spokesperson told Ta Nea that “there has previously been some water ingress in some gallery spaces closure”, adding that “there is no confirmed date for their reopening, but we are working towards later this autumn.”

The British Museum’s comment to Ta Nea in full:

“The Museum is an historic and listed building and there are ongoing infrastructure assessments across the site. We have a team of specialists who make regular checks across the Museum to monitor and ensure appropriate management of risks to the collection. The care of the collection and the safety of our visitors and staff are our utmost priority.

“The essential works being undertaken are part of a programme of building maintenance and conservation which will help enable future works on the Museum estate. Alongside these essential repairs, we are developing a strategic masterplan to transform the British Museum for the future. It will involve actively renovating our historic buildings and estate, improving our visitor experience and undertaking an ambitious redisplay of the collection in the years to come.

“Galleries 14 to 18 on the ground floor have been temporarily removed from the public access route. The Museum has undertaken a programme of work within these galleries and the scheduling of this work was delayed due to the impact of the pandemic on the Museum’s programme.

“Further works and surveys were undertaken this summer and these galleries are currently closed to ensure the safety of our visitors and the collection whilst these surveys are carried out. There has previously been some water ingress in some gallery spaces closure.

“There is no confirmed date for their reopening, but we are working towards later this autumn.”

Images below showing the closed door that has been temporaily erected across the entrance of Room 23 of the British Museu's Greek galleries. With a notice explaining that Rooms 12-18 are closed. Some of the galleries are closed for social distancing purposes with others closed for maintenance.

Photo credit: Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, 09.10.2010 

Dr Tom Flynn's tweet below echoes the thoughts of many millions across the globe that support the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles:

“We disagree with UNESCO's decision; the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally“, UK government says in a Ta Nea aricle written by Yannis Andritsopoulos, 07 October 2021.

The British government has said that it will not abide by a recent UNESCO decision on the Parthenon Marbles also insisted that “the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally” and rejected UNESCO’s call to reconsider its position and to negotiate with Greece on the return of the 2,500-year-old cultural treasures.

Speaking to Greek newspaper Ta Nea, a government spokesperson said that the UK government “disagrees” with the decision, adding that it intends to challenge it before UNESCO.

The response came after the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) voted unanimously for the first time at its 22nd session to include the return of the Parthenon Marbles in its decision document, marking a major step forward since Greece first introduced the request to the meeting’s agenda in 1984.

ICPRCP’s decision says that Greece’s request for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures is "legitimate and rightful" and calls on Britain "to reconsider its stand and proceed to a bona fide dialogue with Greece on the matter".

Most importantly, the Committee acknowledges for the first time that "the case has an intergovernmental character and, therefore, the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely on the UK Government."

This is in stark contrast to the UK government’s assertion that it is for the British Museum, not the government, to discuss the issue and make decisions related to it.

“We disagree with the Committee’s decision adopted in the closing minutes of the session and are raising issues relating to fact and procedure with UNESCO,” a UK government spokesperson told Ta Nea.

“Our position is clear—the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally in accordance with the law at the time. The British Museum operates independently of the government and free from political interference. All decisions relating to collections are taken by the Museum’s trustees,” the spokesperson added.

A British Museum spokesperson told Ta Nea that “the Trustees of the British Museum have a legal and moral responsibility to preserve and maintain all the collections in their care,” adding that “the Parthenon Sculptures are an integral part of (the Museum’s collection) story and a vital element in this interconnected world collection”.

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.

In his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson dashed Greece’s hopes of getting the Marbles back, telling Greek daily Ta Nea that they were “legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s Trustees since their acquisition.”

The British Museums’ comment to Ta Nea in full:

“The British Museum has a long history of collaboration with UNESCO and admires and supports its work. The Trustees of the British Museum have a legal and moral responsibility to preserve and maintain all the collections in their care and to make them accessible to world audiences. The Trustees want to strengthen existing good relations with colleagues and institutions in Greece, and to explore collaborative ventures directly between institutions, not on a government-to-government basis. This is why we believe that working in partnership across the world represents the best way forward. Museums holding Greek works, whether in Greece, the UK or elsewhere in the world, are naturally united to show the importance of the legacy of ancient Greece. The British Museum is committed to playing its full part in sharing the value of that legacy.

“The Museum takes its commitment to be a world museum seriously. The collection is a unique resource to explore the richness, diversity and complexity of all human history, our shared humanity. The strength of the collection is its breadth and depth which allows millions of visitors an understanding of the cultures of the world and how they interconnect – whether through trade, migration, conquest, conflict, or peaceful exchange.

“The Parthenon Sculptures are an integral part of that story and a vital element in this interconnected world collection, particularly in the way in which they convey the influences between Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman cultures. We share this collection with the widest possible public, lending objects all over the world and making images and information on over four million objects from the collection available online.

“The approach of the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum are complementary: the Acropolis Museum provides an in-depth view of the ancient history of its city, the British Museum offers a sense of the wider cultural context and sustained interaction with the neighbouring civilisations of Egypt and the Near East which contributed to the unique achievements of ancient Greece”.

Britain had previously rejected Greece’s request to hold talks on returning the Marbles after Athens proposed a meeting between experts from the two countries.

Unanimous adoption five minutes before the end of the meeting

Yannis Andritsopulos of Ta Nea writes that the decision of the 22nd Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, the ICPRCP was taken with the efforts of  the behind-the-scenes diplomatic steps taken by Greece. The Zambia delegation introduced COM 17 to the plenary at the end of the Summit and the decision was adopted unanimously. Despite subsequent protests from the British side, due process had been followed throughout the proceedings of this session, a Greek government source told the "Ta Nea". The President of this Session of the ICPRCP read out the full text of the decision and asked its members four times if there are any objections. There was none.

To listen to the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP, follow the link here.

Greece was represented at the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Georgios Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Director of the department for the protection of cultural property of the Ministry of Culture Vasiliki Papageorgiou and the legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Artemis Papathanassiou. Greece exerted pressure for the decision on the issue to be finalised. "Although Britain does not accept dialogue, Greece continues to ask for this and on this occassion we asked the committee to do something more," added the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reprsentative, Ms Papathanassiou with the ICPRCP President accepting her request for the drafting of a decision to be adopted by the Comittee. 

Greece was represented at at the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Georgios Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Director of the department for the protection of cultural property of the Ministry of Culture Vasiliki Papageorgiou and the legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Artemis Papathanassiou.  

 "We congratulate Greece on this excellent result and hope that Britain will finally review its stance and engage in dialogue. At some point, the day will come when we will see the Sculptures reunited in the Acropolis Museum," commented Dr Christiane Titgat, president of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).

Dr Christiane Tytgat, President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS)

BCRPM observations, 07 October 2021.

Wednesday 06 October 2021, saw the final day of the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central Convention Complex.Prime Minister Johnson's speech included his take on how to conserve British heritage and culture:

"It has become clear to me that this isn’t just a joke – they really do want to rewrite our national story, starting with Hereward the Woke. We really are at risk of a kind of know-nothing cancel culture, know-nothing iconoclasm. We Conservatives will defend our history and cultural inheritance not because we are proud of everything, but because trying to edit it now is as dishonest as a celebrity trying furtively to change his entry in Wikipedia, and it’s a betrayal of our children’s education."

A reminder that goblal Britain can only claim to be global by being omnipotent? History doesn't have to be rewitten but it has to told as a whole story. And we come back to BCRPM's 20 June protest outside the British Museum, with a poster asking the BM to come clean. Janet Suzman wrote:  

' NOT explaining the full story of these Marbles, and is not worthy of such an august institution. Each case should be considered on its merits since each case is different. The Marbles case is unique.

The BM's Director, Hartwig Fischer, has developed a defensive 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 a few years ago re-inforced the marbles' supremacy in execution and their diminished meaning in isolation. Imagine one of Rodin’s great figures from the group called The Burghers of Calais standing separated from its fellows in a far country? That would hardly be a ‘creative act’.

The BM is a great encyclopaedic institution while being an Aladdin's Cave of conquest. Imperial Britain took objects from other countries because it could.

But there's a mood abroad which abhors colonialist attitudes and entitlement that it must wake up to.'

For more on the 20 June 2021 protest follow, the link here.

From 27-29 September, the 22nd session of the ICPRCP, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation, took place in Paris.

The ICPRCP advisory body facilitates bilateral negotiations and offers mediator services to states concerning the return and restitution of cultural property.

To watch the proceeding of the three days, visit: http://webcast.unesco.org/events/2021-09-22ICPRCP/ 

The presentation by Greece took place on Wednesday the 28th of September. Greece was represented by the Ministry of Culture by the Secretary General of Culture George Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Head of the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Heritage and Legal Adviser of the Special Legal Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artemis Papathanassiou. For the first time, apart from the recommendation, a decision with stronger wording was also agreed.

Greece's Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, made the following statement:

"Greece's request for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Athens has been on the agenda of UNESCO Intergovernmental Committees on the Return of Cultural Property to the Countries of Origin (ICPRCP) since 1984, when it was first introduced by Melina Mercouri and remains there again today, 30 September 2021.

At the 22nd session of the ICPRCP, which ended on the 29th of September evening, the Committee issued (due to the countless efforts of Greece and the invaluable support of Zambia, Egypt, and other countries-members of the ICPRCP) for the first time, a Decision concerning specially the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Committee urges , through the Decision, the United Kingdom to reconsider its position and to negotiate with Greece, in bona fide, acknowledging that the matter is intergovernmental - contrary to the British side's claim that the case concerns exclusively the Trustees of the British Museum - and that Greece is claiming rightly and legally the Return of the Sculptures. The new Decision, is a very important development in the recognition of the legality and intergovernmental character of Greece’s just claim.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the members of the Greek delegation, as well as our Permanent Representation to UNESCO for their diligent commitment to the return of the Sculptures. All worked rigorously and consistently to achieve this extremely positive result.”

The UK's prsentation during the meeting upheld the BM's position with the same old and tired arguments for the continued retention of the fragmented sculptures from the Parthenon in Room 18. Nonetheless, there was a consensus among member nations that this cultural dispute deserved after all this time, to be resolved through the faciliation of the ICPRCP. 

BCRPM in supporting Greece and nations across the globe, which have all recognised the significance of this peerless collection of sculptures and the exceptional top floor Parthenon Gallery in the Acropolis Museum, applaud these ICPRCP recommendations and the new decision. We are all looking forward to dialogue. It is our collective respect for the Parthenon, which deserves to be the catalyst for change, starting with honest talks to resolve the long awaited reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. The time is now.

The added value of this year's ICPRCP new decision as summed up in eKathimerini, reads as follows:

The decision of the 22nd session of the ICPRCP's Commission expresses its strong dissatisfaction with the fact that the issue remains unresolved due to the United Kingdom's stance. In addition, it urges the United Kingdom to reconsider its position and enter into a bona fide dialogue with Greece, emphasizing the intergovernmental nature of the dispute.

This decision was the result of the tireless efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Ministry of Culture.

Accordingly, the text of this year's Recommendation reflects, inter alia, the Commission's concern that the Duveen Gallery at the British Museum, where half of the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are on display, is closed to the public due to the necessary restoration work.

"A museum open to all" 

Following the success of the  programme entitled "A museum open to all", a project, created for European Heritage Days, has been extended by the Acropolis Museum.

The programme has been developed also for migrants and refugees. A series of talks and presentations lasting an hour each are carried out  on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They are designed to explain specific exhibits in the Museum; the Rock of the Acropolis and the great moments of its history; ancient Greek art and the people who created it.

The top floor gallery of the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon Gallery. Images courtesy of the Acropolis Museum 27.09.2021

Additional information:
Days: Wednesdays & Thursdays
Hours:9:00  & 11:00 a.m., 13:00 & 15:00 p.m
Duration: 60 minutes
Participation: Up to 20 visitors per presentation, including escorts and translators. 
Sanitary protection measures:The use of a protective mask (not provided by theMuseum) and an individual whisper acoustic device (provided by the Museum) is mandatory. At the same time, interested parties are also made aware of the Museum's health protection measures against the spread of covid-19 (https://theacropolismuseum.gr/metra-ygeionomikis-prostasias-sto-moyseio-akropolis).