A party-protest organised by the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) in the British Museum to celebrate the 13th birthday of the Acropolis Museum

TA NEA,  Monday 20 June 2022, London. Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK Correspondent, reporting.

To read the full article in Ta Nea in Greek, follow the link here.

It was a birthday party the likes of which has never happened before. The celebrant could not attend as it was 2,390 kilometres away. Inevitably, the candles of the cake were extinguished by proxy.

The celebrant was none other than the Acropolis Museum, which today celebrates its 13th anniversary. The person that was grinning, was Victoria Hislop, who, with a white cake in her hand, sang, along with about 100 British and Greeks of the United Kingdom, "Happy birthday".

Not only in English, but also in Greek with a twist to the traditional happy birthday words ( and it did rhyme when sung in Greek) :«Να ζήσεις Μουσείο και χρόνια πολλά, μεγάλο να γίνεις με όλα τα Γλυπτά!». Which translated says: "Long live the museum, happy birthday, may you grow older with all of your sculptures reunited!". 

The imaginative party-protest was organized inside the British Museum, in Bloomsbury, central London, with the double aim: to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the emblematic Athenian museum and to send an eloquent message to the British Museum, which continues to house half of the surviving and fragmented sculptures from the Parthenon: the time has come, at last, to make the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures a reality.

It was one of the most well attended events of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (BCRPM), which has marked the anniversary of the museum annually. This year the gathering had the assistance of groups of Greeks living in London (invited by Avgoustinos Galiassos and his Greek List), alongside Britons of all ages, but also to the interest of those who visited the Museum on Saturday, while in the streets of the British capital thousands of people marched in protest at the rising cost of living.

As soon as they entered the classic building, the architecture of which reflects that of an ancient Greek temple, visitors saw Greek flags tied to the Gate of the Museum.

"What's going on here?" asked a Canadian visitor. "A demonstration for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Will you follow us?" asked one of the organizers. "Of course. I love Greece and the Marbles belong there", replied the Canadian.

The award-winning British author of "The Island" and a Greek citizen since September 2020, arrived and donned the demonstration's official blue T-shirt with the laconic and clear message: "R E U I T E, Επανένωση".

"It's exciting that so many people have gathered today. The passion for the reunification of of the Parthenon Marbles is constantly growing. We are very optimistic," Hislop told Ta Nea. She added: "The sculptures from the Parthenon were not legally acquired. Elgin uprooted them to decorate his ancestral home. Greece is their home, it is the best place for these sculptures to be exhibited. That's my message to the British Museum and the UK government."

The assembled, who remained in the museum for 45 minutes, did not stop chanting in favour of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, and  made time to also inform the multinational passers-by that wanted to find out more. Most visitors said unequivocally that they supported the reunification and, some, joined in with the protesters.

Shortly after 2 p.m., in the museum's atrium, the famous Great Court designed by architect Norman Foster, an elegant blue banner with white writing measuring eight by two meters  was unfurled and the words in English: "Reunify the Marbles!" The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, www.parthenon.com

At the same time, a second banner was raised with a message to the British Museum: "!!!COME CLEAN BM!!! #tellthestory, #thetimeisnow. This banner was designed by BCRPM's Chair Janet Suzman for last year's protest and the Acropolis Museum's 12th anniversary. On that Sunday, 20 June 2021, Room 18 was closed and in fact did not re-open until middle of December.

Another couple of placards were held up, including two by the Miliotis family: Dimitra, Fotini, Julia and Chris. The words: "They are coming home", struck a cord.

IN THE DUVEEN HALL

The demonstrators, some wrapped in Greek flags, then proceeded to the Duveen Hall that houses Pheidias' masterpieces and sang again the "Happy Birthday" to the Acropolis Museum.

There, next to the Sculptures, the famous classicist Edith Hall unfolded her scarf which was also a Greek flag, receiving warm applause. "We hope and believe that these wonderful sculptures will be returned to Greece. Britain must allow them to be reunited with their halves in Athens. This act would elevate us so much in the eyes of the whole world. It would be a win-win arrangement," Hall, a professor of Classics and Ancient Greek Literature at Durham University, told Ta Nea.

In addition to the Acropolis Museum, Boris Johnson celebrated his 58th birthday on Sunday. I asked the leading professor of ancient Greek literarure to send a message to the British Prime Minister and Edith said: "Boris, I know you are really interested in Britain's international image. Give back the Pathenon sculptures to the Greeks and you will become one of the most magnanimous prime ministers in history".

The demonstration was also attended by two special guests: Anna and Lucy Collard, daughters of Eleni Cubitt. In 1983, Eleni and her architect husband James with the encouragement of Melina Mercouri and Jules Dassin, discussed the idea of a British Committee whilst visiting Evia. BCRPM was founded in October of that year. Mrs Cubitt became Honorary Secretary of the Committee and ran the campaign up to 2012, she sadly passed away in April 2020.

"We noticed that the British Museum recently changed the words it uses to explain how the Sculptures ended up in its collection. Removing words to controll accuracy is a step in the right direction. However, the Museum still refuses to tell the full story as it is and to publish the alleged 'firman'' on its website," said BCRPM's Chair Dame Janet Suzman.

On the same day, Helena Smith wrote in the Guardian mentioning the demonstration and Ta Nea's report on the six British MPs that called on Johnson's government to return

First of all, a very Happy Birthday to you, beautiful Acropolis Museum. I visit you each time I am in Athens and, every time, you take my breath away with your beauty - and your patience.

Why am I sure that your patience will be rewarded?

Because millions of British people feel as I do that the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum should be reunited with those that you were built to accommodate.

Because most in Britain do not share the British Museum’s attitude that this museum is doing everyone a favour by having the Marbles in London to be admired.

Because, however many times the lie is repeated, the truth is that there was no officially stamped “firman” giving Lord Elgin permission to hack the Marbles off the Parthenon.  There was merely a letter signed by an official in the Sultan’s court, that allowed him to have sketches and moulds taken so that copies could be made.  Far from being purchased, the Marbles were obtained by bribing guards to turn a blind eye to their violent and destructive extraction from the Parthenon building.

Lord Elgin (readers in Greece no doubt understand that his title was inherited not earned) is known for nothing except the theft of the Marbles.  His was a life of entitlement – and when he was short of money he sold his stolen goods to the British Museum.

And the British Museum did not “preserve them” as they so smugly claim.  They allowed them to be scrubbed to make them gleaming white.  Hardly conservation.

There is a strong and growing belief that many cultural artefacts and treasures should be repatriated to their country of origin.  I think it is only a matter of time before all the arguments presented by the Conservative government (itself tottering on the brink) and the British Museum itself turn to dust, and the Greek light shines on the Marbles once again.

Victoria

Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, writes: Greece unveiled its sparkling, world-class Acropolis Museum on June 20th, 2009. It currently exhibits half of the Parthenon Marbles. The exhibition combines the original marble sculptures with plaster copies of those retained in the British Museum.

Marking the Acropolis Museum’s 13th anniversary, six British MPs and peers have made exclusive comments to the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, in which they call for the Parthenon Marbles’ reunification.

Greece has been calling for the 2,500-year-old sculptures, held in Britain for more than 200 years, to be repatriated. The campaign was boosted by the recent about-turn by The Times newspaper, which argued for the ancient treasures to be returned to Greece. In repeated polls, Britons have voiced support for the return of the carvings.

Unesco’s committee for repatriation (ICPRCP) announced last month that Greece and the UK have agreed to hold talks on the Parthenon Marbles. According to the ICPRCP, a meeting “will be arranged in due course.”

However, a UK Government spokesperson later told Ta Nea that "the government has not agreed to formal talks about the Parthenon Sculptures."
 
In comments to Ta Nea, Lord Dubs said: “The marbles should be one entity and not in different countries; they were originally stolen from Greece but above all, they represent something especially important for Greece.”

“There could not be a better moment for the Parthenon Marbles to be reunited in their Athenian home. Let us put international treasures on carefully chartered aeroplanes instead of desperate refugees,” said Baroness Chakrabarti, and a new member of BCRPM.

“It’s not a question of whether rather than when,” commented Lord Campbell-Savours.

“The UK Government should accept that continuing to keep possession of the Parthenon Marbles is an outdated policy, rooted in imperialism,” Margaret Ferrier MP said.

“The British Museum must do the right thing and return them to their rightful home in Greece. Failure to do so is insulting to Greece and her people,” said Dave Doogan MP.

"The Parthenon Marbles must be returned to Greece without delay," said Lord Sikka.

The award-winning British author and BCRPM member Victoria Hislop, who has been granted honorary Greek citizenship, said: “I think it is only a matter of time before all the arguments presented by the Conservative government (itself tottering on the brink) and the British Museum itself turn to dust, and the Greek light shines on the Marbles once again.”

 
Meanwhile, supporters from across the UK are gathering today at the British Museum to call for the reunification of the sculptures. The protest is organised by the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM).

“We’re gathering at the British Museum to mark the 13th anniversary of the opening of the Acropolis Museum. Serious conversation about the reunification of the greatest work of classic antiquity has been lacking for over 200 years, but the last vestige of an excuse for not returning the Sculptures evaporated 13 years ago,” said Dame Janet Suzman, BCRPM’s chair.

Full comments follow

Independent MP Margaret Ferrier told Ta Nea:

“I’d like to congratulate the Acropolis Museum on their 13th anniversary.

“The UK Government should accept that continuing to keep possession of the Parthenon Marbles is an outdated policy, rooted in imperialism.

“The reality is that we are holding onto a piece of Greek heritage, and one that we have no claim to.

“Entering into a meaningful dialogue with Greece about the Marbles’ return is the very least the Government can do. Returning them to their rightful home is the only morally acceptable outcome.”
 

SNP MP Dave Doogan told Ta Nea:

“Across the world there exists challenging cases of national treasures bought legitimately by foreign museums in the past, with countries of origin who feel those museums have no right to hold those artefacts today.

“These cases can be complex and nuanced but the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles, are no such case. Instead, their continued displacement from the Parthenon is a clear case of the acquiring hand of British exceptionalism.

“I believe the British Museum must do the right thing and return them to their rightful home in Greece. Failure to do so is insulting to Greece and her people.”
 

Lord Alf Dubs told Ta Nea:

“We need to explain why returning the marbles would be exceptional and not set a precedent for demands for the return of hundreds of works of art all over the world.

“I believe the marbles should be one entity and not in different countries,  they were originally stolen from Greece but above all they represent something especially important for Greece.”
 

Lord Prem Sikka told Ta Nea:

"The UK is the home of the largest collection of culturally significant stolen artefacts and they must be returned to their rightful place and people.

“The Parthenon Marbles belong to Greece and are vital part of its history and identity. They must be returned to Greece without delay. Unesco's intervention is most welcome.

“However, this needs to be broadened to include other nations so they too can recover their artefacts".
 

Lord Dale Campbell-Savours told Ta Nea:

“The Parthenon Marbles will be returned to Greece. It’s not a question of whether rather than when.”
 

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti told Ta Nea:

“I send all good wishes to the Acropolis Museum on its auspicious thirteenth birthday. There could not be a better moment for the Parthenon Marbles to be reunited in their Athenian Home; not least to restore some international dignity to a morally reduced United Kingdom.

“Let us put international treasures on carefully chartered aeroplanes instead of desperate refugees. Sadly I do not expect such moral leadership from our current government so I call on civil society in the form of the British Museum to do this ethical and imaginative thing.”
 

Victoria Hislop’s birthday greetings to the Acropolis Museum

First of all, a very Happy Birthday to you, beautiful Acropolis Museum. I visit you each time I am in Athens and, every time, you take my breath away with your beauty - and your patience.

Why am I sure that your patience will be rewarded?

Because millions of British people feel as I do that the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum should be reunited with those that you were built to accommodate.

Because most in Britain do not share the British Museum’s attitude that this museum is doing everyone a favour by having the Marbles in London to be admired.

Because, however many times the lie is repeated, the truth is that there was no officially stamped “firman” giving Lord Elgin permission to hack the Marbles off the Parthenon.  There was merely a letter signed by an official in the Sultan’s court, that allowed him have sketches and moulds taken so that copies could be made.  Far from being purchased, the Marbles were obtained by bribing guards to turn a blind eye to their violent and destructive extraction from the Parthenon building.

Lord Elgin (readers in Greece no doubt understand that his title was inherited not earned) is known for nothing except the theft of the Marbles.  His was a life of entitlement – and when he was short of money he sold his stolen goods to the British Museum.

And the British Museum did not “preserve them” as they so smugly claim.  They allowed them to be scrubbed to make them gleaming white.  Hardly conservation.

There is a strong and growing belief that many cultural artefacts and treasures should be repatriated to their country of origin.  I think it is only a matter of time before all the arguments presented by the Conservative government (itself tottering on the brink) and the British Museum itself turn to dust, and the Greek light shines on the Marbles once again.

Victoria

This news report was published in the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea (www.tanea.gr) on 18 June 2022, follow the links to read the Greek  printed version and the English translation.

 The Acropolis Museum, Athens, welcomes to their birthplace, Panathenaic amphorae from Toronto, Canada.

 Των Αθήνηθεν άθλων

On Monday 20 June 2022, the Acropolis Museum celebrate its 13th anniversary and invites visitors to its exhibition areas with reduced tickets (5 euro) during its usual opening times (8am to 4pm). At 3pm, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy music by the Woodwind Quintet of the Athens State Orchestra.

From 20 June 2022 until 8 January 2023, the Acropolis Museum will present the exhibition programme: “Των Αθήνηθεν άθλων. The Panathenaic amphorae from Toronto, Canada back to their birthplace”, with two exquisite vessels created in Athens over 2,500 years ago. They are Panathenaic amphorae, vessels filled with oil that were given as a prize to the victors of contests held during the festival of the Great Panathenaia. One side is decorated with the figure of Athena Promachos and the other with scenes related to the games for which they were given as prizes. The two vessels from the Royal Ontario Museum will be exhibited in the Parthenon Gallery, relating with the great temple’s frieze, where Pheidias and his collaborators artfully carved the Panathenaic procession.

919.5.148: Attic black-figure Panathenaic amphora showing Athena Promachos and a horse race; Attributed to the Eucharides painter; About 490 BC.Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM

915.24: Attic black-figure Panathenaic amphora showing Athena Promachos and athletes in a foot race; Attributed to the Eucharides painter; 525-500 BC.Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM

This presentation of an event taking place simultaneously with the presentation “From Athens to Toronto: A Greek Masterpiece Revealed” at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) where the Acropolis Kore 670 is on display. It is organized as part of cultural exchanges between the Acropolis Museum and other great museums abroad, promoting the friendly relations between the people of different countries.

Within the context of this event, on Wednesday 29 June 2022, at 7pm, the Museum will welcome Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Director, Mr. Josh Basseches, who will give a speech in the auditorium entitled ‘ROM Immortal: Transforming Museum Experiences for the 21st Century’.

Alec Russell wrote a wonderful article in the Financial Times, published on 09 June 2022, a travel feature, aptly entitled: 'Three days — and 3,000 years of history — in Athens'. Alec Russell's long weekend break, saw him discovering new galleries, restaurants and museums — and fresh calls for the return of ancient treasures!

"I had last been to Athens six years ago with a teenage son. We had immersed ourselves in its history over five archaeology-rich days. But this time had to be different. It was a weekend break, however heretical this may sound to classicists. My wife had last been to Athens in the 1980s as a child. So after all those years, the Parthenon had to have top billing. Yet we had just three days — and contemporary, spruced-up Athens was also in our sights." Writes Alec Russell

To read the article follow the link to the FT. 

"Diplomatically, our guide let the stones tell their own story. Just down the hill, however, Nikolaos Stampolidis, the impassioned director-general of the Acropolis Museum and one of Greece’s most renowned archaeologists, did not hold back. After endless ebb and flow over the years, the argument over whether the “Elgin Marbles” should be returned from the British Museum — which bought them from Elgin — is bubbling once more and seemingly tilting in the Greeks’ favour."

"I was deeply moved during a recent visit to the Acropolis Museum in Athens", writes Alfredo Cafasso Vitale. His article was first published in ekathimerini on Thursday 02 June 2022.

With the kind permission from Alfredo Cafasso Vitale, the remainder of the article can also be read below:

This fragment, which is part of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, depicts a foot and a part of the peplos of Artemis, and was acquired in 1816 by the British consul in Sicily, Robert Fagan. After his death in 1820, it was sold to the Museum of the Royal University of Palermo and from there it was then passed to the Salinas Museum.

The top floor of the Acropolis Museum is a virtual reconstruction of the Parthenon, and the area has been designed, with its position and glass, to reflect, and to not only display this reconstruction, but to also visually link it to the original near 2,500-year-old structure on the Acropolis hill. The Fagan fragment is now displayed in a glass case, within its place in the reconstruction and also looking out at the actual historical site.

I hope this trip paves the way for a much more important and long-awaited journey of the marbles from the British Museum, “stolen” in the early 1800s by Thomas Bruce, then made Lord Elgin, ambassador of Great Britain to Constantinople.

During the period of Ottoman occupation in Greece, Elgin apparently obtained the permission of the sultan to remove the marbles. These were then dispersed in different locations (the same Fagan fragment came directly from Elgin). Some marbles were lost at sea, during transport, but most eventually arrived at the British Museum.

This process, which is not, in some quarters, considered to be a valid and genuine method of acquisition, has triggered fierce international debates, and has initiated official requests for restitution of the marbles by various Greek governments.

The Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer, in the preface to the splendid book by Christopher Hitchens, “The Parthenon Marbles,The Case for Reunification” underlined how the presence of the marbles in London represented the stone manifesto of British colonial arrogance, and how much the marbles belonged, representing their DNA in art, to the Greek people.

These sculptures by Phidias have been requested in vain for almost 40 years by various Greek governments (the first was Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri in 1984), and most recently by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview on British television.

It should be noted that, as a student, Boris Johnson wrote, in an article in Oxford, “…it is evident to me, how much [these marbles] are woven into the Greek identity. It would be a wonderful thing if they could be returned.” Latterly, Ed Vaizey, former minister of culture of the Cameron government, recently stated that they should be in Athens.

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens has transferred its 10 fragments of the Parthenon to the Acropolis Museum, strengthening the reunification process and sparking a fresh discussion about the never dormant request for the return of the marbles.

I hope that the exchange program with Sicily will lead the way to a solution for the return of the marbles, which would, in turn, strengthen Greece’s cultural identity, and perhaps help reinforce it politically and economically. The country has been trying with all its strength and succeeding in re-emerging from the profound crisis of the last decade.

In another indication that perhaps the tide is turning in favor of the return of the marbles, the Musee des Civilizations du Quai Branly in Paris and the Berlin Ethnologisches Museum have initiated the return of African artifacts to Nigeria, improperly taken away during the colonial period from Benin City.

As a footnote, upon exiting the museum, I entered the metro, heading home, at the Acropolis station. Going down to the platform, I was greeted by the giant picture of Melina Mercouri in front of the Parthenon, wrapped in an elegant trench coat, a bundle of wild flowers in her hands, and an immense and radiant smile, which today seems even more radiant. The return process, dreamed of and initiated by her, seems to have perhaps gained some momentum.