The article 'British museums weigh the cost of repatriating exhibits', by the Marketplace, quotes Tiffany Jenkins: 

“It’s about knowledge, about understanding, about preservation, about audiences. And it’s not about righting the wrongs of history,” Tiffany Jenkins said. “We should be thinking where can these objects be safest and where can they do the most good? Are objects going to be safe if they are returned to Nigeria, are they going to be seen by many people? I’m not convinced they are.”

Janet Suzman writes to Tiffany Jenkins and questions: "but we live in an age entirely devoted to attempting to right the wrongs of history do we not? All sorts of histories, pre-eminently that of slavery and the colonial occupations of countries and their peoples - and thus of those people’s cultures and possessions - are being questioned. And rightly so. Received mythologies of modern history are increasingly being re-thought and re-interpreted since the end of colonial powers. Britain’s was the most powerful and extensive and we know it took things because it could. The British Museum itself is an astonishing hymn to that concept.

Papers have reached their 50-year limit and are being released or coming to light. Those people who were there to tell the tale reveal are moved to recount the facts as they lived them before it’s too late. Things don’t stay hidden for ever. Pictures are being very slowly restored to their owners having been taken by the SS. Awareness of so many cultural appropriations is higher than ever it has been. Respect for others, so often falling short in practise, is, willy-nilly, now front and centre.

I’m a little surprised, too, that you don’t expand on what you mean by the phrase ’do the most good’. You were, I guess, being Aristotelean, but you might be doing the most good to a nation were you to return what is rightfully theirs, be it a precious skull of some ancient folk-hero, or works of sculpture unsurpassed in all of ensuing history.

Where can certain objects be safest you ask? I would suggest in purpose-built modern museums whose roofs don’t leak and in which the latest technology of temperature control and air conditioning exists. You yourself are an admirer of the stunning New Acropolis Museum in Athens (now more than 13 years old) as I've heard you say so. You cannot surely have a quarrel with the conservatory and scholastic skills at work there?

What I really fail to understand, though, is what the case can possibly be for denying a country authentic works of its own art. I know great art belongs to everyone, but nothing predicates that London is the sole place through which this ‘everyone’ passes. London’s days of being the centre of the known world are long gone. The internet has happened, and digital sharing amongst places of learning are normal. So is travel.

In any case, jaw-droppingly accurate digital replicas are now possible. Why on earth should the British Museum have the originals of the Marbles while denying them to Athens? Reverse that insular notion and hey-presto justice is done and excitement beckons as the BM discovers that no-one can possibly tell the difference. Indeed with perfect replicas of all the objects that were sneakily lifted by Elgin the BM might even rise to a corrective by restoring the exquisite patinas that once graced the Parthenon Marbles before they were scrubbed by crude wire brushes into institutionally white supremacist versions. The exquisite replicas can still ’tell their story’ as the authorities always put it. They could even be painted in the colours they once wore if the BM decided to create a block-buster show, or would that be too, too vulgar?

And as to being seen by many people, I must tell you that the BCRPM took a poll of the proportion of the 6 million annual visitors boasted by the BM only to find that only one sixth of them visit Room 18, the Duveen Galleries. That figure is easily matched and surpassed by the Athens Museum so please don’t worry about numbers.

Righting the wrongs of history is a tussle that the Western world is going through in a big way as I write this, and, Tiffany Jenkins, it has to be lived through and responded to else the BM and like-minded finders-keepers mentalities will hold us in thrall to the high-handed days of yore, which are mainly despicable in the light of modern sensibilities. Take a leaf, say I, out of the thinking that prevails in the great Dutch museums where a certain humanity prevails. Other museums feel the same it seems. UNESCO certainly does, as a whole body.

Nothing bad will happen, only good, if arguably the greatest of the national museums were to behave like a mensch and give the blasted Parthenon Marbles back to the Greeks."

Respecfully and sincerely,
Janet Suzman

Tuesday, 16 November began with Prime Minister Mitsotakis on ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about his nation's handling of the pandemic and on going measures; the challenges and risks facing migrants and refugees; explained that it is the long and respectful cooperation between Greece and the UK which he hopes will catapult the UK into enganing in bi-lateral talks to find a solution for the reuification of the Parthenon Marbles.

"Where there's a will", Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis added, the continued division of the sculptures from the Parthenon would be resolved.

BCRPM have campaigned for nearly 4 decades and continue to do so reinforcing that this is about reuniting a peerless collection of sculptures that belong to the Parthenon, which still stands. A magnanimous gesture from the UK to Greece in this special year, the 200th year of Greek independence would be hugely welcomed. Sentiments echoed by Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

The meeting at No 10, which followed on the same day was also covered by most of the media, you can read the summary from UK Government portal here. The concluding paragraph reads:

Prime Minister Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister ( The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP) said that he understood the strength of feeling of the Greek people on this issue, but reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this matter is one for the trustees of the British Museum. 

Only two months ago it was UNESCO's ICPRCP that concluded at the 22nd session, 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 urged, 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. This new Decision, is an important development in the recognition of the legality and intergovernmental character of Greece’s just claim.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis went on to visit London's Science Museum for the opening of the exhibition, entitled ANCIENT GREEKS: SCIENCE AND WISDOM. Prime Minister Mitsotakis addressed the gathering and said: "The exhibition "Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom" highlights how modern scientific innovation helps to reveal more than ever about ancient Greece - allowing us to travel back in time, to an ancient civilization." He then added:"We want to work with the UK government and the British Museum to find a solution so that the Parthenon Sculptures can be seen in their entirety in Athens, where they belong. This way they can be better appreciated."

"Undoubtedly, they are best viewed in situ, and in context. That they are connected visually to the very monument which lends the sculptures their global significance, really matters. Which is why we want to work with the UK government and the British Museum on a solution that will allow for the Parthenon Sculptures to be viewed as one, in Athens.I raised the issue with Prime Minister Johnson today and I very much intend to continue working hard until the Parthenon sculptures have been returned permanently to the Acropolis Museum." To read Prime Minister Mitsotakis' full speech, please follow the link, here.

The exhibition 'Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom' at the Science Museum runs from 17 November 2021 to 05 June 2022.

Acropolis Museum director, Nikos Stampolidis, called for an end to the division of the sculptures from the Parthenon. Greece requests have been on going since the the 19th century and after independence. The Acropolis Museum is the closest that all visitors can get to the Parthenon and this peerless collection of sculptures.

"It's time for the matter to be resolved," Nikos Stampolidis told AFP in an interview.

"We are not talking about just any work of art far from its place of origin", but of "part of an architectural monument that is a symbol of global culture", stated Stampolidis.

"An act of the English parliament could facilitate the return the friezes to Athens," Stampolidis added.

You can watch the ERT news interview on You Tube, with English subtitles.

The Acropolis Museum is "the one place on earth where you can properly admire the marbles in context, as you stand in front of 2,500 years of history and look across the panoramic vista towards the temple above," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in the Daily Mail in November.

In January, the Times, also wrote: "Time and circumstances are changing. The sculptures belong in Athens. They must now return there." 

London, Thanasis Gavos

The idea of  "rotating" loans for the sculptures from the Parthenon is unsatisfactory when one also considers that Greece's ask is wholly justified. The ask is for the permanent reunification of all these sculptures. A request that was first made shortly after Greece gained her independence.

British supporters for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles consider the possible "deal" described by a Bloomberg report on Tuesday night to be disappointing.

Citing sources on the ongoing talks, the news articles said parts of the sculptures could be returned over time and "on a rotational basis" from the British Museum to the Acropolis Museum, as part of a "cultural exchange".

In light of this, Professor Paul Cartledge, Vice-Chair of the British Committee for Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and Vice-Chair of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), said that he understands that the Bloomberg report has been denied by the Greek Ministry of Culture .

"I can understand why both the British Museum is keen to give the impression that it is not just saying no (to reunification) but that it is interested in some kind of negotiated solution, while on the other hand I fully understand why the Ministry of Culture in Greece would accept nothing less than the return of all that the British Museum and, incidentally, other museums - as a whole and for eternity" the former professor of Ancient Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge told SKAI.

"None of these piecemeal 'here you go, you can have this piece of frieze and then we expect some nice things from you back and then we'll give you some more of the frieze', i.e. we'll lend them to you, we won't give them to you of course," Mr. Cartledge added, rejecting the content of the deal described by Bloomberg sources.

The British professor agrees, however, that even if we have not reached the desired outcome, the constant references to talks and possible agreements prove that progress has been made.

"I think the pressure is intensifying. The fact that the Pope has agreed to give back – and not in some way lend or raise any legal issue – the pieces held by the Vatican Museums, is the latest in a series of different things that have been achieved outside of Britain. All this leads to the conclusion that it is obvious that the British Museum's Chair and Trustees should do the right thing and enter into negotiations on the basis that the relevant laws (preventing reunification) should be amended or withdrawn for this specific case. But also that they wish, not that they are obliged, that they wish to give back (the Sculptures) as they normally should. So there is no doubt that (there is) this  idea of the deal, as if the British Museum has some basis on a moral basis, which we believe it does not have," Professor Cartledge noted.

The rotation of the Sculptures would not solve the issue of ownership. Another thorn, of course, is the British Museum Act of 1963 which prohibits the removal of exhibits from the British Museum's collection.

A possible way out of this is the British Charity Act of 2022, as pointed out by lawyer George Dimaras who specializes in cases of mixed national jurisdiction and works in Greece, Britain and other countries: "Greece's ownership arguments remain strong. However, there is also the recent change in legislation in Britain in 2022 and the Charity Act, which allows museum to request the return of objects found in British museum collections on the basis of moral obligations. Although this is a difficult issue, perhaps the new law could affect decisions regarding the Parhenon Sculptures," the Greek lawyer, George Dimaras told SKAI.

It should be noted, however, that the implementation of two crucial articles of the new law has been put on hold by the British government in order to  carry out additional research in order to "thoroughly asses their impact" on museum collections.

Source: skai.gr

To liten to the report, follow the link here.

A Modern Caryatid Pleads for her “Sister’s” Return

Walking down Euston Road on my way to the tube, I see the familiar sight of the St. Pancras Church caryatids looking down on me. These elegant, sculpted figures replace normal columns, supporting the building of which they are part. No one else seems to notice them or pay them much attention, but I stop to admire them, six ancient Greek women, standing tall, overlooking the London traffic; I feel proud looking up at them.

I know these girls well not only from the Acropolis, but from my own small village in Laconia, Karyai (Karyes), from where these maidens are said to come. The 2nd century AD travel writer Pausanias describes how they would have performed dances for Artemis of the Walnut-trees in her open air temple. There’s a replica of the caryatids in my village as well, which I remember climbing and clambering over since I was young. Standing at the top of a cliff overlooking the village’s entrance, our monument stands guard over the village of Karyai and establishes the caryatid’s Lakonian roots, which no one can claim from them.

To contrast this, in the Acropolis Museum, five of the originals from the Athenian Acropolis are joined by an empty space – an empty space waiting for the sixth caryatid, stolen by Lord Elgin in 1802, and today in the British Museum, to join her Athenian sisters.

As a PhD student in Classics (Classical Art and Archaeology) at the University of Cambridge, I place emphasis on the importance of unification. This is where the crux of the issue lies: the sculptures taken from the Athenian Acropolis are integral parts of monuments and Greece is their home. From the moment in which there is an ideal locale for their display, and here I refer to the New Acropolis Museum (built in 2009), whose galleries will enhance their impact and appreciation due to their visual and physical proximity to the Acropolis, there is no excuse for them not to be returned, to be appreciated as close as possible to their original context. The impact of a full Parthenon frieze and pediments would be nothing short of magnificent, giving for the first time in over 200 years a sense of the monument’s true grandeur.

The compromise to display treasures which have never before left Greece’s shores in the British Museum is more than fair, and in fact could be used as an opportunity to discuss also the impact of these objects on British antiquarians and intellectuals. Neo-classicism was a current so strong it prompted men like Lord Byron to die for a country that was not theirs by blood (although it certainly was by love, hence the term Philhellene) and this is something for which we Greeks are eternally grateful, as our bi-centennial celebrations this year demonstrated. I believe the display of other treasures would highlight this special 200-year relationship between Greece and the U.K. in a more equal and egalitarian way than stubbornly holding on to the Sculptures as if they are the singular prize. That would be true Philhellenism, of which Lord Byron himself would be proud.

The British Museum has the power to make the moral choice, the just choice, in the current negotiations. As an institution which is dedicated to preserving human history through its art and culture, I have no doubt the Museum and its Trustees will have also taken the time to understand history’s lessons. In this way, the six caryatids could finally be together again.

N.b. The caryatid in the British Museum, although an ‘Elgin’ marble, is not, in stricto sensu, one of the Parthenon sculptures.It is also not included in Greece's request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, currently displayed in the British Museum's Room 18.

Daphne D. Martin is PhD Candidate, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge

This article was also published in Ta Nea on 24 January 2022.

"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).

The possible solution to Greece's long-standing request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures from London may be held by... robots.

It is the first time in history that one of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum has been replicated using digital 3D technology and a robot.

The famous chariot horse head of the goddess Selene: the ancient Greeks believed that a goddess Selene carried the moon across the sky each night. They imagined her driving a horse-drawn chariot with two white horses. Selene's crown lit up the moon as her white horses galloped across the night sky. And the horse's head in the British Museum is the exquisite sculpture carved by Pheidias in 5th century BC, and this year, 2022 digitally reproduced and carved by robotic 3D imaging machines.

The director and founder of the Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA), Roger Michael described to ERT how they managed to scan the sculptures after the British Museum refused them permission.

"We asked the British Museum for permission to scan some of the items. We were surprised when they refused to give it to us, but we decided to take matters into our own hands and so we did the scans using portable equipment at the British Museum. We then converted these scans into a 3D model and from that 3D model, we then created this amazing marble sculpture carved from precious Pentelian marble," Roger Michael told ERT .

The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) chose the head of a horse of Selene, which adorned the right end of the Parthenon's East pediment, as their first work of perfect reproduction.

“It's one of the most well-known works of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum, and we chose it for that very reason, because one of the things we're trying to show with this installation is how great the technology is, how close to the original we can be with this reconstruction. Because it shows an animal reaching the limits of its effort, it's really an incredible sculpture," said Mr. Michael.

"It's chilling, this accuracy! I think it's great that we can feed information into a machine that makes a perfect copy of a work made by a human hand. The magic of it is amazing," Dame Janet Suzman, the Chair of the  tells ERT.

Ms. Suzman, a multi-award winning actress was introduced to the plight of these sculptures, and the campaign by “ the tornado that was Melina Mercouri when she came here to the UK and swept us all along with her, she was a strong wind. And we were like autumn leaves falling and that's when I got excited," as she described her meeting with the culture Minister at the time.

Shuttershock image, user ID 361013921. Photo of Jane Suzman with Melina Mercouri and Vanessa Redgrave 

The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) is proposing to replace the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum with exact replicas, something that covers the museum's argument as an educational institution and at the same time restores the Greeks' connection to their ancient heritage.

The debate has been intense in recent months about the Greek request, the people support it as shown by the opinion polls, and the Chair of the British Museum, George Osborne himself said that "an agreement is possible". But has the time for such an agreement arrived?

"Greeks love sculptures not only because they represent Greece in that part of history. Greece has many sculptures from the fifth century that do a much better job than these objects of representing this art. They love these works because of what they represent. They are part of their national pride, their heritage, for sentimental reasons, and that is why the originals must return to Greece. Britain needn't care about any of this. It's not their story. It is not their national heritage. It's not their national pride," Roger Michael told ERT.

Asked if she thought the British Museum would take up the idea, Dame Suzman replied: “ It's very imaginative at the moment. That seems to be the case. They haven't gotten there yet. But I think they will. Because they have to. They need to get their feet out of the mud. They are stuck in the mud. They are stuck."

"For 200 years, these things did their job, to awaken British academic, historical, social circles, and the awareness of the classical world was a huge resurgence of research and science , which these guys did," she says, pointing to sculpted replica of the horse's head.

"As my grandmother would say, enough already. They have to go home. They have to go." Dame Suzman stated categorically.

Roger Michael reveals to ERT that he spoke to the Chair of the British Museum, George Osborne in the summer and "there is no doubt that this will happen".

George Osborne has already told The Times "there is a deal that can be done".

The founder of the Digital Technology Institute said Greece's Ambassador, Ioannis Raptakis was speaking directly to Mr Osborne and he thought "negotiations are going very well."

Mr. Michael emphasized that, " in fact, I would not be surprised if when the Prime Minister of Greece comes to England next week he makes some very optimistic announcement. George Osborne is very clever. He is very successful. He's a politician, but he's also the publisher of a major newspaper, so he not only understands politics, but how to communicate politics. He is a man who cares about his heritage. He does not want to be the last who against the moral judgment of the whole world hangs from these things like grim death. He wants to be the man who finds a solution to a 200-year-old conflict and to be a hero, here in Britain but also in Greece, that's the person he wants to be. I guarantee you that's what I got from talking to him. And this is what I take from the knowledge of people who know him. But Ambassador Raptakis is exactly the same, a very pragmatic man but also a man who I think also cares about his legacy and would like nothing better than to be the man who negotiates an agreement ," Mr. Michael pointed out, noting that the problem may be the word to be used, however diplomacy is working in this direction and he thinks "we will hear some good news very soon."

Roger Michel of the Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA), the 3D sculpted horse's head at the Freud Museum and Ambassador Ioannis Raptakis, Greece's Ambassador to the UK

ERT asked the British Museum about the new proposal and received the following answer:

”There are replicas of the British Museum Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum, where they are displayed alongside the sculptures that remained in Athens. Our Greek colleagues from the Acropolis Museum have been to the British Museum in 2013 and 2017 to scan sculptures from the Parthenon."

The horse's head is on display at the Freud Museum in London. "The construction time of the copy was about two months, while it costed about 100 thousand euros"  explained Alexi Karenovska, Director of Technology of the Institute of Digital Archaeology and added that "the next copy will be the depiction of the Battle of the Titans from the Metopian fragment of Parthenon, also in the British Museum."

The first exact copy of the Parthenon Sculptures, the Selene's horse head in the British Museum with the help of 3D digital technology took its place in history, reviving hope for the repatriation of the originals to the Acropolis Museum.

Interview by: Evdoxia Lymberi, to read the article online and watch the news bulletin, follow the link to ertnews.gr here.

All News from Greece and the World @ ertnews.gr

Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper reporting on yesterday's peaceful protest at the British Museum.

The first-ever ‘protest concert’ held in the British Museum’s Duveen Gallery took place in London yesterday, Thursday 20 June 2019. This also marked the Acropolis Museum’s 10th anniversary with singer and songwriter Hellena performing her song for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

This peaceful protest took place in the British Museum’s Parthenon Gallery. Hellena sang '‘The Parthenon Marbles (bring them back)', which she has written in support of the campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The song was performed, a capella, 10 times – once for every anniversary year of the Acropolis Museum.

“I wanted the Museum’s visitors to learn the truth and those who run the Museum to understand that there is no way we can stop asking for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned,” Hellena told Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper. “I am very proud of this song, which fully reflects my beliefs and feelings, but also the feelings of millions of people all over the world.”

Hellena’s song was released yesterday, 20 June 2019, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Acropolis Museum – where she believes the marbles should be housed once they are returned to Greece. The song will be used by organisations around the world to “raise awareness of an injustice dating back over 200 years.”

The protest was held in collaboration with the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and the International Organising Committee - Australia - for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles.

“Hellena is a beautiful and talented singer and songwriter, whose soul has connected to the plight of the surviving and fragmented Parthenon Marbles. A 200 years old request and yet for young people today, it is a new call, perhaps just 10 years old, the anniversary of the superlative Acropolis Museum,” Marlen Godwin, BCRPM’s spokesperson, told Ta Nea.

“For all generations the art of music brings hope and it is hope that will keep this cause alive forever. We thank Hellena for her song and look to the day when music may change the plight of these sculptures for millions to appreciate what the ancients hoped we’d understand and what one, very special museum can do to show respect for an equally special museum, a home to a Parthenon Gallery where this peerless collection is exhibited the right way around, in context and with views to the Parthenon, which still stands. As generation Z look to visit museums for physical spaces they can invest in, communities they can engage with and belong to, it is time for the British Museum to look for other exemplars for Room 18 and allow the sculptures from the Parthenon still in London to re-join their halves in Athens,” she added.

On 7 June 1816, British Parliament voted to purchase from Lord Elgin his collection of sculpted marbles from the Parthenon and elsewhere on the Acropolis of Athens.Despite repeated requests from Greece and elsewhere to find a way to reunite them, these have remained in the British Museum.

On 20 June 2009, the Acropolis Museum in Athens was opened to the public. Since it opened it has welcomed over 14 million visitors from all over the world. The missing sculptures, those still in the UK, are exhibited as casts.

This news report was published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr) on 21 June 2019 and to read the Greek version of this article, please click here.

To hear Hellena's song, click here.

Festive season at the Acropolis Museum, December 2019

The Acropolis Museum invites visitors to a festive season full of activities during December 2019. Creative mobile workshops for children, gallery talks for adults, Christmas music from the Jazz Octet, famous musical songs from the S.T.A.B. saxophone quartet and special gifts at the Acropolis Museum shops, means there is something for everyone to enjoy during this festive season.

Children’s workshop “Festive stories”

What kind of festivals did the ancient Athenians have and which were the children's favourite? Let’s discover them at the Acropolis Museum and bring to life the emotions that these feasts brought to children and adults alike. 

Days & hours: Saturday 21/12, Sunday 22/12, Saturday 28/12 & Sunday 29/12, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 5 p.m. 

Duration: 90 mins

Ages: 6-11 years old

Participacion: Participation for children is free. A general admission fee (5€) is required for parents/escorts

Reservations: For registration, please visit the Information Desk at the Museum entrance on the same day (25 children per workshop)

The workshops are held by the Department of Educational Programme – Acropolis Museum and the Department of Information & Education – Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA).

Gallery talks “The lost statue of Athena Parthenos”

The Acropolis Museum brings to life, digitally, the statue of Athena Parthenos. Made of gold and ivory, this masterpiece was designed by Phidias for the Parthenon. The Museum invites you on a walk of discovery about its construction materials and techniques, its myths, radiance and adventures.

 Days & hours: Saturday 7/12, Saturday 14/12, Saturday 21/12 & Saturday 28/12, at 11 a.m. in English and at 1 p.m. 

Duration: 50 mins

Participation: The gallery talk is free of charge. Only the permanent exhibition ticket is required (5€). Limited to 30 visitors per session. For registration, please visit the Information Desk at the Museum entrance on the same day.  

Gallery talks at the exhibition “Chisel and memory. The contribution of marble craftsmanship to the restoration of the Acropolis monuments”

Visitors will have the opportunity to attend presentations of an exceptional exhibition of photographs of the marble craftsmen of the Acropolis at work. The temporary exhibition was organized by the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments and the Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA).

Days & hours: Saturday 14/12, Saturday 21/12 & Saturday 28/12, at 12 noon

Duration: 40 mins

Participation: The gallery talk is free of charge. Limited to 25 visitors per session. For registration, please  isit the Information Desk at the Museum entrance on the same day.  

nSunday 22 December,at 12 noon, the Acropolis Museum will host theJazz Octet of the Athens Military Guardfor a music concertincluding jazz and Christmas world renowned melodies,on the ground floor of the Museum .

On Sunday 29 December, at 12 noon, the Acropolis Museum will host the well-known S.T.A.B. saxophone quartetfor a New Year’s music concert  ncluding renowned musical songs, on the ground floor of the Museum.

 On Tuesday 31 December, at 12 noon, the Association of Asia Minor “Nees Kydonies” will sing traditional New Year’s carols on the ground floor of the Museum.

The Acropolis Museum Charm for 2020
According to myth the tortoise won the race over the hare, the former with his patience and dedication winning over the flippant self confidence of the hare. The ancients considered that the benevolent tortoise protected them from the evil eye and that its blood was an antidote to poison. A tortoise lead weight featuring a tortoise in relief of the 3rd to 1st century BC inspired the Museum’s charm of 2020. You can see the original exhibit in showcase 2 (no.11) of the Gallery of the Slopes at the Acropolis Museum.

Festive meals and Christmas mood at the restaurant

During the festive season, the Museum restaurant will serve traditional festive meals and sweets. Christmas jazz nights are also taking place every Friday night by famous jazz music ensembles. For reservations please contact the restaurant during Museum opening hours on +30 210 9000915.

An exhibition of photographs showing 70 historical costumes from the 19th century, worn by contemporary Greeks in daily life and in battle, will be shown at the Acropolis Museum from 20 December 2022 to 26 March 2023.

Entitled ‘Raiment of the Soul’, the exibition at the Acropolis Museum is the initiative by the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation in collaboration with the National Historical Museum of Athens, and under the auspices of Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. 

Most of the costumes belonged to the National Historical Museum of Athens, and were loaned by the late Ioannis Mazarakis-Ainian, General Secretary of the museum, to photographer Vangelis Kyris and embroidery specialist Anatoli Georgiev.

The photographs would have been presented to the public at the National Historical Museum to commemorate the 200 years of the Greek Independence War of 1821, but the coronavirus pandemic forced this exhibition to be postponed last year. To honour this year’s centennial of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the exhibition has  also included costumes from Asia Minor.

The exhibit includes costumes which belonged to historic figures; local garments from mainland Greece, the Greek islands and Crete, Cyprus, and areas abroad where Greek communities flourished; costumes and garments relating to the heroes of the revolution of 1821; and eponymous and anonymous protagonists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the photographs included in this exhibition have been exhibited by the artists last year, and again this year in Kalamata, Hydra, Syros, Korea (Seoul), and recently in the Museum of ancient Eleutherna in Crete.

In the exhibition that will take place at the Acropolis Museum, visitors will also see two special creations that subtly refer to antiquity as a small tribute to the museums that are presented: the first artwork refers to the renowned ‘Dame d’ Auxerre’, today on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris, that can be compared with Proto-Archaic sculptures, such as the Eleutherna Kore.

Respectively, a sample was embroidered with ornamental details from the garment of the Archaic Kore of the Acropolis Museum, as they were captured over the white surface of the marble, a small reference to a past that proclaims the community of vested beauty in a timelessfashion to this day. 

Entrance to the exhibition ‘Raiment of the Soul’ is free to the public. A free admission ticket is required from the Museum Ticket Desk.

---------------

More images from the official opening on Tueday 20 December 2022 when Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said: "It is with great pleasure that I inaugurate today the exhibition "Garment of the Soul", the creative re-imagining of our national costume thanks to the inspiration of photographer Vangelis Kyris and artist Anatoly Georgiev. I am very pleased that this exhibition in the Acropolis Museumhas the space to be fully developed thanks to the initiative of the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation, in collaboration with the National Historical Museum and the Historical Museum of Crete. I would also like to congratulate the Director General of the Acropolis Museum, Nikos Stampolidis, who responded enthusiastically to the idea of hosting these exquisite creations in the Museum's Temporary Exhibition Hall. In fact, they are supplemented by two separate works that refer to antiquity. This choice underlines the timeless need of man to decorate the garment based on its symbolic function, personal taste, aesthetic perceptions and the socio-economic conditions of the time, bridging the philokalia of the ancients with the elegance of folk tradition".

The year that passed (June 2021 - June 2022) has proved to be a significantly important one for the Acropolis Museum, as the Museum continued its operation uninterruptedly throughout the year, taking into account,  the constraints created by the relevant health protocols. Despite the challenges, the number of its visitors, internationally and from Greece, reached almost 1 million, reflecting the love and dedication of the general public towards the Museum. The election, by an International Committee of Professor Nikolaos Stampolidis as the first General Director of the Museum in early June 2021 was also timely. Professor Stampolidis took over his duties in September of the same year. A person with knowledge, spirit and vision, who continues the highly successful work of the Museum and expands its activities.

Regarding the reunification of the architectural sculptures of the Parthenon, the great success came on 29 September 2021 at the 22nd session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin. For the first time in 37 years of continuous recommendations by the Committee, a Decision was taken which, in addition to the legal, right and ethical aspect of the Greek request, also recognizes its transnational/ intergovernmental character. This decision, which was accompanied direct dialogue of the Greek Prime Minister to his British counterpart, proceeded to the United Nations in December of the same year.

In January 2022, the renowned “Fagan fragment” from the A. Salinas Museum in Palermo returns in the form of a deposit to the Acropolis Museum and is placed in a special showcase.In less than five months, on 29 May 2022, the “Fagan fragment” is returned to the Acropolis Museum by Decree of the Sicilian Authorities and its export certification by the Italian Ministry of Culture, and on 04 June 2022 it is repositioning in the east frieze of the Parthenon, as a permanent return. The Fagan fragment is the first fragment of a Parthenon sculpture that returns from state to state in the Acropolis Museum and is reunited, setting the example that both the British Museum and the British Parliament could follow, if there is the will to reunify the Parthenon sculptures.

The Acropolis Museum also published an upgraded version of the online application www.parthenonfrieze.gr, with photographs and descriptions of all the frieze blocks preserved today in the Acropolis Museum and  elsewhere. The upgrade of the application was developed thanks to the collaboration of the Museum, the Acropolis Restoration Service and the National Center for Documentation & Electronic Content.

Other than the events taking place every year, the Museum opened up to younger generations with a series of activities, such as the gallery talks “Hidden stories of diaspora”, “Saturday in the Museum with 20+1 masterpieces” and “Marathon-Salamis. In traces of myth and history”. The Museum also opened its doors to special groups with the programme for refugees “A museum open to all”, while it created the new family pamphlet “The Parthenon Sculptures. 6 short stories of separation”.  At the same time, the Museum renewed its educational programmes, offering schools nine thematic options and an online tour.      

The Museum offered different experiences to its visitors, with dance performances in the exhibition areas in collaboration with the Greek National Opera and its participation in the 1st Sacred Music Festival, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Museum organized in collaboration with the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation the unique event in the Parthenon Gallery “The expatriate goddesses of the Parthenon”, with a presentation of ancient poetry and music, composed by Lena Platonos and performed by Maria Farantouri, (and BCRPM would add, a keynote speech by Tom Flynn). Finally, the Museum started a new collaboration with the Municipality of the City of Athens, with its participation in the “This is Athens City Festival”, where it organized two great evenings of wine tasting and jazz at the restaurant terrace, and also a gallery talk about the Museum exhibits related to the ancient diet.

On the day of its birthday, 20 June 2022, the Acropolis Museum inaugurated the new exhibition program “Των Αθήνηθεν άθλων. Panathenaic amphorae from Toronto, Canada back to their birthplace”, with two exquisite vessels from the Royal Ontario Museum. This is a cultural exchange taking place simultaneously with the presentation “From Athens to Toronto: A Greek Masterpiece Revealed” at the Royal Ontario Museum where the Acropolis Kore 670 is on display from March 2022.

The presentation of the two amphorae took place in a ceremony in the emblematic Parthenon Gallery, presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Mrs. Lina Mendoni, the Secretary General of Culture, Mr. George Didaskalou, the Ambassador of Canada, Mr. Marc Allen, the Acropolis Museum President of the Board of Directors, Prof. Dimitris Pandermalis, the General Director of the Acropolis Museum, Prof. Nikos Stampolidis and the Curator of Greek, Etruscan, Roman & Byzantine Collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Mr. Paul Denis. 

The Acropolis Museum participates in the 'This is Athens City Festival'

The Acropolis Museum is organizing two special gastronomy and music events, on Thursday 12/5 and on Monday 16/5, to coincide with the Municipality of Athens' 'This is Athens City Festival' .

Ancient diet and wine tasting

Wine, the gift of Dionysus. What was the relationship of the ancient Athenians with wine? How did they drink it and what did they accompany it with? But more generally, what did their diet include? Which products were local and which were imported? And what role did they play in the religious life of the city? These and many other questions are answered by the archaeologists of the Acropolis Museum in an out of the ordinary tour of its collections. A unique experience that is completed in the restaurant on the second floor with views of the Acropolis, with a meal prepared especially for the occasion accompanied by wine tasting with the support of the Vivlia Chora Winery.

Date & time: Thursday, 12 May, tour on an ancient diet (7pm-8pm), tasting at the restaurant (8pm-10pm)

Jazz concert under the light of the Full Moon

The award-winning music trio GoGo Penguin, which has renewed British jazz over the past decade, will give a concert on the terrace of the Museum’s restaurant with night views of the Acropolis, under the light of the Full Moon.

Date & time: Monday,16 May, 21:00

For more information and bookings about the two events,  visit the Museum by following the links on the event headings and for more about the Athens festival, follow the link here.

TAN The Art Newspaper 23 November 2021

Martin Bailey reports on the classified documents on the sculptures from the Parthenon, compiled in 1991. 

David Miers, became British Ambassador in Athens in 1989 and in 1991 organised a visit to Athens for the then Conservative arts minister Timothy Renton. After this visit, David Miers wrote a report for the Foreign Office which was passed on to the Office of Arts and Libraries (a precursor to the government’s culture department). In this report the UK Ambassador referred to the Parthenon Marbles as an "issue on which we can never win: the best we can do is to keep our heads down as far as possible: and avoid using defensive arguments here in Greece which will sound hollow in Greek ears.”

“For instance I do not think the argument about the trustees of the museum is a very good one for use here. The Greeks know that we could legislate [to allow deaccessioning] if we wanted: the problem for them is that we don’t want [to].” 

A separate letter in the file argues that the Marbles would be safer in London than Athens. A foreign office official wrote that the British government cited “environmental concerns as further reasons for keeping the Marbles in their controlled environment in the British Museum”, in view of “severe air pollution in Athens”.

Then in 2009 the Acropolis Museum opened, and  this year the British Museum has closed Room 18 for maintenance. Reports of the leaking glass roof began in December 2019 and in January and February 2020 heaters where placed in this room whilst in the summer months, the fire exit door was left open for ventilation, underlining the lack of climate controls. This year's closure of Room 18 continues.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Johnson, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pointed out that Greece still holds the UK government responsible for the continued presence of the Marbles in the British Museum.

To read the full article, please follow the link here.

Telegraph 26 November 2021

The Telegraph article cites The Art Newspaper article quoting the British Ambassador to Greece, Sir David Miers, admitting that the UK would not win the argument on the division of the Parthenon Marbles between Athens and London.

The Telegraph also picks up on a letter written by Johnson in 2012 when he was Mayor of London, where he admits that the sculptures from the Parthenon "should have never been removed from the Acropolis."

Saturday 27 November 2021, TA NEA

UK Correspondent Yannis Andritsopoulos interviews Denis MacShane and writes about the opportunity to reunite the sculptures when Tony Blair became Prime Minister.

Denis MacShane goes on to add that he'd met up with George Osborne at a recent function and the matter of the sculptures was raised, however George Osborne, just into his position as the new Chair of the British Museum, was 'full of contempt'.

George Osborne as part of the establishment will no doubt feel that he can be dismissive on this issue and follow the well rehearsed example of successive British Museum Directors and Chairs of the Trustees.

When Hartwig Fisher described the continued division of the Parrthenon Marbles as 'creative', the media world exploded, and when Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis failing yet again to accept the UK governments responsibility, the media world found more letters and documents to prove that this dismissive attitude by the UK Government is not new. And yet times are changing. Where will the UK stand as more museums are doing their best to return artefacts removed from countries of origin where the voice of that nation, at that time, was not to be heard? History doesn't have to be rewritten for old wrongs to be put right, for there are cases when we can do better than just roll out contempt.

George Osborne made his first official speechduring a dinner held at the British Museum by the Trsutee on Wednesday 24 November. And in reading it, one can but conclude that there will be no visionary changes at the British Museum, with the exception of the new Museum in Nigeria to house the Benin Bronzes.This museum is designed by architect David Adjaye.

Saturday 22 July, 2023, the Aspects of History pocast with Oliver Webb-Carter discussed the long running culural conundrum that keeps the Parthenon Marbles mainly divided between two great museums of the world: the Acropolis Museum, Athens and the British Museum, London.

Aspects of History's editor, Oliver welcomed Paul Cartledge, ancient historian and the author of countless books on ancient Greece with Dr Tessa Dunlop, author, biographer and presenter.

Audio tour of the Acropolis Museum exhibition "Signs. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to the Present Day". Personalised concepts and meanings in human or animal form and allegorical stories. Alll these, along with others, can be visited and enjoyed at the Acropolis Museum's exhibition "Signs. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to the Present" which runs until 14 April 2024.

The exhibition consists of 164 works of small, medium and large size from different materials and eras, coming from 55 Museums and Institutions in Greece and abroad, as well as works by individuals. The curator of the exhibition and General Director of the Acropolis Museum, Prof. Nikolaos Stampolidis, invites you to an audio tour, a journey from Antiquity to Byzantium, the Renaissance and Modern Art.

Searching in each section of the exhibition hall the corresponding QR code – Time, Nature, Deities, Man and Human Nature, Institutions, Allegories – you will discover vases, reliefs, statues, coins, ceramic and clay shells, manuscripts and books, frescoes, icons and unique paintings, from several Museums of Italy and the Vatican (Musei Capitolini, Florence, N. A. Museo di Napoli, Gallerie Uffizi and Borghese, etc.), the Prado Museum of Madrid, the British Museum, the Museum of Art History of Vienna, the National Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, etc.

You can also participate in one of the weekly guided tours of the exhibition guided by the Museum's Archaeologists, which take place in Greek every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:00 and every Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 and 12:00, while in English every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00. Reservations are made at http://events.theacropolismuseum.gr

As you leave, you may wish to visit the shop, where you will find beautiful souvenirs, among others from the series of objects "Spring", inspired by Flora, a fresco of the 1st century. A.D. from Pompeii to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and respectively the series "Theros", inspired by part of a mosaic floor with the personification of the Ocean from the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. The exhibition is accompanied by the scientific catalogue of the objects, which is available in a simple and hardcover version, and in English also.

"Spring", inspired by Flora, a fresco of the 1st century. A.D. from Pompeii to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples

"Theros", inspired by part of a mosaic floor with the personification of the Ocean from the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

The Russian Committee for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles is a members of the IARPS and their President, Irina Korobina, presents their committee's new video entitled "Battle for the Parthenon Marbles". To watch it,  please follow the link here.

Below the text that forms part of this video with the presentation made by Irina Korobina.The presentation is in Russian with English subtitles and Irina has kindly supplied us with the English text for the article below.

Lord Byron: The Pilgrimage of Childe Harold

XI.

But who, of all the plunderers of yon Fane
⁠On high—where Pallas linger'd, loth to flee
⁠The latest relic of her ancient reign—
⁠The last, the worst, dull spoiler, who was he?
⁠Blush, Caledonia! such thy son could be!
⁠England! I joy no child he was of thine:
⁠Thy free-born men should spare what once was free;
⁠Yet they could violate each saddening shrine,
And bear these altars o'er the long-reluctant brine.

The act of Lord Elgin caused outrage and condemnation from the very beginning. Lord Byron, a fellow countryman of Lord Elgin, in his poem the Pilgrimage of Childe Harold, frankly called Elgin's act theft and barbarism. It is often suggested that Elgin's goal was to save and preserve the Parthenon sculptures. However, in one of the archives there is a letter in which Lord Elgin boastfully writes: "I have taken out of Greece as many antique values as Napoleon never dreamed of."

I don't think we care about his motivations today, or whether he was a saviour or a robber. It is important for us that the Parthenon, which is for all humankind a symbol of harmony, a symbol of the architectural, artistic and living environment that all humankind throughout history recognizes as the ideal that gave rise to classical art, this symbol has been desecrated and violated. Its most valuable fragments, without which it is impossible to preserve the harmony of integrity, were broken out and taken to another country, where they are still located. Half of the Parthenon's marble sculptures are in the British Museum, in London, and smaller fragments have spread all over the world. And all progressive humanity declares: they must be returned to their native place! Fragments of the Parthenon must be returned to Athens!

The debate about whether Lord Elgin's act was a saviour's mission or barbarism began in British society during his last expedition to Greece, and this debate continues till now.

Back in the 80's of the last century, the famous Greek singer and Minister of Culture Melina Mercuriofficially announced the policy of "insistent return" of the marble sculptures to the Parthenon. In November 2005  the IARPS (International Association for the Reunification of the Par-thenon Sculptures) was created. Today it includes 21 countries, including a very active British Committee. Their appeals have been made since 1983, with statements,  petitions and articles requesting the return of the Parthenon's treasures. In particular, there is also a Russian Committee, which I agreed to become President of because for us, who were students of the Moscow Architectural Institute, the Parthenon and the culture of Ancient Greece are the 'cradle of world culture', including the Russian architectural culture. Russian Classicism and Neoclassicism, the highest examples of Russian architecture of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century, would not have been possible without the Parthenon.

International committees of  the IARPS are actively campaigning for the return of the sculptures - they conduct educational work, organize lectures, exhibitions, but most importantly, they express the position of the cultural community of their countries. It is clear that today the return of the Parthenon's sculptures may not be the main concern of Russians who are going through economic and other crisis. But this is just a first glance. In the culture of different countries, in architecture and art, sometimes incredible phenomena occur. Something that becomes important for all humankind. And it is naive to think that these masterpieces belong only to one country. They belong to the world - all of humanity is interested in ensuring that these 'Points of Power' that inspire everyone are preserved as closely to how they are best understood. And it is immoral, even criminal, to keep them divided... to destroy them, to break out pieces of them, to take them somewhere, to build new temples for them in other countries... this is a manifestation of barbarism and lack of elementary culture, which are is wrapped with beautiful words about salvation, preservation, etc.

The argument on the part of the British, who for many years have categorically refused all Greek requests, is precisely that they care for and preserver world heritage… They have a large scientific and custodial culture, they have a mission to be saviours of other countries heritage and culture. But in 2009 there was an important development - the Acropolis Museum was opened, which was designed by Bernard Tschumi and was the result of 4 international architectural competitions. The world recognition of this Museum is ranked 8th in the top ten museums* in the world, which shows that not only Britain has great specialists and scientists, not only Britain can preserve the treasures of world heritage.

The architectural composition of the Acropolis Museum is unique. The space itself develops vertically and symbolizes the ascent of the Acropolis mountain, which is crowned by the Parthenon. And the composition is such that the  highest level exhibits the friezes, metopes and pediments of the Parthenon. Those parts that are still in the British Museum have been replaced in the Acropolis Museum with plaster copies.

In the 21st century, the display of sculptural treasures has acquired a Museum format, it is important that this is the Acropolis Museum. But the removal of fragments of the Parthenon to other museums is unacceptable - the sculptures are taken out of context and deprived of their natural environment. This is an opinion that I share. It was expressed by historian, academics and more - the display of fragments from the Parthenon in the British Museum, humiliates them. They should be illuminated by the Acropolis. And the Acropolis Museum is the optimal place for them - it belongs to the Acropolis, forming a single whole with it. And there are all the conditions for perfect conservation. All conditions have been created at the highest level to ensure the safety of the priceless sculpture, which British colleagues and professional Museum workers around the world are happy about. If the British Museum delays the return of these great treasures, it will gain a reputation as a provincial, colonial, and regressive Museum.

I think that Parthenon problem has dragged on for a century, not only because Britain does not want to return the unique values that attract crowds of people from all over the world to the British Museum. Obviously, there is a great  many museums, many collections, and many countries that will make claims against each other. This fear is understandable. We in Russia have been discussing the Shchukin collection for many years... Professional museum workers are generally very careful about this issue. Throughout history, all the painful problems evolve. When we are too scarred to touch them - because an explosion may occur. I believe that we need to resolve this. I think that vicious and criminal decisions, as well as serious mistakes, must be corrected. And I believe that this will happen in future, because a culture was built on mistakes is like colossus on clay feet, which sooner or later will collapse. And it is better not to bring it to this collapse!

  * ranking as 8th on the list of the 2017 Travelers’ Choice Awards for Museums, recently released by travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor, in 2018 the Acropolis Museum ranked 6th

The President of the Acropolis Museum, Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, sadly passed away on Wednesday 14 September 2022

Dimitris Pandermalis was admired and liked by many people, but his special gift to the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles was in overseeing the creation of what has become the strongest of all the arguments for our case, the New Acropolis Museum. Not only was he its President, for more than a decade from its opening in 2009 but, for years before that, his achievement was almost as great as he pressed for the project, at times amid defeatist rumours and changes of Government. When the Marbles are finally reunited, his name should stand very high in the list of those credited for this act.

Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Honorary President, BCRPM

I only met Professor Pandermalis properly when we were in Athens, in April 2019 and thought him one of the most delightful and certainly one of the most knowledgeable gentlemen I had ever had the pleasure of meeting. I realised that the great Acropolis Museum was in perfectly wonderful hands, and I am most upset to hear he has gone as his presence there was very special. His fine guardianship will be continued of that there is no doubt, but his personality, his gentleness and great scholarship, will be missed. I send my condolences to his family and my sad greetings to the staff of the Museum which so flourished under his command. Floreat!
Janet Suzman DBE, Chair, BCRPM

I was honoured and privileged to count Professor Dimitris Pandermalis as not only a brilliant colleague (a superb archaeologist, especially known for his Dion excavations and site display, as well as outstanding Museum director) but also a friend - as well of course as a comrade-in-arms for the reunification of all the Parthenon Marbles/Sculptures where they rightfully belong. In my short address at the recent 'Parthenon and Democracy' conference, held shortly after his sudden and very sad death and held in the Auditorium of the Acropolis Museum that now, happily, bears his name, I called him a προμαχοσ, 'champion' (one of goddess Athene's most prominent titles), both of the Acropolis and of its Museum.

As a friend, he was also persuaded - by Annie Ragia of the excellent Melissa publishing house - to write a graceful and informative foreword specially for the Greek translation of my Archaic Greece: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2009, revised edition 2011). It was due to him surely too that the artwork for that beautifully presented edition was the handiwork, the craftsmanship, of the peerless Prof. Manolis Korres, architect of the Parthenon restoration. Dimitris will always be in my thoughts, as he will be in those of all of us, not least those of us of the BCRPM and IARPS, who cherish the goal of Parthenon Marbles/Sculptures reunification.

Professor Paul Cartledge (Vice-Chair, BCRPM, Vice-President IARPS, Commander Ταξιαρχησ of the Order of Honour (Greece), and Honorary Citizen of Sparti Επίτιμος Δημότης Σπαρτιατών)

When the new Acropolis Museum was being built, I ventured to go up to the barrier and ask if I and my friend could see round. To my amazement a young woman came out and took us on a tour of the nearly completed structure. On learning of my particular interest, she informed Professor Pandermalis, who also came to talk to us, gave us a broken fragment of the white marble being used to wrap the new museum in its glorious coat and invited us to return once it was functioning. This extraordinarily warm welcome was repeated whenever we went back to Athens and Dimitri Pandermalis extended its embrace to the entire building, making it one of the most loved, best visited and deeply appreciated of all modern museums. What an extraordinary capacity to inspire, to create and to secure this great achievement! How deeply he is missed, and will be forever remembered.
All my thoughts with his family and colleagues,
Professor Judith Herrin, member of BCRPM
Duff Cooper Pol Roger Prize 2020 for Ravenna. Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe
Heineken Prize for History 2016
Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow, Department of Classics, King's College London

Most of my friends and colleagues know me as a philhellene, so whenever any of them visits Athens for work or holiday, I get a text asking for recommendations. I always reply with express instructions, whatever else they do, to visit the Acropolis Museum.
The Museum is now rightly recognised as one of the world’s greats, inside and out. Although such institutions are the vision of huge teams of people, Prof Pandermalis deserves his share of credit for that global statement at the foot of the Acropolis.
I hope the museum, its staff, and its curation remain a testament to his life’s work and his love of Greece’s sumptuous past. Να ζήσουμε να τον θυμόμαστε.
Stuart O’Hara, BCRPM member

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Professor Pandermalis, whom I had the great pleasure to meet on a number of occasions over the years and who always welcomed me most warmly to the Acropolis Museum whenever I visited. I met him for the last time earlier this year when I was kindly invited by the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation to give the keynote speech at the Acropolis Museum in honour of International Womens Day. I knew almost nobody else at the function, but when, on his arrival, he spotted me across the Parthenon Gallery, he approached with a beaming smile and said, “Ah, welcome Doctor Flynn!” I confess I fought back the tears. Not only was I impressed that he remembered me, but I could also immediately sense that he had grown quite frail since our last meeting some years ago. Nevertheless he approached the rostrum and delivered a moving introductory welcome to the symposium and I realised then what a rock he has represented for so many of us for so long. His deep knowledge, quiet diplomacy and good grace will be sadly missed by everyone involved in the campaign to reunify the Marbles in Athens.
Dr Tom Flynn FRSA, Art Provenance Research & friend of BCRPM 

Tom with Dimitrios at the Acropolis Museum, 08 March 2022 

I can only echo Tom’s reflections on Professor Pandermalis, his irreplaceable loss to Greek archaeology and his towering contribution to the case for reuniting the Parthenon sculptures, made unanswerable through the building of the Acropolis Museum.

I met Professor Pandermalis for the first time at the UNESCO Conference on cultural restitution held in Athens in 2008. The new Museum, which he masterminded, was nearing completion, and delegates were treated to a guided tour by the great man. I was struck by the quiet dignity and authority of Professor Pandermalis, and as an Englishman, I was embarrassed by and ashamed of the gaps in the narrative sequence of Parthenon sculptures resulting from their removal by Elgin and their continued exhibition in London.

The very existence of that superb Museum, with its monumental top floor, a ‘vitrine’ to exhibit Phideas’ masterpieces in line of sight of the Parthenon under an Athenean sky, was a master stroke. It made the position to oppose the reunification of the sculptures an entirely untenable one.

Though we will miss him, Pandermalis’ legacy will long be celebrated and will one day bear the fruit that he – and we – so devoutly desired.

Tristram Besterman,one time Director of The Manchester Museum and Chair of the Museums Association Ethics Committee, writer on museum ethics and facilitator for the repatriation of misappropriated material culture from UK museums. Long time influencer to BCRPM!

Professor Pandermalis and Eddie had great respect and regard for each other. They worked tirelessly together with Eleni and you, Marlen. Please pass my sympathy and very best wishes to his family for their loss and his colleagues at the museum. He leaves a wonderful legacy as we treasure the last time we travelled to Athens and met with him in 2014, a treasured memory that I hold dear to my heart at this sad time.
Margaret O’Hara (widow of past Chair of BCRPM, politician Eddie O’Hara)

Over the long years Professor Pandermalis was the driving force behind the creation of the magnificent [New] Acropolis Museum, I had the honour to work with him for the presentation of the plans, the progress of the works and, finally, the museum itself in a number of events in London, mainly at Senate House, the RIBA and the ICA. Even during the difficult times when the very construction of the Museum was uncertain, collaborating with him was always a source of inspiration and joy. His wry sense of humour and his pragmatic outlook helped resolve impasses, find creative solutions and move the project forward despite and against all odds.

His vision for the Museum remained clear throughout this difficult, lengthy process. One of his first concerns long before construction began was the creation of the Museum gardens and I remember long discussions over the plants to be chosen, their exact position etc. My personal abiding memory is the touching way with which he cared for a tiny olive tree I offered for the gardens at a particularly difficult moment of the design process, when it was not certain that the building would go ahead as planned. He kept it in his office for a long time and only had it planted in July 2008, just after the building work was completed. What I did not know when he took me to see it was that he had chosen the spot so that he could see the tree grow from his office window. I only found this out years later, from the Museum guard that helped Professor Pandermalis plant it.

It is heartening to think that he is now in a better place, in the company of Eleni, Eddie and Robert Browning. I am sure they are looking down at us, urging us to continue the quest.

Dr Victoria Solomonidis-Hunter FKC
Member, Governing Body, Melina Mercouri Foundation

Visiting Athens with Eleni from early on, over 23 years ago, and subsequently before, and after the museum opened, all meetings with Professor Pandermalis were a highlight. The camaraderie between Eleni and Dimitris was infectious. I also have him to thank for introducing me to bergamot spoon sweet, something I then became addicted to! But the real highlight was presenting to the British Guild of Travel Writers, which in turn gave the museum an award, presented here at the Savoy in London, twelve years ago. I will always be thankful that Professor Pandermalis was happy to talk to UK journalist, showing them around that magnificent top floor, which dismisses any arguments the British Museum, may try to use to continue to uphold this ludicrous division of a peerless collection of sculptures from the Parthenon. And, lastly for being thoughtful when Eleni passed away in April 2020 and agreeing that an olive tree might be planted for her and James Cubitt as the founders of BCRPM. Something we have yet to do but am sure that when we do, Professor Pandermalis will be watching with Eleni, James, Eddie, George & William ! We will remember him with huge fondness, and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and all of his colleagues at the museum.
Marlen Taffarello Godwin, member & Secretary of BCRPM

BCRPM's Hon President, Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Chair, Janet Suzman and Vice-Chair, Professor Paul Cartledge, plus the members of the committee were deeply saddened by the news of Marianna Vardinoyannis. Thoughts with Marianna's family and the team that worked tirelessly with her at the Foundation.

Marianna made a major bid in 2014 in conjunction with the Melina Mercouri Foundation to ‘relaunch’ the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles in Greece. It was aptly entitled: Return The Marbles, Restore Parthenon, Restart History. It was a privilege to be there with William St Clair.

BCRPM's presentation highlighted all of the committee's activities for the past 31 years, and included, as Marianna put it ‘so many voices’. 

Subsequent times when BCRPM members would have an opportunity to continue to meet with Marianna included the epic 2019 conference for the reunification, also held at the Acropolis Museum.

In December of 2021, the foundation was again in touch to ask if Tom Flynn would be willing to go to Athens and speak, at the Acropolis Museum, for International Women’s Day in March 2022.

And we reflect on Marianna's article, also on BCRPM's web site, where she quoted George Seferis:

“A little longer
And we shall see the almond trees in blossom
The marbles shining in the sun
The sea, the curling waves
Just a little more
Let us rise just a little higher...”

Helen Glynn, from BP or not BP? said:

‘The Troy exhibition has inspired us to create this magnificent beast, because the Trojan Horse is the perfect metaphor for BP sponsorship. On its surface the sponsorship looks like a generous gift, but inside lurks death and destruction. This is our 40th performance intervention at the British Museum: for eight years our peaceful creative protests have been dismissed and the museum has continued to back BP. Now the planet is literally burning. So we invite everyone to come along to our mass action tomorrow and make sure the museum can no longer ignore the fact that, in order to have a liveable planet, BP Must Fall.’

Those that gathered on Saturday 08 February 2020 to support the activists and the performers, were all targeting BP’s sponsorship of the museum’s current Troy: Myth and Reality exhibition.

Multiple groups from around the world came together in the museum to make the links between climate change, fossil fuel extraction, colonialism, human rights abuses and workers’ rights, using the museum as a backdrop for calls for justice and decolonisation and reimagining what a truly enlightened, responsible and engaged British Museum could look like.

Room 18, The Parthenon Galleries was no exception. Groups gathered to hear Danny Chivers of BP or not BP? helped by Marlen Godwin of the BCRPM, to explain the connection of Saturday's protest againt BP sponsorship of exhibitions at the British Museum, with the unfair 200 year plus division of the Parthenon Marbles. The peerless collection of the sculptures from the Parthenon are mainly exhibited between the British Museum in London and the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

BCRPM has been campaigning for the return of the sculptures from London to Athens, since 1983. The 'new' Acropolis Museum was officially opened in June 2009, picking up an award in London in November 2010. In June 2019, it celebrated it's 10th anniversary and BCRPM helped Hellena Micy sing her song for the Parthenon Marbles in Room 18. Hellena sang  her song 10 times, once for every year that the museum in Athens has welcomed visitors from all over the world. To listen to Hellena's song, please follow the link here.

2020 is also Melina Mercouri year. With that in mind, BCRPM had t-shirts printed for the day and included in the presentations in Room 18 the background to Melina's pleas for the return of the sculptures. We would like to thank the Melina Mercouri Foundation for their kind permission to use the image of Melina on the t-shirt. If you would like to order one, kindly email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Celebrating the activist Melina Mercouri, who had championed for all freedoms, from the freedom of speech and to more, BCRPM also remembered their Chair, Dame Janet Suzman when she had campaigned and protested against  aparththeid in South Africa. These two activist women share a great deal, from acting to their passionate protests, to their love for the Parthenon and its sculptures. To this day Janet continues to be enthusiastic about protests in the BM, so much so that in 2018, she wrote words that Danny Chivers read out in Room 18.

In 2019 at another BP or not BP? protest, Cambridge University stdent Petros Papadopoulos also quoted Janet during his passionate plea for the 'RETURN' of the marbles to Athens.

 And so to the protest on 08 February 2020, Janet's words were heard in Room 18 once again: 

These unmatched sculptures that you see before you have a home waiting for them. These figures, part of an ancient belief system, have been stranded in the grandest refugee centre you’ve ever seen - the great British Museum itself. But home is where they were created two and a half thousand years ago.

In Athens stands a fine building especially built to house them, and this year in June, the New Acropolis Museum will celebrate its eleventh anniversary. On its top floor there are yearning gaps where these very sculptures should be sitting, joined with the other half of the pedimental carvings and in direct sight of the ancient building from which they were chopped, and which, astonishingly, still stands proud on its ancient rock. That fact alone makes these sculptures unique; we can still see exactly where they first displayed themselves, for they were never intended as separate 'works of art', but as part of the mighty whole of Athena’s glorious temple. Who, one wonders, was a mere occupying Sultan to sign away the genius of Periclean Athens?

Now is the time to do the right thing. SIMPLE JUSTICE DEMANDS IT! GO BM! Do it! 

The protest was also covered in Ta Nea with an article by Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK Correspondent for Ta Nea, based in London. 

05 January 2022, The Telegraph

Nick Squires in the Telegraph: 'Britain should put best foot forward like Italy and give Elgin Marbles back, says Greece.'Athens museum chief hopes return of stone foot fragment from Sicily will put pressure on British Museum to return large friezes.'

“Good for Sicily,” said Janet Suzman, the chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. “We expect the British Museum to make a more magnanimous gesture.

I cannot think of a single argument in favour of keeping the legacy of Greece locked in Bloomsbury. Certain things must be returned and the Parthenon Marbles deserve to be reunited in the Acropolis Museum.”

To read the article in full, follow the link to the Telegraph.

The Guardian, Angela Giuffrida

Italy returns Parthenon fragment to Greece amid UK row over marbles.

Loan deal could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate ancient Parthenon marbles to Athens.

The Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Sicily, returns to the Acropolis Museum, the foot of a goddess for a loan period of four years to be extended by a further four years. However, the move back to Greece could eventually become permanent.

The fragment was loaned to Greece in 2002 and in 2008. Sicily’s councillor for culture, Alberto Samonà said the latest transfer could become permanent, but that it would be up to the Italian culture ministry to take the measures needed to make that happen.

To read the article in full, follow the link to the Guardian.

Acropolis Museum, 03 January 2022

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaking (in Greek) on Monday 03 January at the Acropolis Museum when 10 Parthenon Marble fragments were transferred from the National Archaeological Museum to the Acropolis Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gozU5WyrOoM

"Precious fragments of the Parthenon Sculptures were reunited today in the Acropolis Museum. It was a small but significant step, and I hope others now play their part in completing this important journey to reunify a truly unique monument of human civilisation."