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. 

Calls for return of Parthenon Sculptures mount as Acropolis Museum celebrates 11th anniversary

Βy Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper 

Boris Johnson loves Ancient Greece. He studied classics at Oxford, he used to speak ancient Greek at home with his siblings, his hero is Pericles and he often tries to impress his audience by reciting extracts from the Iliad.

His love for the ancient Greek civilisation seems to be so deep that, apparently, he wants to keep a piece of it forever: the Parthenon Sculptures. They have been on display in the British Museum since 1817, a year after they were sold to the British government by Lord Elgin who had controversially removed them from the Parthenon.

Just over 200 years later, Britain's refusal to engage in talks with Greece about the Marbles’ return has sparked an international backlash.

On the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the Greek Culture minister, three British MPs and the Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles are calling for the Parthenon Sculptures’ return in exclusive comments published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper.

British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer told Ta Neathat the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum “are complementary in their approach,” adding that the museum “looks forward to continuing our collaboration and fruitful dialogue with our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum.”

Opinion polls show that the British people think the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Athens. The most recent YouGov survey was released in June 2018 and it indicated that 56 percent said the Marbles belong in Greece.
However, the British government and the British Museum say the issue is out of the question.

A UK government spokesperson told Ta Nea: “The UK’s position on the Parthenon sculptures remains unchanged – they are legally owned by the British Museum. This will not be up for discussion in any future trade negotiations.”

A British Museum spokesperson confirmed that the institution's position on the issue has not changed. The museum has previously said that a permanent return of the Parthenon Sculptures is not being considered, and if Greece wants to borrow them, it must first acknowledge the British Museum's ownership.

Mr Johnson is opposed to the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. He has said that the Marbles “were rescued, quite rightly, by Elgin” and has criticised George Clooney for suggesting Britain should return them to Greece.

However, his father, Stanley Johnson, has said there should be “a fruitful dialogue between the Greek and the British authorities (on this issue).”

 Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni told Ta Nea:

“Perhaps the main argument that the British Museum has been making for years in order not to return the Parthenon Sculptures - since 1982, when Melina Mercouri raised the issue at a UNESCO Conference of Ministers - was that Greece did not have a modern museum that could house the masterpieces of Phidias.

“Since September 2003, when the construction work for the Acropolis Museum began, Greece has been systematically demanding the return of the Sculptures which are on display in the British Museum, because they are products of theft.

“The current Greek government - like any Greek government - is not going to stop claiming the stolen sculptures which the British Museum continues to hold illegally contrary to any moral principle.

“The British government, which is washing its hands of the issue, is in stark contrast to the British public, the vast majority of which support the return of the Sculptures to their homeland.

“It is sad that one of the world's largest and most important museums is still governed by outdated colonialist views of the 1880s, and keeps on dismissing basic values of modern scientific ethics.

“Let's not forget that it was not only Elgin who mauled the Sculptures, but also the British Museum itself, using inappropriate and unscientific methods during their conservation.

“It is time for the British Museum to do what moral law and the monument (of the Parthenon) itself demands, which is also what the international public opinion is increasingly demanding.”

Dr Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, told Ta Nea:

“We send our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum our very best wishes on the occasion of their 11th anniversary: the museum provides a fantastic window into classical Athens, and is one of the great museums of the world.

“The Acropolis Museum and the British Museum are complementary in their approach, one providing an in-depth view of a major ancient city, the other a sense of the wider context and sustained cultural dialogue with the neighbouring civilisations of Egypt and the Near East in antiquity, and more recently.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration and fruitful dialogue with our colleagues at the Acropolis Museum, which in recent years has included scholarly workshops, staff placements and sharing knowledge from researching ancient polychromy to questions of display and presentation.”

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale told Ta Nea:

“While I do not hold to the view that all artefacts should be returned to their country of origin it does seem to me that the Parthenon Marbles have a good home to be returned to and a facility in which they can be properly displayed in home surroundings for the benefit and enjoyment of visitors from all over the world.”

Labour MP Mary Glindon told Ta Nea:

“I have enjoyed several classical tours of Greece and a highlight of those tours has always been the visit to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. But it’s sad that the Parthenon Marbles are in London. While they are seen in the British Museum by many people, as many, if not more, would appreciate seeing the Marbles as part of the amazing cultural experience to be enjoyed when visiting the Parthenon and the Acropolis Museum. The Marbles belong in Athens.”

SNP MP Margaret Ferrier told Ta Nea:

“The Acropolis Museum has enabled the sections of the frieze and the metopes to be enjoyed in their original context and it is now time for the Parthenon Marbles to join them. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit negotiations are continuing at pace and calls are growing for the Marbles to be returned to Greece. Returning them would be a sign that the UK is genuinely committed to looking outwards to the world after Brexit.”

Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea:

“There’s always an anniversary to celebrate. June 16th marked the 44th year since the student uprising in Soweto that was a turning point in the downfall of the apartheid state. A global reaction to the murder of a black man in America is sweeping the world, and those same students, grown much older if they survived at all, want to honour that murder by urging “a move away from a world centred on white supremacy and violence to one centred on justice and equity”.

“That argument was taken further when last week a statue was torn down from its plinth in the city of Bristol in England and thrown into the waters of the harbour where the slave ships used to anchor. Bristol, aware too well of its past, has decided that the statue should now be placed in the city museum with a full explanation of how the trader became so rich. Visitors can then understand that the defaced bronze figure is not just a benefactor of the city but a man who grew rich on other people’s misery, by exploiting the cruellest of white supremacies - the slave trade.

“And in Greece, the end of the Ottoman Empire’s occupation will be celebrated next year. Taking over bits of the world and ruling them according to your own values is an occupation that the British know only too well; at its height that Empire ruled a third of the world. So when Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman court, decided he wanted to send back bits of the Parthenon to adorn his house in Scotland, he didn't bother to ask the subject Greeks, he greased the palms of functionaries from Istanbul, persuaded his own king to provide a ship and made off with the glory that was Greece. They landed up in Room 18 of the British Museum and for 200 years have been one of its star attractions.

“So we need to ask The British Museum, hiding from the tsunami of anti-colonialist feeling sweeping the whole world, whether they would have the decency to provide visitors with the full story: how did these incomparable pieces of sculpture torn from the greatest building in the western world get to sit - out of context - in the grey grandeur of Room 18? Reunification of the Marbles would seem to be a move away from white British exceptionalism and a move towards a world the survivors of Soweto are desperate to see. While supremacy stole them away and a white sense of justice should see them restored. But until that time comes, as it surely must: tell the story. Let the people judge the fairness of their captivity in London. There is a museum waiting for them in Athens.”

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr)
Publication date: 20 June 2020
English version: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/calls-return-parthenon-sculptures-mount-acropolis-andritsopoulos
Original version in Greek (paywall): https://www.tanea.gr/print/2020/06/20/lifearts/lifestyle/epistrepste-lfta-glypta-lftou-parthenona/

20 June 2019

The New Acropolis Museum was officially inaugurated on 20 June 2009 and celebrates this year 10 tremendous years of successful activity. It has grown to be one of the best museums in the world and has received over 14.5 million of visitors. Between 13 and 20 of June the Museum has organised a series of festivities to commemorate its anniversary, with as a major event – on June 20 – the opening of the archaeological excavation underneath the museum. The architectural remains of Late Antiquity (4^th-7^th century AD) excavated during the construction of the museum give an unrivalled insight into the everyday life of an ancient neighbourhood at the foot of the Acropolis. From 21 June 2019 , this new archaeological site will be open to the public.

The history of the New Acropolis Museum goes back to the 1970s. The museum built on the Acropolis itself, whose initially construction dates to the 19^th century, was by then outdated and could no longer cope adequately with the large number of visitors. Moreover, important restoration and conservation works carried out on the monuments of the Acropolis from 1975 on rendered the exhibition space in the old museum too small to accommodate the sculptures that were being taken down from the various Acropolis buildings to preserve and conserve them from the urban pollution.

In 1976, less than two years after the restoration of democracy in Greece, President Constantinos Karamanlis conceived plans for the construction of a new Acropolis Museum and selected the site upon which the Museum was finally built, located in the historic neighbourhood of Makryianni, a natural extension of the south slope of the Acropolis hill. Between 1976 and 2000, no fewer than four architectural competitions were conducted, before the award finally went to the project by design architects Bernard Tschumi, Michael Photiadis and their associates.

The New Acropolis Museum is a three-storey building facing the Acropolis, a transparent construction of structural concrete, stainless steel and marble, with liberal use of glass for the facades and part of the floor. It achieves an interplay between the museum, where the antiquities of all periods of the Acropolis are on display, floating over the in-site excavation, and panoramic views on the Acropolis and the city. The concept of the building is ingenious, divided over four levels: the ground floor of the Museum is suspended on pylons over the archaeological excavation; a gentle slope ending up in a monumental staircase connects the ground floor with the first floor; the top floor or Parthenon Gallery is arranged around an indoor court and rotates slightly so that its orientation corresponds exactly to the orientation of the nearby Parthenon temple. The concept of the Acropolis Museum can thus be seen as an evocation of the topography of the Acropolis in ancient times: a Sacred Way leads visitors from the city up the slope of the Acropolis hill, then up the steps towards and through the Propylaea to the Parthenon.

The display of the artefacts in the Museum strengthens this image. The ruins of part of the ancient city of Athens are situated on the lowest level. The finds excavated on the slopes of the Acropolis in secondary temples, shrines and caves, are on display on the ground floor, along the gentle sloping path. The numerous sculptures and architectural fragments – most of them unique treasures of art – found on the Acropolis, including parts of the Archaic temples, the Erechtheion, the temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea, are presented on the first floor and can be viewed from all sides. The ambient natural light in the exhibition rooms, changing throughout the day, particularly suits the sculptures on display. The top floor is dedicated to the surviving Parthenon sculptures in Athens, completed with plaster casts of the sculptures actually on display in the British Museum in London. This juxtaposition of original parts with plaster copies underlines the call for the return of the originals in the British Museum. The display in Athens (unlike that in the BM’s Duveen Gallery) is exquisite, the sculptures can be seen exactly as they were placed on the Parthenon, but in a lowered position for the convenience of the visitor. The glass enclosure provides ideal light and enables direct view on the context of the original environment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

The New Acropolis Museum is a thematic archaeological museum, geographically limited to the finds of the Acropolis, the slopes of the hill and its monuments, chronologically limited to artefacts dating from the earliest period to Late Antiquity. It is a “living” museum, constantly in motion and constantly replenishing its exhibition with new finds, as a result of the ongoing archaeological research and the restoration works conducted in the area by members of the Greek Archaeological Service.

In just 10 years, the Acropolis Museum has grown into a leading world museum, with a highly scientific programme, a very competent restoration and conservation department, a strong cultural-museological management, and a suite of dynamic projects for the future. Therefore, one can only regret the more deeply that not all surviving parts of the Parthenon Sculptures – a number of them are dispersed in other museums and collections besides the British Museum – are today reunited in this beautiful museum.

The most important collection of Parthenon Sculptures abroad is actually on – poor – display in the British Museumin London. They were “taken” by the British diplomat Lord Elgin with a view to decorating his mansion in Scotland, at the beginning of the 19^th century, at a time when Greece was under Ottoman rule. In the process several were destroyed. Financial problems too meant that he had to sell the Sculptures, which finally were purchased from Lord Elgin by Act of the British Parliament and entrusted to the care of the Trustees of the British Museum. The young free Hellenic State began negotiations for the return of the Sculptures as early as 1842. A crucial turning point came in 1984 when Melina Mercouri, then Minister of Culture, made a formal request to the British Museum for the return of the Sculptures to Greece and simultaneously a request to UNESCO, which was immediately entered on the agenda of the Intergovernmental Committee on the Return of Cultural Goods to the Countries of Origin. The claim from Greek governmental side for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures is regularly repeated, without reference to legality, but the stance of the British Museum Director and Trustees – a harsh ‘no’, without even a willingness to enter into formal discussions – remains unchanged until today.

The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens is not only a claim made by Greece. It is supported by International Cultural Organisations and by individuals worldwide. The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), founded in 2005 and consisting of 20 national committees, spread over 18 countries, supports the claim for reunification, in close collaboration with the Greek authorities, who do not wish to engage in litigation at this moment, but prefer a policy of cultural diplomacy. A policy line that the IARPS respects. New approaches are therefore necessary to reach a breakthrough in the dispute. As the Parthenon Sculptures were made for and constitute an intrinsic part of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis – an emblematic building, symbol of Western Democracy and recognised as a World Cultural Heritage, it is above all, a moral obligation to return and to reunify all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum, where they are in direct visual contact with the Parthenon temple. Only in this way they can continue satisfactorily to fulfil their mission: testimony of the great craftsmanship of the ancient sculptors in the 5^th century BC and a reminder of the origins of Democracy.

Dr Christiane Tytgat

Historian - Archaeologist

President International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

President of the Belgian Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

23 May 2020, Athens, Greece

Greece's  Minister of Culture and Sport,  Lina Mendoni restated the long-standing request for the British Museum to return the Parthenon Marbles, ahead of the 11th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum.

The British Museum in London continues to refuse to return the Parthenon Marbles. The 2,500-year-old sculptures were forcibly removed from the Parthenon, by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when Greece was under Ottoman Turkish rule.

Prior to the opening of the Acropolis Museum on 20 June 2009,  the British Museum had argued that Greece had 'no where to display' the Parthenn Marbles. Now nearly 11 years since the purpose-built Acropolis Museum was opened  to house the antiquities from the Acropolis, the British Museum continues to argue that the sculptures in London are best viewed in London as they can be seen in the context of world cultures.

On 24 January 2019, Ioannis Andritsopoulos, Ta Nea's UK correspondent , interviewed British Mumseum Director, Hartwig Fischer who said: "since the beginning of the 19th century, the monument’s history is enriched by the fact that some (parts of it) are in Athens and some are in London where six million people see them every year. In each of these two locations they highlight different aspects of an incredibly rich, layered and complex history."

"People go to some places to encounter cultural heritage that was created for that site. They go to other places to see cultural heritage which has been moved and offers a different way to engage with that heritage. The British Museum is such a place, it offers opportunities to engage with the objects differently and ask different questions because they are placed in a new context.We should cherish that opportunity." Concluded Dr Fischer.

On Sunday 23 February 2020,  the then Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times, Sarah Baxter wrote her modest proposal for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, aptly entitled: "The sane move is to give Greece back its Elgin marbles".

The first 'modet proposal' was written by Christopher Hitchens (pages 104 to 106) in the third edition of 'The Parthenon, The Case for Reunification'published by Verso in May 2008 and launched at Chatham House, London by the BCRPM. The second was written by Stephen Fry in 2011, you can read that heretoo.

Dr Fischer responded to Sarah Baxter's article with a letter to the Sunday Times, which was publish Sunday 01 March 2020:

Greeks should be glad we have the marbles

Sarah Baxter’s column on the Parthenon sculptures asks us to imagine how we would feel if Big Ben had been transplanted to Athens (“The sane move is to give Greece back its marbles”, Comment, last week). This is to ignore the many buildings and artworks that have been reused, reshaped and often moved across borders, such as Duccio’s altarpiece the Maesta, elements of which have been removed from Siena cathedral and are held in museums across Europe and America.

The Parthenon sculptures are fragments of a lost whole that cannot be put back together. Only about 50% of the original sculptures survive from antiquity. The Parthenon has become a European monument precisely because its sculptures can be seen not only in Athens but in London and other European cities. The public benefit of this distribution and what it means for our shared cultural inheritance is self-evident, and something to celebrate.

Minister of Culture for Greece, Dr Lina Mendoni  responded by saying that Dr Fischer's letter was as “unfortunate, if not outright unacceptable.” To read one of the article's quoting Dr Mendoni, follow the link here.

As expected, this was not well received by most, not just in the UK but elsewhere too. Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper, wrote an article following on from Dr Fischer's letter to the Sunday Times, quoting a number of BCRPM members including Janet Suzman, Alex Benakis, Dr Peter Thonemann and Professor John Tasioulas.

Dr Mendoni insists that “it is time for the British Museum to reconsider its stance ahead of the Acropolis Museum’s next birthday, which is on 20 June 2020. Does it want to be a museum that meets and will continue to meet modern requirements and speak to the soul of the people, or will it remain a colonial museum which intends to hold treasures of world cultural heritage that do not belong to it?” Smilar words were used by Dame Janet Suzman during her participation in the Cambridge Union debate on 25 April 2019. You can read Janet's speech here.

Minister Mendoni urged the International Committees (IARPS) to continue to support this long standing request as they also continue to support the Greek government in their quest for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

I was asked to be the Chair of the BCRPM because of my long-standing sympathy with the magnificent fury of Melina Mercouri, who came whirling into Britain many years ago like a mighty wind, to stir up the clouds of dead leaves that often litter the venerable institutions of this land. She demanded the return of the marbles. She is long gone, but the wind still blows, sometimes stronger, sometimes just a breeze to disturb the quiet. Those winds have started up again as the arguments about Brexit swirl this way and that, and they have started up in France as it recognises certain acquisitions in its own collections need justifying, and the windy debates continue in other far countries once colonised by Great Britain in its Empire heyday.

One of the most mightiest of those Institutions, The British Museum, is the keeper of so many of the world’s treasures they are almost beyond counting, because Empire-builders brought back wondrous artefacts from across the world when Britain ruled the waves. As we know the star attractions of the British Museum's astonishing collection are the Parthenon marbles, those breath-taking fractions of a breath-taking whole. The Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, brought them to England and for two hundred years they have awed the millions of visitors who shuffle across the floors of the mighty Museum. They are seen in a severely walled gallery, sitting with great respect and decorum on harsh concrete plinths, with greyish light partly revealing their astonishing beauty.

Last year some of these pieces of sculpture were brought down to another larger gallery to show Rodin’s work alongside them, and how inspired he was by them. A breath of fresh air rushed round the figures and we saw anew how wonderful they are, in fact unmatchable. Emotionally charged, muscled Rodin figures paled beside the stillness of their haunting super-reality. The curators had presented the figures as solo works of art separated from their original function of being parts of a larger whole, wrenched from an integral part of an ancient belief-system.

Melina was an actress, I am an actress; that probably means we are basically open-minded. Acting requires you to be non-judgemental about a character and thus to depict its point of view, often very far from your own in real life, as truthfully as possible. I am no scholar, no academic. My position on the BCRPM Committee is one of a perfectly ordinary museum visitor and as such I can see so clearly that the marbles are in the wrong room. They need the sweet Attic sunlight shining on them and a blue sky beyond; they ask to be re-connected to their other half in the New Acropolis Museum where a space for them awaits. They need to be seen in sight of the Parthenon itself, which still astonishingly stands, in full view of that space, so that I, the visitor could turn my head and exclaim “Now I see - that’s where they came from!” No more gloomy light, no more orphaned statuary. They need to be re-joined to their other pedimental half which sits in this fine museum so that I, the visitor, can understand the whole silent conversation between them.

I simply do not trust the jargon of art historians or artistic directors however eminent who enlarge rather pompously on ‘creative acts’ - meaning the marble figures take on another equally important resonance by having been violently parted from their siblings. Chopped off in fact; the wounds are visible. I have no reason to disrespect the director of the British Museum but if I were playing him I would have to understand his motivation in speaking such transparently suspect words. It’s clear that it would be more than his job is worth if he allowed his natural intelligence to win over his enforced hypocrisy; he is required to speak diplomatically. So it is not he who is at fault; it is the Trustees of the British Museum who must surely be rather smug closet colonialists that they still don't choose to entertain what is only right and just. After more than two centuries, it is high time those marbles were returned to their rightful place.

I end by quoting from an eminent member of BCRPM, Alexi Kaye Campbell, who wrote most eloquently in The Guardianrecently: “Asking for something back of huge significance which has been taken from you when you were under foreign occupation is a demand for simple justice”. Europe has felt the dread hand of occupation far too often, and it behoves Britain and its premier institutions to start to accommodate the other point of view.

Greece’s ask is wholly justified. It must keep blowing zephyrous winds towards England.

Janet Suzman

The above article was published in Greek , Saturday 9 February 2019, in Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper.  It was also re-printed in Parikiaki.

 Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper visited the Tate Reading Rooms to see Kenneth Clark's original letter.

Kenneth Clark, a British art historian and Trustee of the British Museum, was in favour of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in the 1940s, it can be revealed.

Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper, has seen and photographed a letter written by Clark in which he states explicitly that the so-called 'Elgin Marbles' should be sent back to Athens, with the aim of reuniting them with the rest of the Parthenon sculptures in one place.

"I am, quite irrationally, in favour of returning the Elgin marbles to Greece, not to be put back on the Parthenon, but to be installed in a beautiful building on the far side of the Acropolis, which I think the British Government should pay for. I would do this purely on sentimental grounds, as an expression of our indebtedness to Greece," the letter reads.

Clark wrote this letter on 3rd September, 1943. He sent it to Thomas Bodkin, then director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and Barber Professor of Fine Art at the University of Birmingham. At the time, Clark was Director of the National Gallery. His letter is currently kept in Tate Britain.

This is the only time that a British Museum Trustee has gone on record as being openly in favour of the Parthenon Sculptures’ reunification, a view standing in stark contrast to the position of the British Museum that the Elgin marbles should stay in London.

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos told Ta Nea: “The request for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures had found, since 1943, an "unexpected" ally in Lord Kenneth Clark, who is included among the most important 20th-century art historians and who, in this capacity, participated in the administration of the most relevant British Institutions, such as the British Museum, the National Gallery, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House.”

“This example clearly evinces the gentility and nobility of Kenneth Clark’s character as well as the strength and conviction of his ‘cultural morality’. These elements, in conjunction with the expression of his respect for the World Cultural Heritage and the roots of our Civilisation, make him a great representative of Britain’s tradition. Clark’s case also evinces how "miserable" and completely unworthy of Britain's tradition as outlined above is the attitude of the British Museum's officials today, who thus end up appearing inferior to the circumstances and the necessities pertaining to the defence of World Cultural Heritage and our common Civilisation and, furthermore, unrepentant accomplices of Elgin's cultural crime,” Pavlopoulos added.

Professor Anthony Snodgrass

“Kenneth Clark’s (slightly unexpected) support, for a position now widely held in the U.K., is one pleasant revelation. More important, however, is his perceptive emphasis on the need for separate solutions to individual cases; and, yet more striking, the uncanny accuracy of his prediction, for the Marbles “to be installed in a beautiful building on the far [that is, South] side of the Acropolis”,” said Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Emeritus Professor in Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, Honorary President of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

“More than sixty-five years later, the greater part of this prophecy was to be precisely fulfilled; it only remains for the natural sequel, the 'reintegration' of the Marbles, to be enacted too," he added.

Professor Judith Herrin

“How splendid that Kenneth Clark's 1943 vision of the reunited Parthenon marbles has been perfectly realised in the New Acropolis Museum,” said Professor Judith Herrin, Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow Emeritus at King's College London, and one of the longest serving members of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

“On 20th June the superlative Acropolis Museumwill celebrate its 10th anniversary, having welcomed over 14 million visitors from all over the world and one can but imagine how elated Kenneth Clark would have been. Not only to see the top floor of the museum, the Parthenon Gallery but also the floors below and the opening of the area that has been painstakingly excavated to reveal 4,000 metres of homes, workshops, baths – an entire Athenian neighbourhood that existed from classical to byzantine years. What a pity that he is not alive to physically see all this and yet he too would have continued to have added his voice to the reunification of the Parthenon marbles. Britain has not paid for this museum and yet what is still missing are the many pieces that Lord Elgin so crudely removed from a building, currently displayed in the British Museum, the wrong way around, miles away from their other halves. Here’s to the day when they can be reunited in Athens and with views to the Parthenon, which still stands,” she added.

The Parthenon Sculptures have been displayed in the British Museum since 1817. They were removed from the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin. Greece has challenged claims by the British Museum that Lord Elgin had obtained permission to transfer the Marbles from Athens to London and has demanded Britain open negotiations over their return.

Kenneth Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. He was the National Gallery’s youngest ever Director. He achieved international fame as the writer, producer and presenter of the BBC Television series Civilisation.

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr)  . To read the origial article , follow the link here. 

Publication date: 14 June 2019

Culture and conflict often coexist in an uneasy and paradoxical manner; culture being an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution. Culture makes people understand each other better. Conflict resolution acts as a healing balm providing interaction between the concerned parties and the hope to overcome barriers.

Taking away and damaging the cultural heritage of a society is tampering with its identity. The history of art looting is lengthy and continuous. It begins possibly with Jason and the Argonauts looting the Golden Fleece. It continues with the habit of the Romans of looting art from conquered cities in order to parade it through the streets of Rome, before putting it on display in the forum. In Byzantium, the Hippodrome was adorned with looted art, and during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 the Crusaders looted the city itself. Cultural spoils were taken back to Venice to adorn the cathedral of St Mark, among them, the four gilded horses of the Apocalypse that remain in the city to this day.

In the ancient world, cultural pillage was an act of state planned to demonstrate the supremacy of the conqueror and underline the humiliation of the defeated. By the nineteenth century, however, such actions had been joined by the claim of the acquiring country to be the true heir of Classical civilization. Thus, Napoleon’s victorious armies began concluding a series of treaties with conquered states across Europe that allowed them to usurp artworks to stock the Louvre Museum.

From the colonial era to the Second World War, wars have provided opportunities for art looting on a massive scale, and the restitution of stolen cultural artefacts remains a dispute around the world. The trafficking of stolen art has become as widespread as drugs and firearms.

Private looting has always occurred alongside with state sponsored plundering, although it has evoked more disapprobation. The vandalism of the Parthenon sculptures by Thomas Bruce, seventh earl of Elgin, British Ambassador to the Ottoman court is the most notorious one and remains the archetypal case of looted artworks repatriation demand for more than 200 years.

Since the second half of the 20th century, states have adopted legislative instruments to regulate the illicit trafficking and the return of improperly removed cultural objects as part of a wider effort to enhance the protection of cultural heritage.

Restitution of cultural objects unethically removed from their countries of origin is a today’s global question. Cases concerning the circulation of cultural property are increasingly settled through diplomatic relationships. Museums are institutions representing reconciliation and as such, they have the duty to act ethically.

Antiquities of particular importance to humanity that were removed from the territory of a State in a questionable manner in terms of legality, as well as in an onerous way, need to be returned on the basis of fundamental principles enclosed in international conventions irrespective of time limits or other restrictions. They also need to be returned on the basis of legal principles, customary rules, and ethics. This need is also dictated by increased ecumenical interest for the integrity of the monument to be restored in its historic, cultural, and natural environment. Nobody may fully appreciate these antiquities outside their context. A characteristic example in this respect is the Parthenon Sculptures.

Lord Elgin was a fatal figure in the history of the looting of Greek antiquities. In 1799, he was appointed British Ambassador to the Sublime Porte at Constantinople. A year earlier, Napoleon had invaded Ottoman Egypt, and Britain hoped to become the sultan’s main ally in reversing the French conquest. The dispatch from London of a well-connected diplomat descended from the kings of Scotland who had previously served as a British envoy in Brussels and Berlin was itself a gesture of friendship toward the Turks.

As well as competing in geopolitics, the British were rivalling French for access to whatever remained of the great civilizations of antiquity. Elgin seizes the opportunity for personal gain to acquire a huge collection of antiquities. His attention was focused primarily on the monuments on the Acropolis (the Parthenon topmost) which were very difficult of access and from which no one ever had been granted permission to remove sculptures.

His marriage to a wealthy heiress, Mary Nisbet, had given him the financial means to sponsor ambitious cultural projects. While traveling through Europe en route to Constantinople, he recruited a team of mostly Italian artists led by the Neapolitan painter Giovanni-Battista Lusieri.

Their initial task was to draw, document and mould antiquities in the Ottoman-controlled territory of Greece. The initially cloudy mission of Elgin’s artistic team culminated in a massive campaign to dismantle artworks from the temples on the Acropolis and transport them to Britain. By using methods of bribery and fraud, Elgin persuaded the Turkish dignitaries in Athens to turn a blind eye while his team removed those parts of the Parthenon, they particularly liked.

Elgin never acquired the permission to remove the sculptural and architectural decoration of the monument by the authority of the Sultan himself, who alone could have issued such a permit. He simply made use of a friendly letter from the Kaimakam, a Turkish officer, who at the time was replacing the Grand Vizier in Constantinople. This letter, handed out unofficially as a favour, could only urge the Turkish authorities in Athens to allow Elgin's men to make drawings, take casts and conduct excavations around the foundations of the Parthenon, with the condition that no harm be caused to the monuments.

On 31 July 1801, the first of the high-standing sculptures was hauled down. Between 1801 and 1804, Elgin's team was active on the Acropolis, stripping, hacking off causing considerable damage to the sculptures and the monument. Eventually Elgin’s team detached half of the remaining sculpted decoration of the Parthenon, together with certain architectural members such as a capital, a column drum and one of the six caryatids that adorned the Erechtheion temple, as they could not found an available ship to take all six away! “I have been obliged to be a little barbarous,” Lusieri once wrote to Elgin.

London and Athens now hold dismembered pieces of many of the sculptures. Large sections of the Parthenon frieze, an extraordinary series of relief sculptures depicting the procession of Greater Panathenaia, the most important festival held in honour of the city’s divine patroness Athena, numbered among the loot.

Of the 97 surviving blocks of the Parthenon frieze, 56 have been removed to Britain and 40 are in Athens. Of the 64 surviving metopes, 48 are in Athens and 15 have been taken to London. Of the 28 preserved figures of the pediments, 19 have been removed to London and 9 are in Athens.

The shipping of these precious antiquities to Britain was fraught with difficulties. One ship sank and the sculptures, after prolonged exposure to the damp in various harbours, eventually arrived in England three years later. In London, they were shifted from sheds to warehouses, because Elgin had been reduced to such penury by the enormous costs of wages, transportation, gifts and bribes to the Turks, that he was unable to accommodate them in his own house. So, after the mortgaging of the collection by the British state, he was obliged to sell the Parthenon Sculptures to the government, for £35,000—less than half of what Elgin claimed to have spent. Finally, the British Government transferred the Sculptures to the British Museum in 1817. In 1962, they were placed at the Duveen Gallery. Even after they arrived at the British Museum, the sculptures received imperfect care. In 1938, for example, they were “cleaned” with an acid solution.

Prior to the transaction a Committee was appointed to consider the purchase and the evidence, it gathered was placed before Parliament. A debate took place, where many voices expressed their scepticism and disapproval. Even thoughts about the return of the Marbles were expressed for the very first time. Hugh Hammersley, a Member of Parliament, first raised the question in the House of Commons. Strenuous objections were heard outside Parliament as well, the most impassioned being that of Lord Byron, a poet and fellow member of the Anglo-Scottish aristocracy. Elgin was denounced as a vandal in sonorous verses by Lord Byron.

Contrary to Elgin’s stated fears, the sculptures that remained in Athens did not vanish. After 1833, when the Ottomans left the Acropolis and handed it to the new nation of Greece, the great citadel and its monuments became a focus of national pride. Protecting, restoring and showcasing the legacy of the Athenian golden age has been the highest priority for Greeks since then.

The removal of the so-called Elgin Marbles has long been described as an egregious act of imperial plunder.

Not surprisingly, the British Museum has so far refused all requests to give up one of its most popular exhibits. The Parthenon sculptures have become the most visible, and notorious, collection of Acropolis artifacts still housed in museums across Europe, often with the justification that such objects are emblematic of European civilization, not just of Greek heritage.

The British Museum relies on the supposed legality of an Act of Parliament. The Trustees shelter behind the argument that it is the law – that they are entrusted with these artefacts and cannot divest themselves of them. In reality, as the late Eddie O’Hara, former MP and Chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) stated, “the government simply needs to legislate to say ‘yes, this is possible.’ – as they did with Nazi loot.”

Even this most difficult of disputes can be resolved with the support of both Museum of Trustees and the UK Government by amending the 1963 Act or by enacting separate legislation. An Act of Parliament could be an Act of Conscience! As Janet Suzman, Chair for the BCRPM declared, the Trustees of the British Museum must get their heads together and break the shackles preventing the just return of Greece’s precious heritage to Athens.

Today, the defenders of keeping the Parthenon Sculptures in the U.K. are looking increasingly lonely. A particularly important development in the long-running request marks both the transformation of British public opinion and the changing trend of museums for the repatriation of cultural treasures, together with the eloquent request for reunification by Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, submitted to his counterpart, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during his visit in London last November.

Even, The Times, the flagship newspaper of the British establishment, made a historic turn to support the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures: "Τhey belong to Athens, they must be returned”. The main article of The Times, in an unprecedented fashion, stating that it is like taking Hamlet out of the First Sheet of Shakespeare’s works and saying that both can still exist separately, recognizes the uniqueness of the Parthenon Sculptures!

This support for Greece's request is welcomed by all those that have reinforced the diplomatic route for the reunification of the sculptures, applying constant and methodical pressure and garnering assistance from the international community. It was preceded by the unanimous decision of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Commission for the Return of Cultural Property to Countries of Origin (ICPRCP), which at its 22nd Session on 29th September 2021, adopted for the first time, in addition to the usual recommendation, a text focusing exclusively on the return of Parthenon sculptures. This new text, acknowledging the intergovernmental nature of the subject, was in direct contrast to the British side, which has consistently argued that the case concerns the British Museum. The Commission calls on the United Kingdom to reconsider its position and hold talks with Greece.*

*quotation of the text presented by the Greek delegation to UNESCO's ICPRCP.

Last week, the Μuseum’s chairman George Osborne said: "I think there is a deal to be done – whereby the marbles could be shown in both Athens and London, and as long as there weren’t “a load of preconditions” or a “load of red lines”. Since then, a number of British Lawmakers have also voiced their support for the return of the marbles, and a group of scholars and advocates of the sculptures ‘demonstrated', at the British Museum on the occasion of the 13th birthday of the Acropolis Museum.

The Acropolis Museum’s director general, Professor Nikos Stampolidis, responded with a statement, in which he described the Parthenon Sculptures as representing a procession that symbolized Athenian democracy. “The violent removal of half of the frieze from the Parthenon can be conceived, in reality, as setting apart, dividing and uprooting half of the participants in an actual procession, and holding them captive in a foreign land,” Prof. Stampolidis said. “It consists of the depredation, the interruption, the division and dereliction of the idea of democracy. The question arises: Who owns the ‘captives?’ “The museum where they are imprisoned, or the place where they were born?”

A precursor to the return is the agreement between Italy and Greece. The “Fagan fragment” of the Goddess Artemis, became the first permanently repatriated marble fragment of the sculptures to be restored on the Parthenon frieze, from the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeology Museum in Palermo, on June 4. It was taken at the same time as the forceful removal of the Parthenon Sculptures by Lord Elgin, and later sold to the University of Palermo.

Meanwhile European governments are rushing to announce policies to return cultural goods to their countries of origin. France returned 26 items, 16th and 17th century bronze art pieces, of unparalleled art to Benin last October, and Germany announced that it would return to Nigeria, the spoils of Benin. In April, Glasgow city council voted to return 17 Benin bronze artefacts looted in West Africa in the 19th century. The Belgian government as well, has agreed to transfer ownership of stolen items from its museums to African countries of origin. Lately, the Plenary Session of the 76th UN General Assembly adopted the decision promoted by Greece for the return of cultural goods to their countries of origin.

Since regaining independence in 1832, successive Greek governments have petitioned for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. Melina Mercouri, Greek minister of Culture, reenergized the repatriation campaign, by making a request in 1982 for the Greek government to return the Parthenon Sculptures to the UNESCO General Conference on Cultural Policy in Mexico.

The new Acropolis Museum of Athens, which opened in 2009, was built within sight of the actual Parthenon with the goal of eventually housing all the surviving elements of the Parthenon frieze. The Museum’s magnificent glass gallery, bathed in Greek sunlight and offering a clear view of the Parthenon, is the perfect place to reintegrate the frieze and allow visitors to ponder its meaning.

Greece's constant demand for the reunification of the stolen Parthenon Sculptures with the mutilated ecumenical monument is a unique case based on respect for cultural identity and the principle of preserving the integrity of world heritage sites.

As Professor Paul Cartledge, Vice President of BCRPM rightfully said: ‘The key word is ‘Acropolis’. The Parthenon, a UNESCO World Heritage site, derives its significance ultimately from its physical context. A good deal of the original building has miraculously been preserved and in recent times expertly curated. The gap between the Acropolis Museum’s Parthenon display and that in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum is simply immeasurable. Over and against the alleged claim of legality, there is on our side the overriding claim of ethical probity. Times change, and mores with them.”

The United Kingdom can only benefit from the long-awaited gesture, not of generosity, but of justice. The reunification will finally be given its time.

*The article above formed part of a presentation thatSophia Hiniadou Cambanis gave at the Thessaloniki International Conference : “Art communicating conflict resolution: An intercultural dialogue” co-organized by the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the UNESCO Chair “Intercultural Policy for an Active Citizenship and Solidarity” of the University of Macedonia, on June 30th 2022.

**Sophia Hiniadou Cambanis is Attorney at Law and Cultural Policy & Management Advisor at the Hellenic Parliament

Statement written by Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles read out by Danny Chivers during Saturday's BP or not BP? protest at the British Museum.

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 next year this New Acropolis Museum will celebrate its tenth 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 make a grand and generous gesture to the Greek people who in distant times laid the foundations of our modern democracies and who informed our artistic heritage. No sculptures have ever matched these languishing here. They are unarguably part of a history the Greeks feel profoundly. Modern Greeks may be as distant from their forebears as we to Anglo-Saxons but that never stopped a nation feeling viscerally connected to its antecedents. 

Let’s do so by celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Acropolis Museum in 2019 with the return of their prodigals. What a fabulous birthday present that would be! How civilised and decent of the British Museumto divest itself of dated strictures belonging to an era - now so over - of colonialist finders keepers. The time has come to do the right thing. Go BM! Do it! 

For more information on BP or not BP, visit here.

Tonight dignitaries gathered at the Acropolis Museum to celebrate its 13th anniversary and  to welcome two exquisite Panathenaic amphorae from  the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Canada.

Των Αθήνηθεν άθλων

These Panathenaic amphorae, crafted over 2,500 years ago, were vessels filled with oil that would have been 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 top floor, glass-walled, Parthenon Gallery, relating with the great temple’s frieze, where Pheidias and his collaborators artfully carved the Panathenaic procession.

To read more on this exhibition which celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum, follow the link here.

www.vanityfair.com

July 2009