Five pages dedicated to the Director of the British Museum, Dr Nicholas Cullinan in the Times Saturday Magazine.

Alice Thomson writes: "The new director of the British Museum has a daunting in-tray but this is his dream job and he hopes to be at the BM for this museum's 300th anniversary, which is in 2053!"

To read the article in The Times Magazine, follow the link here.

We wish Dr Cullinan success and also continue to look for his support towards the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

In the Times Magazine article, Dr Cullinan refers to the sculptures, still mainly divided between two great museum's of the world, as the British Museum's 'talismanic objects'. Given the fate of those that did remove them from the Parthenon when Greece had no voice and consequently curated them in the British Museum, here's hoping that reunification of these sculptures is still in the vision of the reimagined, twenty-first century, British Museum.

The future, Dr Cullinan is convinced, is in collaboration. He also acknowledges that the BM cannot de-accession, as that needs an act of parliament and he suggests that those that want items returned must lobby parliament to get the act changed.

Dr Cullinan is comfortable with loaning items and will do what it takes to look after the world's greatest collection as he stresses that there are only 15 cases of contested groups or objects. These include the Parthenon Marbles: "Plans are taking shape. We'd love an innovative partnership with Greece where we would lend things and they would lend things back, and we can share knowledge and opportunity rather than debate ownership."

And we all know, Greece's ask is wholly justified.

The new director of the British Museum, Dr Nicholas Cullinan in an interview with Richard Morrison for the Culture section of the Sunday Times, 15 September 2024.

“I’m going to lead the biggest transformation of any museum in the world,” Nicholas Cullinan declares. “Physically, our masterplan is a huge project. But intellectually, too, it’s an enormous challenge. Yes, fixing the roof is urgent. But if you’re going to address those physical problems you should also do something really exciting with the collections and the way we present them to the public.”

Music to our ears, as we have looked to the BM to embrace the 21st century and the continued call for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Read the full article by Richard Morrison.

Post the 2,000 thefts, then the controversial 50 million pound donation from BP earmarked for the BM's masterplan with the transformation of the building and the campaign for reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, now in it's 41st year, is Nicholas Cullinan leading the way to a brave new era at the BM? 

The decision to digitise the whole BM collection, all eight million items means, in the future, if an item is stolen and offered for sale, it will be easy to check it against the BM’s database. “But it also gives us an opportunity to create an incredible website that could reach well beyond the museum’s walls,” adds Nicholas Cullinan.

Last month five architectural teams were shortlisted to work on rethinking the galleries that include the rooms housing the Parthenon Sculptures, Rosetta Stone and mummies. 

“It’s really a giant restoration project. The western range is largely the original Robert Smirke building from the 19th century, with its beautiful galleries. But they can be made even more beautiful. And at the same time we have to rethink how we navigate visitors round and best display and interpret the collection.” Continues Cullinan in the Sunday Times as he also points out that the 1963 British Museum Act stops the museum from deaccessioning anything in its collection, even if it wanted to. “The more interesting aspect to think about now is how we can work in partnership with other museums round the world to lend or exchange items,” he says.

The Sunday Times asks whether “a friendly lending agreement [would] end the seemingly eternal squabble over the Elgin [Parthenon] Marbles?” Cullinan responds: “This is not me trying to dodge the question but that issue is not within my purview. It depends on other parties…The more interesting aspect to think about now is how we can work in partnership with other museums round the world to lend or exchange items.”



 

THE GUARDIAN 16 November 2021

On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 in the Guardian Peter Walker and Helena Smith wrote that it has long been the official UK position that any return is a matter for the British Museum.

The wider debate about museums returning artefacts taken from other countries during colonial times, has so far been resisted by the UK with the mantra of “retain and explain”. And that the British Museum’s consistent view is that the sculptures were acquired legally, with Elgin receiving formal consent from the Ottoman empire to remove the section of sculptures. “His actions were thoroughly investigated by a parliamentary select committee in 1816 and found to be entirely legal, prior to the sculptures entering the collection of the British Museum by act of parliament,” the museum says on its website.

BCRPM Vice-Chair Paul Cartledge was quoted in the same Guardian article saying that this amounted to “a sleight of hand”.

“It’s a nonsense,” he added. “Even if the trustees agreed to relinquish them, the final decision to rescind the act of 1816 which declared the Elgin Collection to be owned by the nation would legally have to go through the British parliament. There is no doubt that the pressure is building up for genuine, post-imperial reconciliation in the cultural sphere and Johnson is trying to evade it.”

To read thst article in full, follow the link here.

THE TIMES

  Josh Glancey of The Times tweeted on the same day about the British Museum's website statement:

And BCRPM member Benjamin Ramm replied 

Variations in the British Museum's statements, half truths on the information provided in Room 18, have left generations questioning what really happened bewtween 1801-1805 for Greece to have lost to another country half of its surviving Parthenon Marbles, with the Parthenon itself still in Athens.

A helpful video can be found on the Acropolis Museum web site.

GBNews 18 November 2021

On Friday vening BCRPM's member Professor John Tasioulas joined GBNews and took a pragmatic approach on the issue too.

Today, Saturday 20 November, Simon Jenkins wrote in the Guardian and the article headline reads: 'Give the Parthenon marbles back to Greece – tech advances mean there are no more excuses. To read the full article follow the link here. 

THE GUARDIAN 20 November 2021

Simon Jenkins pragmatic approach concludes: 'This issue, so important to the Greeks but not to the British, could be sorted out with goodwill in an instant. Precisely such a negotiation on the marbles was demanded in September by UNESCO, and rejected by Britain. If it requires a “perpetual loan” or an act of parliament, then get on with it. If money is required, raise it. Johnson is being feeble in fobbing off Athens’ request as not being under his purview. The museum is a state institution. Instead of keeping his promise and doing the right thing by the marbles, he has performed another U-turn and funked it.'

THE DAILY MAIL 20 November 2021 

Prime Minister Mitsotakis wrote in the Daily Mail and adds: "Now, given the Prime Minister has told me he would not stand in the way of Greece establishing a formal dialogue with the British Museum over the future of the marbles, I can only assume things will be different – that he will not obstruct any future agreement and, instead, the Prime Minister would seek to amend the relevant legislation to allow the sculptures’ return."

THE TELEGRAPH 20 November 2021

The Telegraph published a double page spread in the main section of Saturday's paper, witten by Gordon Raynor, with the headline questioning:'Could we be on course to lose 'our' Marbles?'

BCRPM's Chair Janet Suzman is quoted:"The British Museum is demonstrably behind the curve.Other world-class institutions have started returning items, so it's a bit smug for the British Museum to refuse to engage. It just keeps trotting out the same mantra it has clung on for the past 200 years. It's terribly impolite for them to just stay silent on this."

The British Museum's reasons for keeping the Marbles in London and divided from their surviving half in Athens is that: " there is a positive advantage and public benefit in having the sculptures divided bewtween two great museums, because in Athens they are seen against the backdrop of Athenian history and in London visitors gain insight into how ancient Greece influenced other civilisations."

Janet adds that this is just "childish, finders keepers stuff. They were forcibly removed, they were brought to Britain, they have excited the western world and classical scholarship went up. They have done their job and it's time for them to go home. It is a moral obligation.

She continues:" Anyone who goes to the museum in Athens can see, that is where they should be displayed. In the British Museum the experience is quite depressing."

To read the full article, visit the Telegraph.

More on this also in the Greek Reporter.

The return of the British Museum's Parthenon Marbles to Greece, according to Reuters' report on Sunday, may be possible 'even if the two sides cannot come to an agreement over who owns the sculptures'.

Greece's request for the return of the sculptures began shortly after independence. The more recent request was made by the then Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri in 1983, when the Greek government formally asked the UK government to return the marbles to Greece and, in 1984, listed the dispute with UNESCO. The Greek government has always only requesed the return of the sculptures that Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon at the start of the 19th century.

The Pope last year announced that he would donate three fragmented pieces from the Vatican Museums to Greece. The signing of the agreement took place in Rome on  Tuesday 07 March 2023.

Talks bewtween Greece and the British Museum have been going on since late 2021, and were disclosed when Prime Minister Mitsotakis came to London in November of 2022 to address the LSE.

The British Museum's Parthenon collection could be returned to Greece under a long-term cultural partnership agreement, Reuters reported on Sunday 12 March.

The plans, which have been discussed with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and British Museum's Chair George Osborne, would see a rotation of Greek masterpieces offered to the British Museum, including some that have never been seen outside Greece*.(This was offered by Greece for the first time in 2000, 23 years ago!).

Such an arrangement could avoid the requirement for a change in the law to allow the British Museum to dispose of its artefacts, the same point raised in 2000 also.  And yet,  George Osborne has played down the prospect of a permanent return of the marbles, instead suggested an arrangement where the marbles can be shared by both museums and seen in London and Athens.

This story is set to run for a little longer.

Read the aricle by Liam Kelly, Arts Correspondent for the Sunday Times, and for those that read in Greek in Ta Nea, although there are paywalls.

Ioanna Kleftogianni in To Vima reflects on the thefts at the British Museum and speaks to Professor Paul Cartledge, Vice-Chair about the crisis in Bloomsbury, plus takes a statement from Janet Suzman, Chair of BCRPM.

The Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles says the Greek government "behaved absolutely right"by not linking the thefts "to its long-standing and perfectly legitimate demand for reunification".

Game changer. The timeless argument that "the Parthenon Sculptures are safer in the British Museum" is hotly contested, if not destroyed after the recent revelations, which fell like a bolt of lightning from the sky about the unknown number of lost antiquities that have been "stolen, destroyed or missing" from the British Musem's storerooms.

Two weeks after the British Museum's theft scandal was disclosed, there is still concern about the refusal to publish (as is customary in such cases), the list of the stolen artefacts, which allegedly also includes Greek antiquities.

Now the question is one: the theft of valuable objects from the British Museum and their sale via eBay, despite warnings since at least 2021, and does this upgrade Greece's claims?

The British press speaks of "systemic failures" in the British Museum, shocked by the other revelation of the days about the lack of listings for all objects held by the Museum.

The revelations caused global outrage and a domino effect of resignations (first the director Hartwig Fischer and then deputy director Jonathan Williams), following the earlier dismissal of the head of Greek collections, Peter Higgs. But do these dismissals and resignations reinforce the long-standing demand for the repatriation of the Marbles?

The quality of the exhibition in the Duveen Gallery and its physical condition are, admittedly, a cause for concern

It can proceed on a completely new basis, with a happy end for the Greek side – namely, the Parthenon Sculptures fully reunited, within the Acropolis Museum – the debate that began last autumn on this issue, between the Chair of the British Museum and former economy minister, George Osborne, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the then minister of state and now foreign affairs, George Gerapetritis.

Questions posed by "To Vima" to the Chair of the British Committee for the Repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM), Dame Janet Suzman, and to the Vice-Chair,  one of the longest-serving members of the Committee, Professor Paul Cartledge.

The award-winning Shakespearean actress-legend says she is outraged: "The time has finally come for the British Museum to return the Greek masterpieces that were stolen. Patience is running out."

The leading modern Hellenist argues, modestly, that the theft scandal and the Greek request are two completely unrelated issues, hence, he adds, the Greek government "behaved absolutely correctly" by not linking the thefts "to its long-standing and absolutely legitimate request for the reunification of the Marbles", stressing that "no Parthenon Marble is ever in danger of being stolen and put up for sale on eBay".

And this despite the "very seriousness" of this recent scandal, which, as the former holder of the A.G. Leventis Chair at Cambridge University points out, raises for him "a series of anguished thoughts and questions":

"First of all, it turns the spotlight on the Museum, when it already answers or rather rejects other uncomfortable questions. Second, it raises questions about how quickly it discovered the thefts and reported them to the police. Moreover, it calls into question the role of the director, trustees and department heads – not just the then curators of the Greek and Roman Department. It reveals to the uninformed public the extent to which the vast majority of what the Museum holds has never seen the light of day. At the same time, it creates an air of suspicion throughout the institution, while violating and abusing public trust. And finally, it has damaged the very concept of the museum, especially that of the ecumenical museum."

Q: The Welsh, Mr Cartledge, are already demanding their own antiquities. Do you believe that the Greek government's request for the return of the Parthenon Marbles is now being put on a new footing? Has the claim that the Parthenon Sculptures are safe in the British Museum been debunked?

"Nope. The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures and the theft of other objects from the collection of the British Museum are two completely separate questions and issues. The first is a moral, diplomatic, aesthetic, cultural issue. The second is a technical, managerial issue that the Museum must solve on its own. I am sure that no Parthenon Sculpture is in danger of ever being stolen by the British Museum and put up for sale on eBay. The quality of the exhibition in the Duveen Gallery and its physical condition are, admittedly, cause for concern, but this is a separate issue. Hence the Greek government behaved absolutely correctly by not making public comment on the thefts and therefore not linking its long-standing and perfectly legitimate demand for the Reunification of the Marbles – as some Greek media unfortunately did – with the recent theft case."

Q: The revelations about the theft were first made internally at the museum in 2021, while President Osborne was in discussions with the Greek prime minister. The British side made it public that there was talk of the possibility of a 10-year loan to Greece, a solution allegedly promoted by Mr. Osborne. Doesn't the scenario of the loan, which Mr. Osborne suggests, presuppose the acceptance that the sculptures are British-owned, which the Greek side does not recognize?

"There is indeed a contradiction. A rumour arose that there was talk of a 10-year loan, but it was officially denied by the Greek side that any kind of loan could ever be considered acceptable. And that certainly makes sense. A loan, legally speaking, implies acceptance of the ownership claim, which is exactly what the British side is claiming. But this claim, as international human rights lawyer Professor Catherine Titi very recently demonstrated once again, has absolutely no basis in international cultural property law, only in British domestic law, and is a claim that neither the Greek government nor the international community (UNESCO) recognizes.

Q: British law prohibits the British Museum from donating its exhibits other than Nazi loot and human remains. So, does the return of the Marbles to Greece require the adoption of a special law by Parliament?

"Yes. The British Museum is governed by the Museums Act 1963, which prohibits deaccession. And, yes, the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles would require both the change or withdrawal of the 1963 Act and, probably, the modification or repeal of the original 1816 Act of Parliament, according to which the then British government bought the Elgin Marbles, including the Parthenon Marbles, stolen by the former UK ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin".

The Greek government should continue to exert diplomatic pressure aimed at encouraging the curators of the British Museum to persuade the British government to pass the necessary legislation

Obviously, the British Parliament would not withdraw a law in favour of Greek claims! I wonder if you would repeat today the view, expressed in 2022, that the Parthenon Sculptures will return to Greece "only when the UK will need a gesture against China or Turkey"...

"I meant that probably only in extreme circumstances would any British government, whether left or right or centrist, or an individual MP, put the issue of the reunification of the Marbles quite high on the parliamentary agenda, with probably MPs first and then the Lords voting in favour. As theoretical examples of such extreme conditions, I devised a situation in which the state of Greece would find itself threatened militarily or economically or culturally by active aggression, for example, by Turkey or China, so that the UK government and parliament wanted to make a huge gesture of solidarity.

You have argued that legal action, as has been seriously discussed in the past, is not a solution. Do you still share the view today?

"Based on past experience, this form of action has proven to be absolutely unsuccessful and counterproductive, because any 'legal' approach may appear to legitimise the UK government and the British Museum's claim to legal ownership of 'their own Marbles'. This only confuses and blurs the real issue, which is a moral one, not a question of legality."

So what can the Greek government do?

"It should continue to exert diplomatic pressure to encourage the Trustees of the British Museum to persuade the British government to pass the necessary legislation. Really,

Greece can do no more."

 To read the entire article, which was published on 04 September in To Vima, follow the link here. The article is in Greek.

Janet Suzman: "The time to reunite the Parthenon Marbles has arrived, patience is running out."

"The time has finally come to return the Greek masterpieces that were looted (...). Patience is running out," said Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) for six years, and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, and a Dame for her services to drama, who became known to younger generations by also appearing in the popular Netflix series "The Crown".

She bluntly calls "shameful" the stance taken on the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles by the recently resigned deputy director of the leading museum, Jonathan Williams, whom she disapproves for his proposal to "share" the sculptures with the Acropolis Museum.

"The scandalous revelations of mismanagement" Dame Janet Suzman hopes will shake the British Museum's view that it is "one of its kind". And it sums up that "priority must be given to respect for the cultural heritage of other nations".

"It is with relative relief that we read of the resignation of the deputy director of the British Museum, Jonathan Williams, precipitated by the revelation of the shocking thefts, and the uncatalogued treasures of the British Museum," Janet Suzman, Chair of of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles told To Vima.

UNITED

"At the last UNESCO meeting they were all united against Jonathan Williams categorical refusal never to return the Parthenon Marbles. Jonathan Williams’ attitude was embarrassing. 

He also said that the Marbles were collected by Elgin, from the ground, where they had already fallen. A blatant lie. Elgin caused catastrophic damage to the great building by sawing the sculptures to remove them from the Parthenon to which they belonged," adds the Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Marbles.

And three months later Jonathan Williams proposed a "Parthenon Partnership" with the Acropolis Museum, and the "sharing" of the sculptures. Knowing full well that sharing cannot be accepted by Greece, to which these sculptures belong both culturally and historically," concludes Dame Janet Suzman.

"We can only hope," she continues, "that the scandalous revelations of mismanagement will shake the British Museum's view that it is supreme, one of its kind. The time has come to return the Greek masterpieces that were stolen, with bribes, by a shadowy privileged aristocrat. Priority must be given to respect for the cultural heritage of other nations. Patience is running out," she concludes.

“Any holders of Parthenon Sculptures outside Greece to return them forthwith to Athens, where they can be reunited with their brothers and sisters”, the distinguished historian of the University of Cambridge, Dr. Paul Cartledge, stated in Kathimerini. Vice-Chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and a 50-year scholar of ancient Greek history, he congratulates the tireless struggle of the Greeks for the return of their stolen antiquities, while stressing the favourable climate in the UK for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

“YouGov polls regularly register above 60 percent support for reunification” argues Professor Cartledge, explaining that “The UK’s main journal of record, The Times, has recently flipped its longstanding editorial policy – from a retentionist to a reunificatory stance”.

Regarding the problems of the sculptures' storage at the British Museum, Cartledge, critical of the British Museum, also stresses their poor conservation, focusing among other things on the issue of dampness in Room 18, as well as the series of thefts by the former curator of the Greek and Roman wings. According to Dr. Cartledge, «The Museum’s repeated claim to have been an exemplary caretaker of ‘its’ Marbles since 1817 has also been exploded on two academic fronts: a) by the late William St Clair, exposing the hushed-up, irreparable damage (‘skinning’) inflicted on frieze sculptures on Lord Duveen’s orders in the late 1930s; and lately b) by international human rights lawyer Professor Catharine Titi exposing the fragility of the UK’s original claim to legality of purchase in 1816”.

The timeline of the sale of the sculptures is set four years after the removal of the sculptures from the Acropolis, but personal debts lead Lord Elgin to submit a proposal to the British Museum to sell the stolen sculptures, estimating their value at £35,000, with the British Parliament accepting Elgin's offer. From then on, the sculptures began to be exhibited at the British Museum with the newly-established Greek state making the first request for their return in 1835.

But did Lord Elgin have the right to sell the sculptures? According to Dr. Cartledge, who relies on the legal assumptions presented in the book, “The Parthenon Marbles and International Law”, “the UK does have legal title to ‘ownership’ of the British Museum holdings, but only with regards to domestic law. Contrariwise it is evidenced that Lord Elgin’s title to what he sold to the U.K. for £35,000 in 1816 was anything but Acropolis rock-solid. So far, despite rigorous searches in Ottoman archives, the best that ‘retentionist’ defenders of the UK and the BM can dredge up is an Italian translation of a permit issued by an Ottoman high-up, not formally carrying the imprimatur of the Sultan himself, allowing Elgin’s men to pick up marbles lying around on the ground and copy stones bearing figures – no mention of hacking worked marbles off the extant Temple itself and having them shipped at great risk of further damage to the UK”.

“Conclusively, one of the issues at the heart of that ancient-history debate is the existence or nonexistence of any sort of official Ottoman firman authorizing Elgin and his cohorts to damage the Acropolis. On the other hand,”, Professor Cartledge adds, “the reunification requires at least one, possibly two Acts of Parliament to be either amended or rescinded: a) of “1816” about the purchasing of and the claim to ownership of the Elgin Collection including the Parthenon Sculptures and, b) of “1963”, “Museums Act”. That requires parliamentary time and support. The present (Tory) UK government is dead against even talking about any legislative change, for example, witness the UK PM’s recent extreme discourtesy to the Greek PM. The Chair of the British Museum Trustees is, therefore, unable to help the Greek government directly, even if he wanted to; his talk about a ‘deal’ is just that – “hot air”.

After two centuries of claims by the Greek State, the provocative fashion show in the Duveen Hall, in front of the Greek antiquities, provoked the anger of the Greek Ministry of Culture, with the Minister of Culture Lina Mendonispeaking of "zero respect", while the British media reiterated the conflict between the two governments and the Greek demand for the return of the sculptures.

As vice-chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, Professor Cartledge argues for the reunification of the sculptures on Greek soil, stressing, “Outside Athens and Greece any Parthenon Marbles held abroad risk looking like imperial loot without much if any current cultural-political significance”. At the same time, he underlines, “The Parthenon was a temple of as well as on the Acropolis, so any sculptures therefrom that survive but cannot be re-placed on what remains of the temple itself should be reunited in the dedicated Acropolis Museum”.

Highlighting the historical and cultural value of the Parthenon, the distinguished academic elaborates on the argument of return by explaining that, “due to a series of historic conjunctions, like the liberation of the new state of Greece from the Ottoman empire, end of the Ottoman empire, growth of representative democracy, the increased importance of the Parthenon as a symbol of the world’s first democracy or ‘people-power’, division of Europe – and the world -  between democracies and autocracies, Parthenon stands as a symbol of both cultural excellence and political freedoms, and even more importantly so. Therefore”, he adds, “any holders of Parthenon Marbles/Sculptures outside Greece to return them forthwith to Athens, where they can be reunited with their brothers and sisters in a fully appropriate space”.

In summary, the Emeritus Professor of Cambridge argues that the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece will influence the global debate on the return of stolen antiquities to their place of origin, pointing out that, “The Parthenon Marbles is, in fact, a unique case, without implications for the fate of any other ‘restitution’ case, but, even so, reunifying the Parthenon Marbles back in Athens would have a mega impact on other legitimate claims for repatriation currently being lodged against the British Museum, above all perhaps that for the Benin Bronzes”.

This article was first published in ekathimeriniand writte by Athanasios Katsikidis.

To read the article in Greek, follow the link here.

12 March 2021

Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Neain an exclusive interview asked UK Prime Minister Johnson about the Parthenon Marbles.

Prime Minister Johnson was asked specificlly about Prime Minister Mitsotakis' plea to have the Parthenon Marbles back in Greece.

Sadly PM Johnson chose to answer the question by repeating that the UK governments standpoint is based on legal ownership. Yet the question remains, if the legality was uncontestable, why did the UK government not retain ownership and instead transfered it to the British Museum?

In today's exclusive interview with the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, when asked about the Parthenon Marbles, British PM Johnson said: “I understand the strong feelings of the Greek people – and indeed Prime Minister Mitsotakis – on the issue.But the UK Government has a firm longstanding position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s Trustees since their acquisition.” 

In this wide-ranging interview, Prime Minister Johnson also covered topics from post-Brexit Britain to ‘Global Britain’ serving UK citizens and defending UK values by extending the UK’s international influence.

He also said the UK: "remains committed to working alongside our partners in the region and the UN to find a just and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem.” Adding that Britain is following developments in the region closely and "welcomes the resumption of Greece-Turkey talks" urging all all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy.

"I am of course a keen scholar of Greek history, the decisive impact of Navarino on the success of the Greek War of Independence and Britain’s crucial role in it. The Ancient Greeks founded western civilisation and gave us science, culture, philosophy, comedy, tragedy, poetry, mathematics, literature, democracy – to name just a few. But modern Greece’s emergence on the international scene as an independent nation state has also had enormous significance for the world. Greece plays an important role in Europe, NATO and in a pivotal region connecting Europe to the Middle East.

Despite some of the challenges the country has faced over the past two hundred years, Greece today is a well-governed, prosperous, creative, peace-loving international partner in the family of nations and makes a crucial contribution to the world stage." Concluded Prime Minister Johnson.

And BCRPM would add: the halves from the Parthenon currently displayed the wrong way round in the British Museum's Room 18, were removed when Greece had no voice. As an independent nation, Greece has been asking politely for some time for the UK to find a way to reunite the sculptures in Athens, so that the surviving pieces may be viewed as close as possible to the Parthenon. The BCRPM sincerely hopes that the UK can begin talks to find a solution to this unecessary division of this peerless collection of sculptures from the Parthenon.   

The interview by Yannis Andritsopoulos was published in the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea (www.tanea.gr), today 12 March 2021. To read the interview in English, visit the linkhere. 

If only..... 

Page 76 of Private Eye Annual 2021, available from booksellers including Waterstones.

Professor Armand D'Angour, is Professor of Classics at Jesus College Oxford, and as the newest member of BCRPM, outlines his thoughts on the continued plight of the Parthenon Marbles: 

When I was at school studying Classics in the 1970s, the general view in the UK was that the Elgin Marbles had been legally acquired from the Greeks (via the Turks), that they were the essential centrepiece of the British Museum collection, that they had been nobly rescued from destruction by Elgin, that they were far safer in the clean air of London than in traffic-plagued Athens, and that returning them would set a terrible precedent that could lead to the world's museums being denuded.

Now, as a Classics Professor, I know that none of those arguments hold true. First, the acquisition by Elgin was for his personal profit and aggrandisement, and was dubiously legal - his alleged firman seems not even to exist; and it was completed through agreement with Turkish rulers of Greece and not Greeks themselves. Secondly, the display of the marbles in the Duveen Gallery is far from ideal; a colourful and well lit set of replicas would be much more appealing - not to mention the wonderful objects Greece might offer on loan in return, or a display of some of the BM's many other millions of objects currently in storage. Thirdly, the Marbles were not kept safe, but damaged with inappropriate cleaning fluids; the beautiful new museum on the Acropolis is a much worthier site today, and traffic is far worse in London than it is in Athens! Few objects have such iconic national status - and if they do, there would be a strong case for their return too to their place of origin.

These are arguments from common sense and history. The main arguments, though, that have persuaded me personally that the time has come for the reunification of the marbles in Athens are moral and emotional. It feels to many, Greeks and non-Greeks as if they are a vital part of the Greek land and soul; and that their theft by Elgin, compounded by a high-handed attitude to their return, remains an open wound.

The tale is told that when the Greeks were fighting for their independence, a group of soldiers observed the Turks stripping lead from between the stones of the Parthenon for use as bullets. Relatively uneducated and rustic Christians as the soldiers were, they felt strongly that this was a dreadful desecration of this pagan monument that had eternal significance to Greeks. They sent a delegation to the Turkish commander with a box of bullets - the very means of their own possible deaths - telling him that they would prefer them to be used than for the great ancient monument to be fatally damaged. Unhistorical as this anecdote undoubtedly is, the fact that it has often been told by Greeks is indicative of their strong feelings about this unique monument.

The emotional resonance of the Parthenon to Greeks - something increasingly recognised and appreciated by British people - makes for me one of the strongest cases for the reunification of the Marbles.

British Museum, Room 18, The Parthenon Galleries, at 16:07,  after the voices of the women of Troy had concluded their stories, readings from a novel 'A thousand Ships' by Natalie Haynes,part of Project Season Women, directed by Magdalena Zira and Athina Kasiou, Professor Edith Hall unfurled a flag with a heartfelt request: Reunite the Parthenon Marbles.

A team of twenty actresses from Cyprus and the UK performed readings in both English and in Greek over a period of five hours in three different locations of the British Museum.

Professor Edith Hall described the day of readings as a "grand epic gesture.... reclaiming the stories of the Trojan War" and after the readings, Edith with the help of two students, unfurled a flag with the image of the Parthenon Gallery on the top floor of the Acropolis Museum and the words: Reunite the Parthenon Marbles. To reunite the surviving sculptures from the British Museum with those in the Acropolis Museum, would be a grand epic gesture, especially as this request has been voiced by Greece since 1843. 

This year is also Melina Mercouri's year and just two Saturdays prior, during the 'BP or not BP?' protest, again in Room 18, three presentations were made to state the case for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

On this Saturday, after the staged readings from Natalie Haynes novel 'A Thousand Ships' in the context of Creative Responses to Troy, accmpanying the current exhibition Troy:myth and reality, Edith Hall added the following statement as Kitty Cooke and Lucy Bilson held up the flag:

"I have been involved in this amazing production of 'A Thousand Ships' as mentor and friend of Natalie Haynes and PhD supervisor to two of the directors, Magdalena Zira and Helen Eastman. But what I am going to say is entirely as an individual, a Professor of Classics at London University and most of all as a proud member of the BCRPM. This intervention has nothing to do with the theatre companies and actors involved today. Listening to these beautiful stories, born in the poetry of Homer in ancient Greece, I cannot pass up the opportunity to argue that these equally beautiful sculptures from ancient Greece, crow-barred and stolen from their homeland two hundred years ago, deserve to be reunited in their homeland with the total work of art that is the Athenian Parthenon. Thanks to my brave allies Kitty Cooke and Lucy Bilson, brave undergraduates studying Classics at University College London."

Photos courtesy of Sarah Pynder.

The 14 texts which follow, each reflecting the writer’s viewpoint, are so rich and comprehensive that it is impossible for an introduction to fully encompass their essence. In most cases, the beginning, middle and end of the text refers to the barbaric act committed by Elgin.

I have therefore chosen not to repeat those well-known, well-rehearsed and well-discussed issues. Instead, I chose to contribute certain new arguments to the cause of returning and reunifying the marbles or sculptures of the Parthenon in the Acropolis Museum, which is their newly designated place of protection and display, a place that stands in close dialogue with the very monument from which those severed members originally came.

As a rich body of international bibliography on the subject makes clear, it is now obvious to all that the so-called firman which Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799-1803, is supposed to have procured from the Supreme Porte, in other words from Sultan Selim III, does not exist. If such a document had existed, it would have been submitted to the examining committee of the British House of Commons in 1816 – and the whole question of legality, and restitution claims by the Greek state, would have taken a different turn.

According to Elgin’s testimony to the committee, the original document sent by the Turkish authorities to Athens was lost. The Reverend Philip Hunt, the ambassador’s assistant, offered in testimony what he could recollect, 14 years later, of a translation of a French version of the original firman into Italian and later rendered into English.

However:

ONE

Official firmans of the sultan were always made in two copies, of which one was kept in the official archives and the other was sent to the designated recipient. In the course ofall the investigations made hitherto, the original, archived version of the firman has never been found.

TWO
Genuine firmans were despatched through a special designated messenger or an authorized individual or delivered by captains of the Turkish navy. In this case the so-called firman was brought to Athens by Philip Hunt, Elgin’s assistant.

THREE
For the actions that Elgin was seeking to undertake on the Acropolis, formal permission was indeed necessary because according to an unwritten Ottoman law, marble in all its forms – works of art, ancient or otherwise, and the raw material itself – belonged to the sultan. All the more so if marbles were to be removed from such a well preserved surviving decoration of a monument that was well respected by Ottoman officials as a “temple of the idols” – namely the Parthenon.

Thanks to the authentic firmans that were issued over the years for various purposes, we can ascertain what a genuine sultan’s firman looked like, what formalities it observed, what turns of phrase and calligraphy were used, and all its other features. I will not enumerate the hundreds of examples that might be mentioned. I will focus instead on two sultan’s firmans which are of immediate relevance, because they concern two protagonists of our story – Lord Elgin and Lord Byron. They are also, of course, close chronologically. The first is dated 1802 and was brought to light by Dyfri Williams. It is the official passport-firman granted to Elgin which authorized his trip to Athens and the Aegean archipelago. The second was granted to Byron in 1810 and is presented here for the first time, thanks to the generosity of a particular individual. It is the official travel document which was issued to Byron: its interpretation and presentation are the work of Ilias Kolovos, a scholar of Ottoman history.

When one compares these two original passport-firmans, they turn out to be very much alike in format, despite the fact that Sultan Selim III died in 1808 and was replaced on the throne by Mustafa IV. If we then compare those two documents – the one issued to Elgin and the one granted to Byron, which is available to us in Turkish (in Roman script) as well as English translation – with the so-called firman granted to Elgin which supposedly allowed him to remove sculptures from the Parthenon – at least according to the Italian translation, and its later English rendering. It becomes clear – as was demonstrated by the Ottomanist scholar Vasilis Dimitriadis at a conference on the Parthenon and its sculptures – that Elgin’s so-called permit is anything but a genuine sultan’s firman. He would have needed to get the personal authorization of the sultan, instead of merely relying – as he did - on the deputy to the Grand Vizier, Sejid Abdullah. That deputy was standing in because the actual Grand Vizier – Kor Yusuf Ziyauddin Pasha, otherwise known as Djezzar, (the butcher) – was at the time in Egypt.

Given that the so-called permit for the removal of the sculptures was not a genuine sultan’s act, but merely a decision issued by the deputy to the Grand Vizier – assuming that the Italian translation is real and accurate –how can anyone justify the still-adamant denial by the British authorities and the British Museum that what took place was an act of vandalism – indeed, a plundering of sculptures that were integral to the monument, constituent parts of the Parthenon? Or justify their refusal to return and reunify the marbles in the Acropolis Museum?

To put it more bluntly, how is it that certain officials – in the British Museum and elsewhere in Britain – still regard as acceptable a flawed purchase in 1816, and an arbitrary decision by Parliament in 1963, insofar as these relate to the ongoing captivity of the Parthenon marbles?

This is not the place to delve deep into the reasons for that insistence. Let me focus instead on some initiatives aimed at resolving the issue, in accordance with the realities of the 21st century. In addition to the strong and respectable arguments laid out by many people over two centuries – especially by Melina Mercouri in 1982-83 – all the way up to 2021, a number of developments stand out.

ONE
In September 2021, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) adopted a decision which clearly recognizes Greece’s aspirations as rational, justified and ethical. It also affirmed the intergovernmental nature of the dispute and called for consultations between Britain and Greece.

TWO
A particular methodology was followed in the return and reintegration of the so-called Fagan fragment from Palermo. This was the first return which was treated as a matter from State to State. Initially, in January 2022, the return was presented as an unspecified “deposit” – and then, in June 2022, came the permanent reintegration of the fragment into the Parthenon frieze: an act that was underpinned not merely by legal norms and technicalities but also by the friendship between two nations - Greece on one hand, Italy and in particular Sicily on the other – who share common values.

THREE
In March 2023, Pope Francis returned three fragments of the Parthenon, as an expression of universal truth, for the definitive reunification of the monument’s scattered sculptures.
The British government and the British Museum would do well to ponder the significance all these developments, while also considering certain other factors such as:

ONE
The consistent majority of British public opinion [in favour of return]

TWO
The continued support expressed by the near-entirety of the British press

THREE
International public opinion, which favours the reunification of this world-renowned monument…so that it can be properly presented in all its integrity as a work of supreme architectural and sculptural beauty; and experienced as a symbol of democracy by people of allgenerations and national origins.

And in case those arguments fail to persuade doubters of the moral soundness of Greece’s case, I will add yet another one.

Over the past few decades, there have been some well-known cases of restitution of art works – for example to Italy or to Africa. Such returns have even been made by Britain. Let me specify one example.

On August 1, 2008, the upper section of a funerary monument was returned to Greece from New York.

It was made of Pentelic marble and it dates from the late fifth century – about 410 BCE, shortly after the completion of the Parthenon. Μy Professor George Despinis, as early as 1993, had proven that the piece came from a funerary monument whose lower half had been discovered in the soil of Attica – in Porto Rafti – and was then conserved in the Museum of Βrauron in Attica.

After some negotiations, the purchasers of the upper part – who were American citizens –gave that segment back to Greece, while Greece acknowledged that the purchase had been made in good faith. The matter was settled and the two parts of the funerary monument are reunited in a Greek museum.

I will now refer to a rather similar case, concerning the Parthenon. The lower part of segment number XXVII of the Parthenon frieze – showing a charioteer, part of a chariot and a stable lad –is in the Parthenon Gallery, while the upper part is in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum.

Just about anybody will readily understand the similarity of the two stories. In particular, the morally equivalent fate of the piece of marble that was broken off and plundered by Elgin’s team and the severed upper part of the funerary monument – while in both cases, the lower sections remained in the place where the works had been fashioned.

So given that the principle of repatriation was applied in the case of the artefact in New York, exactly the same norm should apply in the case of the broken segment from the northern side of the Parthenon frieze.

One could of course take the argument further and note that in the case of the funerary monument, the buyer was in legal terms an individual rather than a state; and then observe that under international law, no state can retroactively justify illegal acts by one of its citizens on foreign soil - given that in such cases international law supersedes anything enacted by local or national legislatures.

In view of all that, how can it be that a state, in this instance the British state, vindicates the vandalism and plunder perpetrated by one of its subjects? Considering that Elgin, as a private individual, committed an act of vandalism, along with his associates, and broke off sculptures from the Parthenon - only to transport them to England in order to decorate his home, where they would have stayed if he had not gone bankrupt.

People who persist in justifying the purchase of 1816 must surely accept this: the mostone might say is that this decision amounted to a “receipt of stolen goods” in good faith – as was the case with the purchase of upper part of the funerary monument from Brauron.

In no way can they justify the illegal actions of a British subject, Lord Elgin – in view of the considerations I have laid out.

Nor, by the same token, should any government οr state wish to carry the moral burden that results from such tainted acts. I believe the moment has come for our British friends to take a noble decision and rid themselves of the moral burden which Elgin - rashly, and in pursuit of personal gain – laid on Britain, the British Museum and the people of Britain.

The above text was the lead article in a Kathimerini supplement published 17 March 2024, entitled:H AΡΠΑΓΗ, 'Tthe Grab, Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures'

In the same supplement BCRPM member Bruce Clark's article 'Laws, democracy and hypocrisy' was also plublished.

Photo credit for the images of Professor Stampolidis: Paris Tavitian 

Wednesday 06 March 2024 and our thoughts are with the Hellenic spirit that was Melina Mercouri.

Three decades since Melina passed away, at every protest, every campaign, every thought that is directed at the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, also embraces Melina's soulful and heartfelt pleas.

As Greece's Minister of Culture and Science, Melina Mercouri's commitment for the return of the sculptures removed from the Acropolis in the 19th century continue to inspire all that also feel strongly and view this long-standing request as a just cause.

“I hope to see the marbles return to Athens before I die. But if they return later, I will be reborn to see them.” Melina Mercouri said, a phrase repeated by other women whose lifetime dedication to this cause continues. 

The reunification of the Parthenon Marbles campaign began at the UNESCO General Policy Conference in Mexico (1982) when Mercouri, then Minister of Culture and Science for Greece, put forward Greece's request for the return of the sculptures. And it is at UNESCO's ICPRCP meetings that this request continues to dominate.

On 29 September 2021, UNESCO ICPRCP Intergovernmental Committee, for the first time in its history, adopted by consensus Decision 22 COM 6, which is specifically dedicated to the Parthenon Marbles issue. The added value of that Decision is that for the first time the committee: "Recognized expressly the legitimate and rightful demand of Greece. Recognized that the case has an intergovernmental character and, therefore, the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely on the UK Government and expressed its disappointment that its respective previous Recommendations have not been observed by the UK."

There is global support for the reunification, especially post the opening of the superlative Acropolis Museum, and yet there is no British political will to amend the museum's law that could see these sculptures returning to Athens. Of the 50% of the original sculptures that survive, about half are in the British Museum and half in the Acropolis Museum. There are a few fragments in a few museums: the Louvre in Paris, the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Martin von Wagner Museum in the University of Würzburg.

The good and great news is that some fragments have been returned and that the campaign continues. Despite the lack of political will in the UK, there is plenty of public support and in fairness, that has been there for many decades.

Greece has also made repeated offers to provide the British Museum with Greek artefacts not seen outside of Greece, should the surviving Parthenon Marbles be reunited in the Acropolis Museum.

There are ongoing talks between PM Mitsotakis and the British Museum.

We continue to hope.

22 September 2018

When the Parthenon in Athens fell into ruins in early the 1800s, a British ambassador with permission from the Ottoman Empire preserved about half the sculptures, which are now at the British Museum. But Greeks for centuries have wanted them back; the deal was made before their country fought for independence from the monarchy. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Christopher Livesay reports.

Watch the PBS Newshour podcast here or listen to the audio here.

Read the Full Transcript

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

A highlight of London's British Museum is one of its earliest acquisitions, the Parthenon Marbles. These sculptures once decorated the great 5th century BCE temple on the Acropolis in Greece. Considered among the great achievements of the classical world, they depict mythical creatures, stories of the gods along with average people.

• HANNAH BOULTON:

They are very significant and important masterpieces, really, of the ancient Greek world.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

Hannah Boulton is the spokesperson for the British Museum. She admits that how these classical works came to be in England is a sensitive subject, one the museum takes some pains to explain.

• HANNAH BOULTON:

I think it, obviously, has always been a topic of debate ever since the objects came to London and into the British Museum. It's not a new debate.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

The story starts in the early 1800s. The Parthenon had fallen to ruin. Half the marbles were destroyed by neglect and war. Then, a British ambassador, Lord Elgin, made an agreement with Ottoman authorities who were in control of Athens at the time to remove some of statues and friezes. He took about half of the remaining sculptures.

• HANNAH BOULTON:

And then he shipped that back to the UK. For a long time it remained part of his personal collection so he put it on display and then he made the decision to sell the collection to the nation. And the Parliament chose to acquire it and then pass it on the British Museum. So we would certainly say that Lord Elgin had performed a great service in terms of rescuing some of these examples.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

But Greeks don't see it that way. For decades now, they have argued that the Ottomans were occupiers, so the deal with Elgin wasn't valid, and the marbles belong in Greece. Why does Greece want to have the Parthenon Marbles back in Athens?

• LYDIA KONIORDOU:

It's not just bringing them back to Athens or to Greece. That's where they were created. But this is not our claim. Our claim is to put back a unique piece of art. To put it back together. Bring it back together.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

Lydia Koniordou was Greece's Minister of Culture from 2016 to 2018. We met her at the Acropolis where the Parthenon temple stands overlooking Athens.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

So first it was Lord Elgin who removed 50 percent.

• LYDIA KONIORDOU:

Almost 50 percent.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

All of the marbles, she says, have now been removed from the monument for protection from the elements. Then it was Greece that consciously decided to remove the remaining.

• LYDIA KONIORDOU:

Yes, the scientists that were responsible decided to remove and take them to the Acropolis Museum. It was nine years ago when the Acropolis Museum was completed.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

In fact, the Acropolis Museum was built in part as a response to the British Museum's claim that Greece did not have a proper place to display the sculptures. The glass and steel structure has a dramatic view of the Acropolis, so while you're observing the art you can see the actual Parthenon. The third floor is set up just like the Parthenon, with the same proportions. These friezes, from the west side of the temple, are nearly all original. On the other three sides, there are some originals but also a lot of gaps, as well as white plaster copies of the friezes and statues now in Britain.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

We believe that one day we could replace the copies with the orginals to show all this unique art in its grandeur. Every block has two or three figures and here is only one.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

Dimitrios Pandermalis is the Director of the Acropolis Museum where the story of the missing marbles differs widely from that of the British Museum. Presentations for visitors portray Lord Elgin critically. One film shows the marbles flying off the Parthenon and calls it the uncontrollable plundering of the Acropolis. You have these videos that actually show how the pieces were removed. Another film depicts how one of the marbles was crudely split by Elgin's workmen.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

He damaged the art pieces, yes.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

He did damage some of these pieces.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

Of course, it was to be expected.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

The British Museum disputes the claim Elgin damaged the sculptures. It also sees it as a plus that half the collection is in Britain and half in Greece.

• HANNAH BOULTON:

I think the situation we find ourselves in now we feel is quite beneficial. It ensures that examples of the wonderful sculptures from the Parthenon can be seen by a world audience here at the British Museum and in a world context in terms of being able to compare with Egypt and Rome and so on and so forth. But we feel the two narratives we are able to tell with the objects being in two different places is beneficial to everybody.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

But Pandermalis says rather than being in two places the sculptures should be reunified, literally. He showed us examples around the museum, including one that is almost complete save for one thing.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

So this sculpture is original except the right foot.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

And this. The chest of the god Poseidon. So the marble portion in the center where we can see clearly defined the abdomen, that's original but the surrounding portion in plaster, the shoulders, that's in London. So the piece has been completely split in half.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

Yes.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

And perhaps most dramatic, this frieze. So the darker stone is the original and the white plaster that represents what's in the British Museum.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

Yes. Exactly.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

And here it is in the British Museum. The missing marble head and chest floating in a display space.

• LYDIA KONIORDOU:

It just doesn't make sense. It's like cutting, for instance, the Last Supper of Da Vinci and taking one apostle to one museum and another apostle to another museum. We feel also it's a symbolic act today to bring back this emblem of our world. To put it back together.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

If you bring back this emblem, aren't there untold other emblems that need to be brought back. Is this a slippery slope?

• LYDIA KONIORDOU:

We do not claim, as Greek state, we do not claim other treasures. We feel that this is unique. This claim will never be abandoned by this country because we feel this is our duty.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

As for visitors to the Acropolis museum. How do you feel about the fact that half the collection is in the British Museum?

• MAN:

Not good.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

The Roscoe family is from Ohio. What do you guys think?

• JIM ROSCOE:

I think it would be nice to have them in one spot where they originated.

• EMMA ROSCOE:

You're coming here to see the history of it so it would be nice to see the complete history rather than replicas.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

You've seen them in the British Museum. So what do you think about the fact that the collection is kind of split.

• TIM:

It's sad. When you see this. I think this museum is a phenomenal place to display them. It's beautiful and they way it's been built almost waiting to have them back. It's interesting.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

As recently as May the Greek President, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, told Prince Charles that he hoped the Marbles would be returned. And the British opposition Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he too is in favor of returning the Marbles to Greece. But the British Museum's position is the marbles in its collection are legally theirs. They would, however, consider a loan. After all, the British Museum regularly loans pieces from its collection to other museums around the world.

• HANNAH BOULTON:

I think we would certainly see there being a great benefit in extending that lending and trying to find ways to collaborate with colleagues, not just in Greece but elsewhere in the world to share the Parthenon sculptures that we have in our collection.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

But sharing the sculptures is not what the ancient Greeks who created them would have wanted claims Pandermalis.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

They would be very angry.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

The ancient Greeks would be very angry?

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

Yes

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

Why?

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

Because they were crazy for perfection. It was a perfection but today it is not.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

As for whether he will ever see all the remaining Parthenon Marbles together under this roof.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

I'm sure.

• CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:

You' re sure that you will see them.

• DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS:

But I don't know when.

Page 24 of the Times, Letters to the Editor, 13 May 2025, a BCRPM letter:

Dear Sir

Re: Nicholas Cullinan’s interview in The Times on Saturday.  

Along with the majority of the British public (according to a recent survey), we hold that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum are part of a unique work of international significance and should be reunited with those remaining in Athens. There they are displayed in full view of the building for which they were originally carved.  It was dismaying to read the implications of the Director’s description of the sculptures as “…talismanic objects of this museum.”  It has been proved that no official permission was granted to Elgin to remove the sculptures, all prized with enormous violence from the face of the temple. These stolen goods were then shipped to the UK for decorating Elgin’s own home.  A talisman is something that brings good luck.  How can stolen goods bring good fortune to any institution?[ The Times did not print these two lines]

Simply in terms of diplomacy, we believe it would be a tragic error to position these disputed sculptures at the centre of the “reimagining” of the Museum.  This re-imagining should surely be excited rather by the prospect of showing off wonderful objects never seen before in the UK, promised by Greece once returned. Greece is one of our strongest allies and it is surely not the time to insult that friendship.  

We hope that talks vis a vis some mutually constructive arrangement continue and will have a positive outcome for both countries. 

Yours sincerely,

Victoria Hislop FRSL, Prof Paul Cartledge, Janet Suzman DBE (British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles). 

On Saturday, the Times Magazine's five page interview with Dr Cullinan, the director of the British Museum was an enlightening read. BCRPM met with Dr Cullinan earlier this year and we came away looking forward to a new era at the British Museum, not least as the museum prepares to reimagine its spaces.

Meanwhile talks between Greece and the BM continue because the devil is in the detail. Plus 12 days ago, Sir Chris Bryant, the Minister for Creative Industries, Art and Tourism reminded Alberto Costa and others in a Westminster Hall debate that without an amendment to the Museum Act, all the BM can do is lend the sculptures to Greece for a stated period and ensure their return. 

"I have read articles where people in Greece say that they are not interested in a loan anyway, because a loan implies that the marbles still belong to the British Museum rather than to Greece. The important point that I am trying to clarify—because I think there has been some misunderstanding—is that under existing law, it would be impossible for there to be a permanent or indefinite loan. The trustees would be required, in seeking a licence to export, to show that they were absolutely certain that the items were returning. I do not think that would be easy if they had arranged a permanent or indefinite loan—the point being that we would have to change the law. The immediate question that the hon. Member may ask is whether we are intending to change the law. We have no intention to change the law.

There are provisions in the 1963 Act for temporary loans, and my understanding is that the chairman of the British Museum has been in some discussions. We have not been party to those discussions, but he has briefly outlined some of the issues that have arisen, both to me and to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. I am not aware of any further developments in that area in recent months. "

The French artist, Auguste Rodin drew inspiration from the headless ancient sculptures. The Parthenon Marbles were his favourite works of art during his 15 visits to the British Museum from 1881 to 1917. Yet this is no argument for the British Museum's director Hartwig Fischer to justify retaining the sculptures from the Parthenon in the British Museum.

The new exhibition Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece (26 April – 29 July 2018) at the British Museum may place the sculptures 'in the context of world cultures' but does not justify the BM's refusal to allow Athens to display the surviving pieces as united as possible, and with views to the Parthenon itself.

'Although the marble stonework of the Parthenon had proven its durability against the ravages of time, it was not indestructible. In 1687, Venetian forces laying siege to Athens shelled the ancient city, igniting a powder magazine stored inside the Parthenon. The resulting explosion was catastrophic, obliterating the cella and the elaborate frieze that had adorned its exterior. Attempts by the Venetians to remove statues from the pediments were similarly disastrous, as multiple sculptures fell to the ground and were shattered beyond repair. Most of the remaining statues and reliefs (known as the "Elgin" or "Parthenon Marbles") were later spirited away in the early 19th Century by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Controversially, these pieces are displayed in the British Museum to this day. Meanwhile, the Parthenon itself has since undergone rigorous restoration and preservation work, with much of the damaged peristyle reassembled to give modern visitors a glimpse of the temple's ancient splendour atop the hill where it has stood for over two thousand years.' 

If understanding world culture also means understanding history's mistakes, then (where possible) putting right old wrongs can promote cultural and international relations. Reuniting the Parthenon Marbles in Athens ought to be a possibility that supports world cultures for all the right reasons and promotes greater understanding, respect and compassion.

We are certain that Rodin's exhibition at the British Museum will be exquisite and enjoyed by many, however it can never replace the sheer inspiration that would be enjoyed, by many more, if we could hope to see the surviving sculptures reunited in the superlative Acropolis Museum.

Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, is also quoted as saying that although other artists had been inspired by the Parthenon sculptures, Rodin had responded "with a passion that was to last a lifetime". The passion and love for the Parthenon Marbles felt by millions of Acropolis Museum visitors will continue forever. A Rodin's exhibition at the British Museum would be equally possible with a loan from Athens to London too.

Whilst the BM might be trying to recontextualize the sculptures from the Parthenon, a building which still stands - it will never erode the natural thirst of millions of visitors to the Acropolis Museum, hoping to see the unity of this peerless work of art.

Letter from the Greek Ambassador, H E Dimitris Caramitsos-TzirasDimitris Caramitsos-Tziras to Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, 25 April  2018. 

More articles on this include:

British Museum claims French artist Rodin proves why Parthenon Marbles should stay in Britain

Rodin's work to go on show in London next to Parthenon marbles

Rodin's love of the Parthenon sculptures revealed

Article in the Evening Standard and letter from Chair of the BCRPM to the Evening Standard

Letters Page Evening Standard:

Dear Sirs,

I write as Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, to remind interested parties that although Rodin was much excited by the sculptures he saw in the Museum, and found them inspiring, he nevertheless lamented their exile from the sweet Attic sunlight beloved of Homer: "Toutes les lumières électriques n'ont pas la force de les empêcher de rechercher éternellement la douce lumière d'Homère".

Those sculptures, which we prefer to attribute to the Parthenon from whence they were grabbed rather than to Elgin the grabber, should now be relinquished back to the city they once crowned. They have inspired artists and thrilled the curious in their gloomy rooms in Bloomsbury for long enough and now the country of their origin deserves their glory, in the museum built especially to house them facing the Acropolis and the still miraculously upright building that they once adorned.

Yours sincerely,
Janet Suzman DBE
London NW3 2RN

The Right Honourable Robert Jenrick published his thoughts in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 07 April. You can also read the entire article on MP Jenrick's website.

The article, 'Our Museums have fallen into the hands of a careless generation', caused concern amongst all generations represented in today's electorate of the UK. It would seem that Robert Jenrick did not appreciate the British Museum talking to another nation about artefacts from countries of origin in the museum's collection. 

"As was revealed last week the museum is in talks with four foreign governments to part with its collections.

The published minutes of the board tell us less about their plans than parish council minutes would of changes to verge cutting. We do know, however, that it is negotiating the long term loan of its most celebrated objects, the Elgin Marbles." Writes Robert Jenricks

“Long term loan” is a legal fiction constructed to circumvent the museum’s statutory duty to maintain its collection. There is surely no realistic prospect of the marbles returning from Greece should they ever be sent there. Parliament, like the nation, is being treated like a fool." He concludes going on to suggest that UK's curators are happy to denude museum, that the 'slippery slope' and 'floodgates' is 'corrosive post-colonial guilt wracking the progressive Left.'

Janet Suzman, BCRPM's Chair responded: 

Robert Jenrick's petulant essay on his website about the Parthenon Marbles - one might dub them the star steal - is typically high Tory; feigning ignorance of the full story of the steal. Their continuing presence in Bloomsbury is lumped with Jenrick's 'finders keepers' philosophy about all the other objects in the BM which were questionably obtained by a once powerful empire. His nationalism is depressing since these Marbles have a unique history, but with any luck a more generous solution might be achieved by more thoughtful actors.  

And many took to Twitter including BCRPM member Stuart O'Hara.

You can read all of Stuart's thread, here. 

Mark Stephens added his response too:

Professor Louis Godart, is the President of the Italian Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures and the IARPS' past President. He wrote in Archeo, a monthly Italian archaeology magazine, which began publishing in 1985.

The article 'Saint Sofia is the challenge to cvilisation' covers the history of this unique museum, which has been re-instated as a mosque. To read the article in full, which is in Italian, please follow the link:Santa Sofia e la sfida alla civiltà.

Professor Godart starts by writing that this "grandiose basilica, reconstructed by Emperor Justinian on the ruins of a Constantinian building, is the very symbol of the city of Istanbul. In 1934, the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, decided to transform this contested monument into a museum, giving it a universal status. That status, seems to be destined to be cancelled, perhaps forever....."

He conscudes with the words of Bartholomew I of Constantinople, echoed by Lina Mendoni, the Greek Minister of Culture and Sport: "the decision to convert Agia Sofia into a mosque is a provocation in front of all civilised nations." From here the sentiments of all who try to halt todays nationalistic resurgence, which disgraces our world stage. I remember French President François Mitterrand during his last speech to the European Parliament, when he concluded that " Nationalism is war." 

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.

Jon Sleigh’s What Are Museums For? is one of a newish series from Bristol University Press in the vein of OUP’s Very Short Introductions or Bloomsbury’s 33&1/3. Other titles interrogate animal rights, the Olympics, philanthropy, and prisons; I’m looking forward to reading the volumes on music, journalism, and monarchy. Sleigh talks to people from the Ashmolean and British Museums alongside those from provincial collections (in the UK and Commonwealth) and niche museums dedicated to single topics and places. For those engaged with history and heritage, this book might turn out to be a bracing read. It was for me. In many cases the message is that museums are not “global [hubs] of scholarship, open to all”, to quote Neil MacGregor in Charlotte Higgins’ recent Guardian long read, but oppressive, uninviting spaces that force their visitors to submit to their intellectual authority and version of history. For example, I was content to view Classical antiquity in its Mediterranean context. I hadn’t really dealt with the possibility that its appropriation by 19^th Century imperialists prevents a great many people from having a positive emotional reaction to its artefacts.

That said, the overwhelming impression from Sleigh’s interviewees is that museums ought to be for everyone. These curators and museum staff may express it in different ways, but it’s clear that certain institutions, particularly those whose collections originate in Wunderkammern or the Grand Tour, have work to do to fulfil that ideal. There doesn’t seem to be dogma in museology beyond thoughtfulness and willingness to listen – this is a read gloriously removed from the rhetoric of culture wars – though it takes as much work again to prove to people that the work has been done, let alone get them into your museum in the first place. This gently provocative book often zooms out to imagine how museums and their collections may be viewed subjectively by the society that visits them, rather than as part of state apparatus to which people are subjected when they visit. The British Museum’s resemblance to a classical temple is more than superficial. Sleigh insists that “museums are not neutral. They were never intended to be.” The so-called universal museums are not important in this book and so little of it is relevant to the case of the Marbles. With Jon Sleigh and his interviewees, we’re among friends: as far as the author is concerned, they’re in the wrong place.

Sleigh also makes the point that, “at its inception… men were the expected primary audience within a patriarchal structure”, which makes one think not just of Archer’s painting of the temporary Elgin Room in 1819, which contains 16 men and four (accompanied) women, but also of Elgin’s initial display of the sculptures in the “shed on Park Lane”, alongside nude boxers – alas, no painting of this, so the gender split in the audience must remain a mystery.

This thought-provoking book repeatedly talks about museums catering for the past, present, and future in varying proportions – a means of inspiring how a newly-opened museum might behave. Speaking personally, there’s a lot of performative jargon which I had to work quite hard to understand, but its ethics are sound. What’s clear is that the niche museum is the future (that’s my interpretation, not Sleigh’s), and not just because it’ll be increasingly inappropriate to acquire and hoard collections from global sources. The universal museums are already isolated, and the breadth of their collections hasn’t resulted in the intended insights, comparisons, or levelling up (call it what you will) but rather encourages gatekeeping. Intersectionality is the way forward, but of visitors, not collections. Sleigh draws a direct line between BM founder Hans Sloane and 80s individualism:

The singular nature of where a museum can start from is vividly seen in Sloane himself – his wealth, his art[istic] taste, his social interactions, political decisions, and wishes are still to this day[sic] functioning today within UK democracy…

This is shortly followed by a quote from former BM director David M. Wilson:

Each generation makes its own contribution to the museum, and often it is the actions of individuals that change its course.

To me, that has shades there being “no such thing as society”.

There are a few more uncomfortable truths at play here – for example, digitising of collections increases accessibility for some constituencies while establishing barriers to others. Sleigh’s experts are big on the idea of placing their collections in a context that is relatable to the audience, particularly in collections where the audience may have lived experience of the exhibits: the example given is Matt Smith’s porcelain piece Happy Union, displayed in Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery, which sits among the 19^th Century chintz but is charged with the legalisation of same-sex partnerships in 2013. The Marbles’ original context, that of 4^th Century Athenians, is unattainable, despite Alma-Tadema’s best efforts. But as we always rebuffed those who point out that they can’t be reattached to the Parthenon: their display in an airy gallery within sight of the temple, in Attic light, is a pretty good compromise, and a damn sight better than their gloomy cell in Bloomsbury.

There are ghostly traces of old arguments on both side of the Marbles debate in What Are Museums For? You don’t have to believe in the supernatural to enjoy Ghosts of the British Museum: A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects. It’s not clear if author Noah Angell does, though some of his interviewees certainly do. Ghosts exist insofar as the human belief in them does, in our culture and those of the ancient worlds whose artefacts populate our museums. The supernatural conceit is a clever means of exploring colonial legacies in archaeology, science, cultural trafficking, and tourism. This is best proved in Angell’s chapter on the caryatid in Room 19, which covers similar ground to AE Stallings’ superior 2023 Hudson Review article (a book-length version of which, Frieze Frame, is about to be published): contemporary Ottoman feelings about the sculptures and Elgin’s agents, the structural groaning of the remaining caryatids for their lost sister, and the debate of 1816 on the government’s prospective purchase of Elgin’s collection. The BM’s more durable arguments for retention of the sculptures are pricked and punctured, and as such this chapter would be a good digested read to bring the uninitiated up to speed if they don’t have time for Stallings’ much longer investigation.

Running through both these books is something obvious and peripheral to the Marbles debate; that the current model of the world’s biggest museums is out of kilter with the way the wind is blowing. However, if the biggest museums are to get with the programme, they must look to Erik Olin Wright: they must be dismantled rather than destroyed. And they certainly mustn’t hunker down and stick their fingers in their ears.

Angell goes into greater depth elsewhere in the book, but his Greek-centric chapter mentions the pending case of former BM curator Peter Higgs’ selling of items from the museum’s collection, the same that triggered the resignation of director Hartwig Fischer and deputy director Jonathan Williamsin 2023. Curious to think that the collection’s continued similarity to a Wunderkammer and not a 21^st Century museum facilitated a scandal that may yet prove a catalyst in the marbles’ return to Greece. It will be no surprise to any of us that this is the only chapter of Angell’s book not to feature an interview with a British Museum employee past or present. It also lacks a single ghost.

Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK correspondent for Ta Nea has researched UK's parliamentary archives and reported on his finding in today's Ta Nea. His article is aptly entitled: 'Research into the archives of the British Parliament: Two centuries of parliamentary battles over the Sculptures.'
"Mr. Churchill, would you consider the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece?" 

Yannis begins with a question, which follows a comprehensive report that takes us back to 07 June 1816 and concludes in February 2022. 

What business do Konstantinos Karamanlis, Melina Mercouri, Kostas Simitis, Evangelos Venizelos and Kyriakos Mitsotakis have in the House of Commons and the House of Lords?
As themselves, none. Their names, however, have been mentioned more than once by members of Britain's Upper and Lower Houses.
The reason was none other than the Parthenon Sculptures, the request for the return to Greece, which is as old as their purchase by the parliament of Albion 207 years ago.
As the in-depth investigation of "Ta Nea" in the archives of the British Parliament reveals, the issue has, over the past two centuries, occupied dozens of British MPs, ministers and prime ministers.
The first time London was asked to repatriate Phidias' masterpieces was in the parliamentary debate about their acquisition. On 07 June 1816, Congressman Hugh Hammersley slammed their then-imminent purchase, speaking of a "dishonest transaction" and "looting."
He suggested that "the Marbles, so shamelessly acquired, should be bought, kept in the British Museum, and returned, without further formalities or negotiations, when requested by the present or any future government of the city of Athens."

To read the artricle in full, and in Greek, visit Ta Nea, or for an English translation, the document here.

Successive UK governments when faced with the question about the reunification of these sculptures seem determine not to look at this request as a case in its own right. Yet, no matter how often the response remains unchanged, the thirst to see the surviving sculptures reunited in the Acropolis Museum's top floor, glass-walled Parthenon Gallery is never going to go away.

Saying 'no' repeatedly to Greece is not changing the growing attitude of museum visitors. Is this about power? Probably. Is it about one nation wanting to hang onto its past at the cost of another's need to conserve a peerless collection of sculptures that was removed from a building created over 2, 500 years ago, which still crowns their capital city? Tragically, it would seem just so. Is it disrespect of one nation towards another nations cultural heritage? We hope not.

Let us not forget, that Greece is not asking for all that was removed from the Acropolis before it gained independence. And let us also remember that the British Museum is never going to be denuded of Greek artefacts, it currently has 108,184 of which 6,493 are on display. And once these specific sculptures are reunited with their other surviving half, Greece has offered the UK more artefacts, not seen outside of Greece.

Janet Suzman: "a major piece of research by Yannis! Since these Commons attitudes there has been a huge shift in the public mind-set about cultural appropriations, hence the present majority of people who think the Parthenon Marbles ought to be returned."