Kathimerini,

  • The headline of Niko Efstathiou's article in Kathimerini, 05 February 2023, post his visit to London took our breath away: 'In London, the return of the Parthenon Sculptures seems all but inevitable'.

    For most of us, and not just in Greece and the UK but globally too, this has been a hope that has burned passionately for what seems like forever.

    That Niko encountered visitors in the British Museum's Room 18  admiring the fragmented and divided Parthenon Marbles, also saying how they hoped to see them reunited, was nothing new. This has been happening for sometime. More so however since the opening of the superlative Acropolis Museum in June 2009.

    "No major news has surfaced in the past few months, since British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s last-minute cancellation of a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in late November reinvigorated a decade-old cultural debate. But today, the sentiment in London is that the return of the 2,500-year-old marble sculptures and reliefs is all but inevitable." Writes Niko as he goes on to outline the strong public support, which has also been there for sometime.

    The British sense of far-play to the fore: if these sculptures were removed when the country of origin had no voice, we ought to do the right thing, and return them to the country of origin. A sentiment echoed at UNESCO's ICPRCP and translated into recommendations and conclusions to highlight the ever pressing need to find a solution to this, long running, cultural heritage dispute. A dispute that has kept the media writing, and voicing their observations. There has been no end to the coverage for this just cause.  

    "In an exercise where legal formulation meets branding, significant efforts are being made by both parties to keep the agreement’s messaging positive, and the wording around ownership vague enough so that both Greece – which regards ownership over the artifacts as key in any potential agreement – and the British Museum – which is restricted by laws, such as the British Museum Act of 1963, that ban the removal of artifacts from its collection – can come to a consensus." Continues Nikos in his article and indeed we reflect on how many times BCRPM's Chairs and Vice-Chairs have urged the UK to consider amending the law. An amendment that was not given the consideration it deserved  because of fear. The fear of  'what else' would be requested and spurious 'floodgates' arguments stopping any sensible progress. Fear by the UK's PMs, and MPs. 

    And Nikos goes on to add: "In the meantime, if there is one thing pushing the deal closer towards fruition it is the British Museum’s leadership".  Totally on point, as the British Museum and the UK Government were never keen to engage in dialogue.  Now under the leadership of George Osborne, the British Museum is looking for a 'win-win' long term partnership where cultural artefacts are given maximun mobility, and these peerless sculptures are allowed to travel back to Attica.

    We will never forget when one of the sculptures, Ilissos, travelled to St Petersburg, nor can we forget the equally unsupportive reaction of those that hold the British Museum in the highest esteem. It was not, that Director's finest hour, made worse by what hasn't made relations between the West and Russia any better. The annexing of Crimea it seemed was just the begining of a grander scheme to gain more land, and Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24 February 2022. Ilissos' move from London to St Petersburg sparked more support for the reunification of these sculptures, than it did for the relations betweeb Russia and the West.

    And so to 2024 and two friendly nations looking to a museum “partnership that requires no one to relinquish their claims.”

    "Paradoxically, though the explosive diplomatic spat that took place in November suggested that the current UK government will not back a potential deal, Downing Street’s impulsive reaction may have also triggered a change in British politics. Sunak’s panicked decision to cancel the meeting with Mitsotakis ended up being widely criticized by all sides of the political spectrum, among others by Osborne himself, a former chancellor of the exchequer for a Tory government, who suggested it was a “hissy fit.” Continues to write Niko. Indeed what was PM Sunak thinking?

    “I jumped up and down with joy when it happened, because obviously it was a mistake,” recalls Dame Janet Suzman, actress and chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, while detailing to Kathimerini her reaction to Sunak’s controversial snub. “I honestly think it is not something he thought about very deeply, it was a surface reaction in reply to an analogy used by the Greek PM on British TV. But it created a tidal wave of publicity for the return of the sculptures, so we were naturally quite thrilled in our organization.”

    British politicians making mistakes, errors in diplomacy and international relations? Did this snub help the request for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles? Our Chair, Janet says yes.

    "As much as Greece would like to keep British politics out of any potential agreement, guaranteeing governmental support would make the deal with the British Museum far easier to implement. Herein lies the last factor most probably aligning with Greece’s case – at least very soon. Brits are heading to the polls in less than a year for national elections, and with polls unanimously showing the Tories trailing the Labour Party by unprecedented margins, a change in government seems almost certain. By all accounts, Sunak’s most likely successor, current opposition leader Keir Starmer, will be far more cooperative in the case of the Parthenon Marbles’ reunification." Writes Nikos. And indeed this sentiment was also echoed by Victoria Hislop during her interviews, whilst in Athens for the launch of her latest fictional novel, which was published also in Greek. A book launch that took place at the Acropolis Museum, on Thursday, 25 January.

    And PM Mitsotakis' endevour, his mission to reunite the sculptures, a mission he has continued to push on with for nearly two years. “Let me be clear, we will insist on their reunification,” he said in New York.

    "And though it is now waiting time, and the exact details of the deal are far from set and still kept away from public scrutiny, it is hard not to see that his vision – once a huge point of contention with Britain – is more likely to materialize than ever before." Concludes Niko Efstathiou.

    To read Niko's toughtful article in full, follow the link here.

     

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    This year's session of UNESCO's ICPRCP, the 24th session, took place over three days 29-31 May in Paris. To listen to the presentations and reactions, watch: https://www.youtube.com/live/hIF_Br8ZeT0?feature=shared

    • Presentation for Greece was made by Professor Stampolidis, Director General of the Acropolis Museum and Artemis Papathanassiou, Head of the International Law Department for Foreign Affairs, Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 3:36 - 3:54
    • Presentation for the UK was made by DCMS, Polly Payne and the British Museum’s Tom Harrison, Keeper of the Department of Greece and Rome: 3:54 - 4:00
    • Comments by the ICPRCP members nations post the presentations were made by Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Egypt, India, Italy, Libya, Gabon, Zambia, Venezuela, Iraq, Czechia: 4:00 - 4:27 plus additional comments by observer nations including Palestine, Honduras, Nicaragua and Turkey: 4:27 - 4:34.  The Türkiye delegate Zeynep Boz,  heads up the anti trafficking department and said there was no evidence to prove the Lord Elgin had been given a permit to strip the fifth-century BC monument, the Parthenon, of its sculptures.
    • Reactions made by Artemis Papathanassiou, Polly Payne and Professor Stampolidis also followed: 4:44

     Artemis Papathanassiou's response:

    "Where the Trustees are vested with the title but they are not able to dispose of or transfer or sell or exchange their collections, what kind of ownership is this? Although the British Museum Trustees claim that they have legal title to the collection of sculptures removed from the Parthenon, they remain severely limited in terms of what they can do. So in the hypothetical case that the Trustees of the British Museum would feel a moral compulsion to return the Marbles back to Greece, the UK government is hindering its museum from doing so, hiding behind the law.

    We have heard recent declarations from high ranking British government officials such as the Minister of Culture saying that the UK government has no intention of changing or amending this law.

    The other issue concerns the loan that the British Museum is proposing to Greece. To our view the insistence of such a pre-condition would seem rather harsh and we examined the British Museum Act of 1963, which only requires that the Trustees have regard for students and other persons visiting the museum. According to the museum's own loan policy, the Trustees will lend in circumstances when the perceived risk to the object is considered reasonable and when borrowers guarantee that the object will be returned to the museum at the end of the loan period with no specific mention of acknowledging title.

    And just to remind us that it is not usually (universally) that the borrower is required to acknowledge title but usually by the lender.

    With regards to some specific remarks made by some other States, we would like to thank India for having highlighted that it is remarkable for the British side to advance the British Museum's deliberate argument if not abusive argument that they continue to hold the Parthenon Marbles for all humanity and we continue trying to justify an absolutely wrong historical doing to their commitment to humanity's culture.

    We would also like to thank all the States for raising some particular aspects including Chile, Guatemala, Gabon, Libya - for having raised important issues that were highlighted in our presentation of cultural identity, as we have said repeatedly, the Parthenon Sculptures are not only our cultural heritage but they are strictly connected to cultural identity and the right of a person to have access and enjoy their own cultural heritage must not be restricted.

    The integrity of works of art must be preserved so as not to impede the inherent right of participating in cultural life.

    In concluding, we wish to thank Turkey for having raised a very important issue, which also responds to the British Museum. As the removal happened during the Ottoman era, there is no legal title or legal permission or any other document providing that there was a permission by the Ottoman side, which would give legality for this misuse of the diplomatic power of Lord Elgin at the time.

    The statement made by Türkiye's delegate, Zeynep Boz were widely reported. Here's to the UK to reconsider amending the Museum's Act in order to allow these sculptures to be reunited with their surviving halves as close as we will ever be able to see them to the Parthenon. 

    Now Greece continues to look to the UK for continued dialogue and dispute resolution, which would enable the Parthenon Marbles/Sculptures to be reunited in the Acropolis Museum.

    Zeynep Boz and Artemis Papathanassiou

    Among the coverage that this 24th session of the ICPRCP received, it was also uplifting to read in Sunday's Kathimerini (09 June 2024) that there were unsung heroines: Ms Vassiliki Papageorgiou, head of the documentation department of the Greek Ministry for Culture and Artemis Papathanassiou, Head of the International Law Department for Foreign Affairs, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both credited for all of their preparatory work and in Artemis' case, we should also acknowledge her interventions during the sessions. We thank them both.

    A timely reminder that at the 23rd session of UNESCO's ICPRCP in May 2022, we were all horrified to hear that Jonathan Williams, the then Deputy Director of the British Museum, making a strong statement, declaring: 'there can never be a magic moment for the reunification of the sculptures'. Half of what survived in the early 19th century had been shipped to England by the then Lord Elgin, and then in a fire sale, sold to the government who in turn entrusted these sculptures to the British Museum.

    The long and rich history of the Parthenon, spanning over a period of more than 2,500 had left some sculptures lost forever and yet the surviving 60% are to this day, mainly divided between the Acropolis Museum in Athens and the British Museum in London.

    Jonathan Williams did graciously, praised Greece on the restoration of the Parthenon, however he stressed that most of what is displayed in  the British Museum's Room 18 had not been forcibly removed from the Parthenon but taken from the rubble.

    BCRPM's Hon President, Anthony Snodgrass, responded to Jonathan William's statement that the Parthenon Marbles had been removed mainly from rubble.

     

     

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