08 March 2022 

Your Excellency, Mrs. President of the Hellenic Republic, Madam Vardinoyannis, Mr. President of the Acropolis Museum, honoured guests, women of the world.

Let me begin by thanking the Vardinoyannis Foundation and the Acropolis Museum for the very kind invitation to join with you all in Athens this evening. This is one of my favourite places in the world. I was here at the opening of the museum in 2009 and have been back on many occasions since. So it’s an enormous pleasure and honour to be amongst you and to see Professor Pandermalis again.

I found myself writing these words a week ago at a moment when for the first time in my life I sensed a genuine existential threat to the world order. That feeling of unease was amplified by the fact that my eldest son found himself stranded in Moscow where he has been teaching English for the past seven months to Russian schoolchildren. Restricted air travel into and out of Russia last week meant that he had to fly to Egypt in order to find a connecting flight back to London. But at least he got home safe. Not so, sadly, the numerous Ukrainian children trapped in their bombarded cities or trekking to safety in freezing temperatures under heavy artillery fire. I had hoped that by the time I delivered this talk the situation would have calmed down, but sadly the signs are ominous in the extreme. Encouragingly, however, the international community has shown rare solidarity in opposing the invasion of Ukraine.

So unity is one of the themes I’d like to explore this evening, to emphasise the importance of building and sustaining unity in Europe and where possible across the world. And culture can play a significant part in the process of unification. You can probably already see where I’m going with this, so let me turn to the main event. We are gathered here to celebrate International Women’s Day and I applaud the Foundation for linking the event to the topic of the Parthenon Marbles. At least I assume that is why I was invited? Because, yes, the Marbles are indeed a topic close to my heart, as close to my heart as are the women in my life for I am blessed with three sisters, which has given me invaluable insights into how feminine instinct is so often the right one and the masculine instinct frequently misguided.

So allow me to briefly explain the genesis of my commitment to the Marbles issue. I wrote an article for The Spectator magazine some years ago on the topic of museum deaccessioning. One person who saw that article was Eleni Cubitt, a founder and for many years the driving force behind the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, and who I’m sure will be remembered fondly by many of you here this evening. Eleni contacted me shortly after the article appeared and invited me for lunch at her favourite Greek restaurant in Islington. It became the first of many lunches and afternoon teas at her cosy little house in Highbury where we exchanged ideas and books over apple pastries and discussed the ways in which we might persuade more people to the Marbles cause. Eleni was a dear friend and a huge inspiration to me and to everyone involved in the Reunification campaign and her death a few years ago left a big hole in our lives.

My friend the American sculptor Richard Rhodes gave a TedTalk in Seattle recently in which he quoted the writer David Brooks, who advised that one should always have a permanent commitment to tasks that cannot be completed in a single lifetime. This resonated with me, for it prompted me into asking myself whether I was committed to anything, the completion of which might not be achievable in my lifetime. I concluded that the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles represents an issue about which I care deeply but that I have frequently despaired of ever seeing come to fruition. And yet, seemingly insurmountable tasks occasionally have a tendency to loosen under pressure from other forces — social, economic, geopolitical — that suddenly offer a glimmer of light. Such, I believe is the case with the Parthenon Marbles.

I was in my late teens when I first visited Athens and since then I have returned to this beautiful place more often than to any other European city. And this is where the beautiful goddesses enter the picture. I wrote my doctoral thesis on the great chryselephantine statue of Athena erected in the cella of the Parthenon during what is often referred to as the Periclean Building Programme of the mid-fifth century BCE. It was not the statue of the goddess that interested me so much as the nineteenth-century British reactions to her physical composition. As you are aware, she was constructed out of gold and ivory — and here I acknowledge the work of my American colleague Kenneth Lapatin, who has written the definitive account of the chryselephantine technique in the ancient world, which remains an invaluable resource on the subject. While I too became fascinated by Pheidias’s great gold and ivory creations, how and why they were made, what they might have meant to Athenian citizenry and so on, my own research was concerned with the controversy that grew up among European artists, critics, and academics in the early nineteenth century.

Archaeological and philological speculations about the lost statue of Athena, and the Zeus at Olympia began to appear around the same time that the Parthenon Marbles arrived in London. One of the most significant of such studies was the Jupiter Olympien, a reconstruction of the ancient chryselephantine technique assembled by the French academic Quatremère de Quincy in 1805. These various researches divided the artistic community, separating those who saw the gold and ivory tradition as evidence of the widespread use of polychrome sculpture among the ancient Greeks — and therefore an acceptable practice to emulate — and those who viewed it as antithetical to the aesthetic of pure white marble, which became the idée fixe of the neoclassical imagination. That cleaving to the neoclassical aesthetic survived into the twentieth century when even the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum were subjected to the abrasive obsession of Joseph Duveen whose workmen misguidedly sought to restore the Marbles’ “original” whiteness by scrubbing them. It reminded me of the words of Richard Payne Knight, who, when confronted with the first lawnmowers in the early 19th century, said of their inventors: — “To improve, adorn, and polish they profess, but shave the goddess whom they came to dress.”

Of course, it was the luxurious and extremely valuable materials from which the Athena Parthenos was made that eventually brought about her terminal dismemberment. The gold plates were designed to be removable so that they could be used in the event of war or external threat. She was, then, literally a store of wealth, a convertible asset. The detachable nature of the gold plates may also have contributed to her eventual destruction for it seems possible that the tyrannical dictator Lachares fearing capture, stole the gold plates from the statue before fleeing Athens in disguise in the third century BCE.

In the early nineteenth century any number of lofty arguments were deployed to dissuade contemporary artists from emulating the ancient mixed media creations. For some critics the ‘realism’ suggested by their contrasting materials and particularly the use of ivory, veered dangerously close to waxworks, then commonly used for medical anatomical models and in Madame Tussauds lurid displays. Sculpture, it was argued, had a duty to rise above such carnivalesque persuasions. The liberal use of gold and ivory in the statue also unsettled those who looked to medieval ideas of the dubious moral connotations of luxuria. The Athena Parthenos as she was handed down in ancient testimony seemed to be the very embodiment of conspicuous consumption, luxury run rampant.

And so for me, while researching these critical reactions, the Athena Parthenos became an object of fantasy, of dreams, what she had really looked like was now lost in the mists of time, surviving only in the later written testimony of travellers like Pausanias, in a few small material fragments, and in several intriguing, small-scale souvenirs in marble of questionable reliability. An example of that category is the Varvakeion statue in the National Archaeological Museum here in Athens, which is a Roman copy and an approximation of how the Athena Parthenos might have looked. For me, Athena endures as a Parthenos Imaginaire, a figment of my fevered curiosity. Was she beautiful? I sense that is unlikely. Was she awesome? Sublime? My guess is she was all of these, a dazzling symbol of Athenian power, a triumph of the creative imagination and a demonstration of the collaborative nature of cultural production. 

Now if the composite nature of the ancient chryselephantine statues was the source of their eventual demise, in time it also came to fuel the various controversies surrounding the animated academic debates about polychrome sculpture that continued throughout the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century did indeed see a kind of chryselephantine revival, one of the most notable being the encouragement provided by King Leopold II of the Belgians, who donated ivory from the Congo to Belgian artists in the hope of persuading the Belgian people of the benefits of his colonial adventure in Africa.

If any single object came to embody the various debates about the mixed media of antiquity, it was surely the polychrome gilded bronze Minerva created by the French sculptor Pierre-Charles Simart for the Duc de Luynes, which was exhibited at the Exposition International in Paris in 1855. It survives today in its original location in the family château at Dampierre en Yvelines, outside Paris. On visiting the château I found myself pondering whether the Musée d’Orsay might be a better location for the Minerva where many more people would see her and learn of the archaeological research and fascinating currents of academic taste that surrounded her creation. Like the Parthenos, she was the product of diverse skills, crafts and materials – bronze, ivory, enamel, precious stones, silver and gold. But who am I to advise on where the Minerva ought to be displayed? Surely if I’m loyal to my Parthenon logic, the Minerva belongs in the place for which she was made, standing proudly in front of Ingres’ fresco L’Age D’Or,also commissioned by the Duke, and surrounded by the polychrome interior decorations of Félix Duban, a leading exponent of Beaux-Arts Néo-Grec architecture. Like the original Parthenon ensemble, the room in which the Minerva stands is a kind of Gesamtkunstwerk, a complete, total work of art in which all the individual elements are harmonically integrated into the whole. Remove one component and the magic evaporates.

So why am I rambling on about the chryselephantine statues when we’re really here to discuss the Parthenon Marbles. Well, here’s a thought experiment. Ancient testimony informs us that during the planning stages of the Parthenon building programme, Pheidias was for a time favouring constructing the statue of Athena out of marble. The demos objected, however, insisting on the use of precious materials. Had Pheidias prevailed, might we today have surviving fragments of a colossal acrolithic cult statue of Athena as we do for that of Constantine in Rome? And how might that have changed our knowledge of the temple and its purpose?        

Had such a thing survived, almost certainly Bernard Tschumi would have accommodated the ancient marble goddess as elegantly and sympathetically as he did with the surviving frieze and metopes upstairs. And here I will repeat another common criticism of the London display — the deliberate ‘inside out’ approach to their disposition. I’ll come back to this in a moment, but I think anyone who has visited this wonderful museum cannot fail to acknowledge the superior museology of the displays here in Athens.

I see this museum as unique among world museums in being an environment in which one can engage with the beauty and essential mystery of the ancient world in stunning proximity to the Parthenon itself, one of the greatest surviving monuments of the ancient world. It is not only a place to learn and dream. I see it as a kind of public studiolo, a place where the private imagination can enjoy free rein.

And here’s where I see another interesting parallel with the chryselephantine tradition. We know from the archaeological record that the Ergasterion, the workshop in which Pheidias constructed his chryselephantine Zeus at Olympia, stood alongside the site of the temple, and was orientated in such a way that its position mirrored that of the naos or cella of the temple for which the statue was destined. I meant to email Bernard Tschumi to ask whether this had been one of his reference points in deciding to position the Parthenon Galleries in relation to the temple itself — not that he needed any such pretext, for it is anyway a stroke of genius. In any event, I for one now see the orientation of the Parthenon Galleries as having an extra semantic charge, inviting me to ponder the creative practices of Pheidias and his contemporaries.

And this brings me to another point. When I was invited to speak to you this evening my first thought was: ‘What can be said about the Parthenon Marbles debate that has not been said already?” As the late great Sir Norman Palmer once quipped when getting up to speak last at a conference. ‘Everything has been said already, but not by everyone.’

I did not want to come here today to wheel out the now familiar arguments for reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. After all, I am in Athens with people far more knowledgeable about the issue than me. Over time, I have sought to focus my own contribution to the debate on the viability and sustainability of the concept of the Universal Museum, particularly as it is embodied in London. The ‘Universal’ component was eventually replaced by the notionally less controversial term, ‘Encyclopaedic Museum’, but the concept of universality has nevertheless become a fundamental tenet used by those seeking to retain the marbles in London. I don’t wish to rehearse my opposition to this concept here this evening as I vowed to try and adopt a positive outlook on this auspicious occasion. But I do want to draw attention to an aspect of the debate that is still not sufficiently explored. I refer to the continuing tendency of the British Museum to remove those specimens of the Marbles in London from their umbilical connection to the Parthenon. One former director of the museum went as far as to say, “The Elgin Marbles are no longer part of the story of the Parthenon. They are now part of another story.”

We may not understand the true meaning of the scenes enacted on the Parthenon Frieze, but we know that they are, and will remain, part of the story of the Parthenon. To suggest otherwise is akin to promulgating what recently became known as “alternative facts.” For it is arguably the very ‘story-based' nature of the Marbles that is their most notable feature. The frieze is among the earliest and most cohesive narrative projects in art history, a story of chthonic resonance to Athens and its citizenry. It is one thing to have wrenched half that story from the building itself, it is quite another to sever it altogether from its original meaning and context. Therein lies the pertinence of the concept of unification at this particular moment.

Today we are witnessing a hinge in history. A moment of potentially deep and lasting division in Europe. Countries from around the world and from all across the political spectrum have come together in unity to oppose a dangerous manifestation of fascism and a mortal threat to democracy. What is developing in Ukraine is, to borrow a phrase from Thomas Paine, “the most ridiculous and insolent of all tyrannies.”  

By now you might have guessed how I’m going to conclude this brief talk. The need for unity among nations is more urgent today than at any moment since the Second World War. Unity can be expressed as it has been of late, in diplomacy and in vocal opposition to the agents of oppression and division. Following the invasion of Ukraine unity has also manifested itself in the cultural sector, whereby international organisations whose activities normally bring the world together have elected almost unanimously to exclude Russia from major events. The Champions League Soccer Final has been moved from St Petersburg to Paris, the Russian Formula One Grand Prix has been cancelled, this year the Russia Pavilion will be excluded from the Venice Biennale and a season of performances by the Bolshoi Ballet at London’s Royal Opera House has been cancelled. And just this morning I heard that the director of the Bolshoi Ballet has resigned. And let’s not forget the Eurovision song contest, which has also decided to exclude Russia, although as a citizen of the United Kingdom I would perfectly understand if we too were banished from future Eurovisions, if only on account of the uniformly poor quality of our entries every year.

But now that we have this beautiful museum with its purpose-built Parthenon Galleries, there is surely no more appropriate moment at which to return the London specimens to Athens. What a deeply symbolic gesture it would be to unify a group of objects that until now have been a source of controversy and division. Would that gesture not resonate around the world?

Is there any prospect of that happening? Some have suggested that London could have replicas made to replace the current display. Technology now exists that would make it possible to create copies from marble that would be indistinguishable from the originals down to the minutest detail. The suggestion has already been rejected by the British Museum on the grounds that its visitors would need to wrestle with the idea of the copy rather than the authentic object. But how can we be sure that La Gioconda in the Louvre is the original Mona Lisa and not a replica exhibited in order to protect the original? It is conceivable that we are already at the beginning of an inevitable journey away from our Romantic obsession with originality and authenticity.

The Institute for Digital Archaeology, a joint project between Oxford University, Harvard University and the Museum of the Future in Dubai, a world leader in digital imaging techniques, claims to be able to produce convincing replicas of the Marbles in Pentelic marble. The Factum Arte company in Madrid, part of the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, are also among the leading practitioners in recreating the world’s cultural heritage through rigorous high-resolution recording and “re-materialisation” processes. Such techniques would be capable of creating replicas of the Parthenon Marbles down to the minutest degree such that the naked eye would be unable to tell the difference between the original and the copy. Now, I appreciate that the very idea of the British Museum displaying replica objects would likely be might be met with a raised eyebrow among curators. However, the two galleries adjoining the Marbles room at the British Museum already contain replicas of some Parthenon sculptures that are still in Greece. Technological replication may have the potential to resolve what often seems an unresolvable conundrum — providing each side with the “golden bridge” — an elegant face-saving compromise, but the idea is unlikely to succeed while we still cleave to the aura of the original. Meanwhile, the ethical arguments for full reunification and repatriation of all the surviving marbles to their home Athens remains the most forceful prospect for resolution. Few are aware that ethics were also at the very centre of the debate back in the 19th century.

I was looking again at the minutes of the debates in the House of Commons in 1816 which sought to answer the question of whether to purchase the Marbles from Lord Elgin and if so at what price. Some honourable members made clear their scepticism about the purchase, one person opining that “the mode in which the collection had been acquired partook of the nature of spoliation,” while another opposed the decision to buy the Marbles “on the grounds of the dishonesty of the transaction by which the collection was obtained.” Needless to say, I’m being selective here to make the point that despite the eventual decision to buy the sculptures, there was nevertheless moral and ethical opposition even then to the circumstances in which they were acquired by Lord Elgin. But another paragraph stands out. It was decided to pay Elgin £25,000 for the collection in order to — and I quote — “recover and keep it together for that government from which it has been improperly taken, and to which this committee is of the opinion that a communication would be immediately made stating that Great Britain holds these marbles only in trust till they are demanded by the present, or any future, possessors of the city of Athens, and upon such demand, engages, without question or negotiation, to restore them, as far as can be effected, to the places from whence they were taken and that they shall be in the meantime carefully preserved in the British Museum.”

Well, we know they failed on that final commitment, but we live in hope that one day the Marbles in London will be reunified with their brothers and sisters upstairs.     

Before closing I should mention that my connection to Athens was strengthened five years ago when my business partner Angelina and I founded our art provenance research agency. Angie is Greek and her family home is here in Athens. She was saddened to be unable to join us here this evening as she currently has her hands full with her lovely new baby boy. Needless to say, she is as passionate as I am about the cause of reunification. 

And it is on that note that I dedicate this talk to the women in Ukraine. I’m sure you all join with me in standing in support of their struggle for freedom and peace. They will prevail.  

Finally I have our beloved Mary Beard to thank for an amusing anecdote on which to end. In the frontispiece of her excellent book on the Parthenon she quotes from a moment when the American baseball star Shaquelle O’Neal visited Athens. On arriving home he was asked by a reporter:

“Did you visit the Parthenon during your time in Athens?” To which he replied,

“I don’t remember all the clubs we went to.”

So let me close by thanking you all for inviting me back to the most beautiful club in the world.

Efcharistó.

'Tony Blair’s Labour government lobbied for a treaty to share the Parthenon marbles with Greece in 2003, accusing the British Museum of “blinkered intransigence” over the contested treasures.

In a letter addressed to Blair in April 2003, Downing Street adviser Sarah Hunter wrote: “There are good reasons for us to . . . both privately and publicly encourage the [British Museum] to find an accommodation over the next 12 months,” according to files released by the UK National Archives.'

More of this article in the Financial Times.

'Blair considered a loan of Parthenon marbles to help the London Olympics bid. The then PM was advised to ‘encourage’ British Museum to agree long-term loan in return for Greek support', headlines the Guardian.

'Other controversies still echo today. “The Marbles could be a powerful bargaining chip in IOC vote-building for a 2012 Olympic bid,” Sarah Hunter, a special adviser, wrote to Blair in April 2003. She explained an ingenious compromise by which the British Museum would lend the Parthenon Sculptures also known as the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Twenty years later, the loan scheme is still being discussed, but in the meantime, London won the Olympics, presumably with the help of Greece’s vote.' Wrote John Rentoul in the Independent

'The files also show the Greek Prime minister Costas Simitis had a few months earlier asked Mr Blair if the British government would return the sculptures to Greece for display in its planned new Acropolis Museum on a 'long-term loan'.

Mr Simitis said doing that in time for the Athens Olympics of 2004 'would be an internationally applauded gesture befitting the Olympic Spirit', and Greece would put aside questions of the marbles' ownership.' States the aricle in the Daily Mail, plus: 'Culture secretary Tessa Jowell was 'reluctant' to make the Marbles an issue for the government and 'resistant to taking the BM on'.

Twelve British philhellenes share their thoughts on Greece ahead of 2023, writes Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea. 

The 1821 Greek Revolution against the rule of the Ottoman Turks sparked a wave of sympathy and support in many parts of the world, which came to be known as the ‘Philhellenic movement’ or ‘Philhellenism’ (the love for Greek culture and the Greek people).

April 19, the date on which the poet and great philhellene Lord Byron died, has been declared by the Greek state as Philhellenism and International Solidarity Day.

Two hundred years on, many people around the world continue to love Greece and stand by it.

Twelve acclaimed contemporary British philhellenes send their wishes for the New Year to Greece and the Greek people in this article written exclusively for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea. Notably, most of them think that the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles is one of the highest priorities in Greek-British relations.

Sarah Baxter

Journalist, Director of the Marie Colvin Centre for International Reporting, former Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times, Member of the Parthenon Project's Advisory Board

Happy 2023! Here's to a year of friendship and harmony. I'm hoping we will see the Parthenon sculptures begin their permanent journey home, with some wonderful Greek treasures heading in the other direction to the British Museum on loan. We know a "win-win" deal is going to happen eventually. Let's get on with it!

Roderick Beaton

Emeritus Koraes Professor of Modern Greek & Byzantine History, Language & Literature at King’s College London, Chair of the Council of the British School at Athens

A wish that won't come true: for the UK to return to the place it left in the EU following Brexit. Not only would we, the friends of Greece, regain the right we lost to stay close to you without restrictions, but also the voice of a country that had so much to offer to everyone would be heard during the political developments and critical decisions that 2023 will inevitably bring. Just imagine how you Greeks managed your referendum more skilfully than we did!

Paul Cartledge

A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, President of The Hellenic Society, Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and Vice-President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS)

Greece has become such a major world player in the past century, not to mention the past two centuries, that it's hard to select any contemporary or likely future issue where relations between Britain and Greece in 2024 are not of the utmost significance. In the sphere of international cultural relations and soft diplomacy, one issue stands out above all others for Greece and Britain mutually speaking: 'the Marbles'. A resolution sparked by British generosity is devoutly to be wished.

Bruce Clark

Author, journalist and lecturer, Online Religion Editor of The Economist, BCRPM member

In 2023 it will be 190 years since the Ottoman garrison left the Acropolis and the Holy Rock became an archaeological site which fascinated and dazzled the world. The arguments for reuniting the Parthenon sculptures, for the benefit of people in Greece, Britain and many other countries, become stronger with every passing year.

Alberto Costa MP

Conservative Member of Parliament for South Leicestershire and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Greece

On behalf of the All-Parliamentary Group for Greece in the British Parliament, I would like to wish our friends in the Greek Parliament, and the Greek people, a very happy New Year. I am delighted that relations between our two countries are stronger than ever and that Greece and her people enjoy a huge amount of support in the British Parliament. We very much look forward to building upon on our relationship, and our shared values and commitments, next year and in further strengthening the historic bonds that our two countries share.

Armand D'Angour

Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford, Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Jesus College, Oxford, BCRPM member

It is heartening to see that the partnership of the UK and Greece is closer than ever, and that the green light has now been given for the return of the Parthenon sculptures to their rightful home. In these politically fractious times, governments should recognise who their friends are and be generous with both moral and practical support. The return of the sculptures will be a long-awaited gesture of friendship as well as a great morale-booster for both countries.

Hugo Dixon

Journalist, Commentator-at-Large with Reuters

My 2023 wish is that Turkey chooses a new leader and the West finds a way to bring the country in from the cold. A new leader should realise that it is not in Turkey’s interests to play the West off against Russia – especially as Vladimir Putin is a loser. If Turkey comes back to the heart of NATO, Greece will be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Kevin Featherstone

Director of the Hellenic Observatory at the LSE, Eleftherios Venizelos Professor in Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor in European Politics at the LSE’s European Institute

Dear Greece,

I hope we will agree to send the Marbles back in 2023. Our two countries have a long-term ‘love affair’ and it’s the least we could do after the folly of ‘BREXIT’ – pushing up university fees for Greek students. But we have a favour to ask, please. At present, our prime ministers don’t last as long as a lettuce, and they have much less brain power, so might you have a politician to spare? Not Dimitriadis or Kaili, though, or we’ll go ‘nuclear’ and send you Boris.

Judith Herrin

Archaeologist, byzantinist, historian, Professor Emerita of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies and Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow at King's College London, BCRPM member

Dear friends,
As 2022 comes to an end, I send my warmest greetings to Greece hoping for a healthier and more peaceful New Year.
The campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their rightful place in the new Acropolis Museum gathers momentum, reminding us of the powerful initiative of Melina Mercouriand Eleni Cubitt.
Let's hope for a breakthrough in 2023! Happy New Year!

Victoria Hislop

Author, BCRPM member

I wish all my friends in Greece a Happy New Year. We are living in uncertain times but there is one thing I am becoming more certain of - opinions are beginning to shift significantly on the Parthenon Sculptures and I think we are moving closer to the time when they will be returned to their rightful home in Athens. Many other museums in Britain are recognising that they have objects in their possession that were unlawfully acquired during our colonial past - and the return of Elgin’s “loot” is long overdue. This is my wish for 2023.

Denis MacShane

Former Minister of State for Europe in the Tony Blair government, former President of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), author and commentator

2022 was the year Britain returned to Greece. Up to August 2022, 3 million visitors went from the UK to Greece – a three-fold increase on the previous year. The weak English pound devalued thanks to Brexit has not damaged the love affair of the English with Greece.

But love has its limits. Although Prime Minister Mitsotakis told a packed meeting at the London School of Economics that he hoped soon the looted Parthenon Marbles would rejoin the rest of the sculptures from the Parthenon in the Acropolis Museum, there was no indication from Britain’s Conservative ministers London was willing to move.

The pro-Turkish Boris Johnson was fired by Tory MPs from his post as Prime Minister. But while France’s President Macron has expressed support for Greece as Turkey’s President Erdogan, inspired by Vladimir Putin, steps up his bellicose language threatening Greece, Britain remained silent in 2022 on the need for Europe to stand with Greece against Erdogan’s threats and demagogy.

Dame Janet Suzman

Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM), actor, Honorary Associate Artist at The Royal Shakespeare Company

In a world which seems unremittingly wicked we want tales of powerful gods presiding over squabbling mortals and blissful marriages with happy endings. That’s my dream for the Parthenon Marbles: the Prime Minister will charm the Chairman of the British Museum into a wedding ceremony in the Acropolis Museum, to witness the marriage of the two estranged halves of the glorious Parthenon pediment - accompanied by the cheers of the wedding guests galloping happily round the frieze, now returned home. If only…

This article was published in the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea(www.tanea.gr) on 30 December 2022.

“We disagree with UNESCO's decision; the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally“, UK government says in a Ta Nea aricle written by Yannis Andritsopoulos, 07 October 2021.

The British government has said that it will not abide by a recent UNESCO decision on the Parthenon Marbles also insisted that “the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally” and rejected UNESCO’s call to reconsider its position and to negotiate with Greece on the return of the 2,500-year-old cultural treasures.

Speaking to Greek newspaper Ta Nea, a government spokesperson said that the UK government “disagrees” with the decision, adding that it intends to challenge it before UNESCO.

The response came after the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) voted unanimously for the first time at its 22nd session to include the return of the Parthenon Marbles in its decision document, marking a major step forward since Greece first introduced the request to the meeting’s agenda in 1984.

ICPRCP’s decision says that Greece’s request for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures is "legitimate and rightful" and calls on Britain "to reconsider its stand and proceed to a bona fide dialogue with Greece on the matter".

Most importantly, the Committee acknowledges for the first time that "the case has an intergovernmental character and, therefore, the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely on the UK Government."

This is in stark contrast to the UK government’s assertion that it is for the British Museum, not the government, to discuss the issue and make decisions related to it.

“We disagree with the Committee’s decision adopted in the closing minutes of the session and are raising issues relating to fact and procedure with UNESCO,” a UK government spokesperson told Ta Nea.

“Our position is clear—the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally in accordance with the law at the time. The British Museum operates independently of the government and free from political interference. All decisions relating to collections are taken by the Museum’s trustees,” the spokesperson added.

A British Museum spokesperson told Ta Nea that “the Trustees of the British Museum have a legal and moral responsibility to preserve and maintain all the collections in their care,” adding that “the Parthenon Sculptures are an integral part of (the Museum’s collection) story and a vital element in this interconnected world collection”.

Greece insists that it is the rightful owner of the Parthenon Marbles. The Greek government says that the sculptures were illegally removed from the Parthenon during the Ottoman occupation of Greece in the early 1800s.

In his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson dashed Greece’s hopes of getting the Marbles back, telling Greek daily Ta Nea 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.”

The British Museums’ comment to Ta Nea in full:

“The British Museum has a long history of collaboration with UNESCO and admires and supports its work. The Trustees of the British Museum have a legal and moral responsibility to preserve and maintain all the collections in their care and to make them accessible to world audiences. The Trustees want to strengthen existing good relations with colleagues and institutions in Greece, and to explore collaborative ventures directly between institutions, not on a government-to-government basis. This is why we believe that working in partnership across the world represents the best way forward. Museums holding Greek works, whether in Greece, the UK or elsewhere in the world, are naturally united to show the importance of the legacy of ancient Greece. The British Museum is committed to playing its full part in sharing the value of that legacy.

“The Museum takes its commitment to be a world museum seriously. The collection is a unique resource to explore the richness, diversity and complexity of all human history, our shared humanity. The strength of the collection is its breadth and depth which allows millions of visitors an understanding of the cultures of the world and how they interconnect – whether through trade, migration, conquest, conflict, or peaceful exchange.

“The Parthenon Sculptures are an integral part of that story and a vital element in this interconnected world collection, particularly in the way in which they convey the influences between Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman cultures. We share this collection with the widest possible public, lending objects all over the world and making images and information on over four million objects from the collection available online.

“The approach of the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum are complementary: the Acropolis Museum provides an in-depth view of the ancient history of its city, the British Museum offers a sense of the wider cultural context and sustained interaction with the neighbouring civilisations of Egypt and the Near East which contributed to the unique achievements of ancient Greece”.

Britain had previously rejected Greece’s request to hold talks on returning the Marbles after Athens proposed a meeting between experts from the two countries.

Unanimous adoption five minutes before the end of the meeting

Yannis Andritsopulos of Ta Neawrites that the decision of the 22nd Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, the ICPRCP was taken with the efforts of  the behind-the-scenes diplomatic steps taken by Greece. The Zambia delegation introduced COM 17 to the plenary at the end of the Summit and the decision was adopted unanimously. Despite subsequent protests from the British side, due process had been followed throughout the proceedings of this session, a Greek government source told the "Ta Nea". The President of this Session of the ICPRCP read out the full text of the decision and asked its members four times if there are any objections. There was none.

To listen to the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP, follow the link here.

Greece was represented at the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Georgios Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Director of the department for the protection of cultural property of the Ministry of Culture Vasiliki Papageorgiou and the legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Artemis Papathanassiou. Greece exerted pressure for the decision on the issue to be finalised. "Although Britain does not accept dialogue, Greece continues to ask for this and on this occassion we asked the committee to do something more," added the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reprsentative, Ms Papathanassiou with the ICPRCP President accepting her request for the drafting of a decision to be adopted by the Comittee. 

Greece was represented at at the 22nd Session of the ICPRCP by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Georgios Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Director of the department for the protection of cultural property of the Ministry of Culture Vasiliki Papageorgiou and the legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Artemis Papathanassiou.  

 "We congratulate Greece on this excellent result and hope that Britain will finally review its stance and engage in dialogue. At some point, the day will come when we will see the Sculptures reunited in the Acropolis Museum," commented Dr Christiane Titgat, president of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).

Dr Christiane Tytgat, President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS)

BCRPM observations, 07 October 2021.

Wednesday 06 October 2021, saw the final day of the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central Convention Complex.Prime Minister Johnson's speech included his take on how to conserve British heritage and culture:

"It has become clear to me that this isn’t just a joke – they really do want to rewrite our national story, starting with Hereward the Woke. We really are at risk of a kind of know-nothing cancel culture, know-nothing iconoclasm. We Conservatives will defend our history and cultural inheritance not because we are proud of everything, but because trying to edit it now is as dishonest as a celebrity trying furtively to change his entry in Wikipedia, and it’s a betrayal of our children’s education."

A reminder that goblal Britain can only claim to be global by being omnipotent? History doesn't have to be rewitten but it has to told as a whole story. And we come back to BCRPM's 20 June protest outside the British Museum, with a poster asking the BM to come clean. Janet Suzman wrote:  

' NOT explaining the full story of these Marbles, and is not worthy of such an august institution. Each case should be considered on its merits since each case is different. The Marbles case is unique.

The BM's Director, Hartwig Fischer, has developed a defensive trope about separation being a 'creative act'. Well, he would, wouldn’t he? The Marbles are one of the BM's star attractions.

The Rodin show a few years ago re-inforced the marbles' supremacy in execution and their diminished meaning in isolation. Imagine one of Rodin’s great figures from the group called The Burghers of Calais standing separated from its fellows in a far country? That would hardly be a ‘creative act’.

The BM is a great encyclopaedic institution while being an Aladdin's Cave of conquest. Imperial Britain took objects from other countries because it could.

But there's a mood abroad which abhors colonialist attitudes and entitlement that it must wake up to.'

For more on the 20 June 2021 protest follow, the link here.

Following the discussion of a draft resolution brought to the United Nation’s General Assembly , the resolution for the "return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin” was adopted on Thursday, 13 December 2018.

This is viewed by many as a victory also for the long dispute with the United Kingdom over the issue of the Parthenon marbles which were removed by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin from 1800-1803.

As the official announcement issued by the UN notes, "by its terms, the Assembly calls upon all relevant bodies, agencies, funds, and programmes of the United Nations system to continue to address the issue of return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin and to provide appropriate support accordingly”.

The resolution on the return of cultural property to the countries of origin deplores damage to the cultural heritage of countries in situations of crisis, conflict and post-conflict, in particular, recent attacks on world cultural heritage sites, and calls for an immediate end to such acts.

It calls on all member states in a position to do so to assist the affected states in combating trafficking in cultural property, including through international cooperation in the return or restitution of stolen or illicitly exported cultural property.

The resolution welcomes the most recent efforts made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the protection of the cultural heritage of countries in conflict, in particular in Iraq and Syria, including the safe return to those countries of cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance that have been illegally removed.

The resolution urges member states to introduce effective national and international measures to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in cultural property.

It urges all member states to take appropriate measures to ensure that all actors involved in the trade of cultural property are required to provide verifiable documentation of provenance as well as export certificates, as applicable, related to any cultural property imported, exported or offered for sale, including through the Internet.

It encourages all member states to establish specialised police units exclusively dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage to investigate cases of trafficking in cultural property, and a national stolen works of art database directly connected with the corresponding Interpol database.

The resolution asks member states to consider establishing and developing national, regional and international databases inventorying cultural property and encourages them to enhance the exchange of information.

More on this here and for the 2015 resolution, read here.

From the Times'  Leading articles on page 27,  12 January 2022

To read the article on line, please visit the link here.

Tweet by Sarah Baxter, former deputy editor of the Sunday Times, who spoke alongside Janet Suzman and Paul Cartledge in Athens for the conference held at the Acropolis Museum on the 15th of April 2019: 

To the comment piece by Richard Morrison, chief culture writer for The Times on 11 January, 2022 and subsequent letter from BCRPM's Professor Paul Cartledge and Janet Suzman, on page 26, the Letters Page,12 January 2022. 

The Figurine: When Beauty Inspires Crime

Victoria Hislop in conversation with David Wills at The Hellenic Centre, Marylebone

Tuesday 14^th May, 2024

This was the first time I’ve attended the Hellenic Centre for a Marbles-adjacent event since BCRPM’s International Colloquy in 2012, though I do come here for the odd concert and my weekly language classes. 12 years ago, we heard the late human rights advocate George Bizos speak; on Tuesday there was a literary bent, before an audience ready to hear best-selling author (and BCRPM member) Victoria Hislop open up about her new novel The Figurine. At the top of the agenda were the places – namely, Athens and the Cyclades – and the crimes – cultural trafficking – that inspired it, in conversation with David Wills from the Society for Modern Greek Studies.

The Figurine is set in Athens, flitting back and forth between the present day and the narrator’s memories of a 1970s childhood under the colonels, and the fictional island of Nisos (“I thought, if I can teach somebody just one word of Greek that way, I would”), where she joins an archaeological dig. On said dig, she begins to wonder about the provenance of the collection of antiquities in her grandfather’s Athenian apartment. Victoria explained how her philhellenism had its origins in Twentieth century Greece, admitting to having had little interest in its ancient archaeology. However, that was before seeing a Cycladic statuette in a museum a decade ago, and it was the ascetic simplicity  of the folded-arm figurine that caused a “sudden and unexpected inspiration”.

We were among friends (literally, in the Friends’ Room) at the Hellenic Centre, with the Q&A revealing a healthy mix of literary types and philhellenes in the audience. Nevertheless, it felt positively luxurious to hear Victoria, even with her new book to plug, devote nearly half her allotted 45 minutes to the Parthenon Marbles. Rather than make a precis, I’ll let her speak for herself on navigating the past, the virtues of artistic licence, and Thomas Bruce, 7^th Earl of Elgin.

“This book is a metaphor for removal and exploitation. Stolen things still turn up – and vague provenances conceal a lot. If you’re a purist, where do these things belong?Where something belongs is where it was meant to be, where it was born. InThe Figurine, a Cycladic figurine was taken from a grave. For these characters [the inhabitants of Nisos], it’s not the theft or the current owner that matters, it’s the removal from the grave [that’s the original crime].

“I enjoy writing fictional characters to explore what might happen in the real world. Elgin couldn’t be a character. That’s a line I can’t cross – and I need to like the protagonist! Every now and then[in the book] Elgin does get a mention. A character sees a classical sort-of temple in Edinburgh and feels that’s the wrong environ in which to see that sort of thing. But I don’t want to hit people over the head with[the debate], because I believe it will happen. There’s a wave of worldwide opinion about where artefacts should be. The British[Museum] are like King Canute on the beach. We’re alone in so many attitudes in the UK and this is one of them. It fuel[s] my passion in archaeological theft. Elgin’s removal was theft. The BM is lackadaisical with the facts of the removal. He didn’t intend the sculptures for public consumption, but for his mansion.”

Victoria acknowledged the legacy of non-fiction historical books about cultural trafficking, “the ones that often read like adventure novels”, but also highlighted the humanitarian problems that often accompany theft and trade, not to mention the association with drug trafficking. I was reminded of UNESCO’s Conference on Cultural Traffic held in Olympia in 2014, which I attended alongside former BCRPM Chair Eddie O’Hara. To hear him speak on the Marbles back then, alongside presentations by archaeologists, curators, and diplomats trying to protect the antiquities in their care from upheavals like the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 vividly cast their removal to Britain in a contemporary light.

When, during Victoria’s eloquent synthesis of the problems with the Elgin narrative and the responsibilities of the novelist, David Wills pointed out that writers must often negotiate different versions of the past at once. The author stressed  the importance of dealing in facts, “and there are a lot of facts in this case. We can’t carry on being one of the few to ignore the theft, the illegal acquisition, or the bigger story those sculptures can be part of. You get conflicting reports and views[from historical sources], so you read different versions of the same story. Novels allow for bias that you can’t get away with when you’re a historian.”

This can be contrasted with a statement made by Sir Noel Malcolm against Lord Vaizey in last year’s Intelligence Squared debate: that events of the deep past are subject to different judgements and values to those of the present day. Now, we know there’s no changing what’s already occurred. But leaving aside any debate as to whether the early 1800s count as the ‘deep past’, and acknowledging that a fair few BCRPM members are themselves in the business of history, I wonder if a few more people in positions of power could take a pinch of the novelist’s approach, not just to the past, but to the future too: we know that our beloved statues’ continued presence in the British Museum's Room 18 is not a historical inevitability, and that their part in Britain’s story (to borrow the BM’s attitude) so far doesn’t guarantee permanence – they’re part of the once and future legacy of Greece.

Stuart O'Hara, BCRPM member

Victoria Hislop, novelist and activist, was granted honorary Greek citizenship in July 2020 for promoting modern Greek history and culture.
This was a richly deserved reward for above all a trilogy of novels with Greek themes that bring out the trials, tribulations and sometimes triumphs of modern Greek communities ranging from Crete to Thessaloniki to (Greek) Cyprus. The Island (2005) was her breakout account of the use of the islet of Spinalonga (Venetian name) off north-eastern Crete as a receptacle for leprosy victims. The Thread (2011) traced the Asia Minor catastrophe of the 1920s through to its further consequential disaster - the destruction of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki by the Nazis. Finally, The Sunrise (name of a hotel in Famagusta/Turkish Varosha) explored the disaster of the 1974 Turkish occupation of 'northern' Cyprus via the fictionalised but fact-based stories of some conflicted and displaced Greek families. Overtones of ancient Greek tragedy were clearly discernible. Others of her works have Greek, especially Cretan, settings or associations. For many years she had been made uncomfortable by the British Museum's intransigent attitude to 'their' Marbles: the recent interview of the Prime Minister by Yannis Andritsopoulos (Ta Nea) pushed her finally over the edge and, happily, into the embracing arms of the Reunification camp.

20 March 2021, in Ta Nea, an exclusive interview by Yannis Andritsopoulosn exclusive interview by Yannis Andritsopoulos: 

When Victoria Hislop read Boris Johnson’s interview with Greek newspaper Ta Nea a few days ago, she was furious.

The award-winning British author says it prompted her to grab her phone, send an email and join the campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

It was a move she had been contemplating for years but her mind was made up in an instant by the British Prime Minister’s words.

“I've been thinking really deeply about the whole issue. It seems like decades somehow, because it always comes into conversation with Greeks,” the acclaimed writer told Ta Nea.

“But the actual tipping point was reading this interview with Boris Johnson in Ta Nea last Friday,” she added.

Lord Elgin, ambassador of Great Britain to the Sublime Porte, removed the 2,500-year-old sculptures from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century, when Greece was under Ottoman rule.

In his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming the UK’s prime minister, Mr Johnson dashed Greece’s hopes of getting the Marbles back, saying 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.”

“It was the same, tired statement, now made by Boris. I suppose I have extremely deep and personal anger towards Boris on many issues. Somehow, him coming out against the return of the Marbles was like 'this is it',” says Hislop, whose 2005 bestseller The Island has sold more than 6 million copies around the world and it has been published in 40 languages altogether.

I ask her what her first thought was when she read Johnson’s comments.

“I was like: ‘Oh God, that is absolutely wrong’. I think the history books will show that Boris was on the wrong side of history,” she says.

“This is the 200th anniversary of such a significant moment in Greek history,” she adds, referring to the bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence that Greece is celebrating next week. “I felt like that answer to you is a slap in the face. It felt like that.”

When she finished reading the interview, Hislop, 61, decided it’s high time she joined the campaign for the return of the sculptures.

“It's been very much on my mind now for a long time to join up, but somehow Boris just tipped me right over on Friday. What he said made me angry. This interview with Ta Nea was the last straw,” Hislop recalls.

She subsequently contacted the renowned academic Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, who is also vice-chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).

“When I read it, I emailed Paul immediately. I was in my kitchen and my laptop was in my study, which is two floors up from the kitchen. I only had my phone in the kitchen. It's really irritating to send emails on your phone; but I didn't even bother to come back up to my laptop. I just wanted to do it literally there and then.”

Hislop sent Cartledge the link to the interview on Ta Nea’s website and wrote: “Typical of Johnson to cite the usual cliché about the Marbles. (…) I think this is my final push to join up.”

Her request to join the committee was approved almost instantly.

Hislop is now a member of the BCRPM, a historic lobby group founded in 1983 by the distinguished British architect James Cubitt and his wife Eleni, a filmmaker, following a discussion the couple had with the then Greek Culture minister Melina Mercouri (one of the most emblematic figures of contemporary Greece) and her husband Jules Dassin, a renowned film director and producer.

“I should have done it before, I know,” she says. “But, you know… It’s that sense - and I don’t want this to sound defeatist - of what can one really do in the face of this very old-fashioned stubbornness. That's what I regard the British Museum slightly being. It’s a great institution, but this stubbornness that they have…”.

Hislop says that Johnson’s claim that the Parthenon Marbles were legally acquired by Lord Elgin is not accurate. “Where is that firman? (the Ottoman document used by Elgin as the basis of proving the supposed legality of the Marbles’ removal) Does it exist?” she asks.

“But… it's to do with recognising that what you did in the past isn't always the right thing for the present. You can't justify something now with what took place 200 years ago,” she adds.

“There was a fashion at the time for putting bits of Greek statues; it was fashionable to have things from the grand tour in your garden. There was an idea that Britain was this civilised place and you could just essentially steal, just take home a souvenir and put it in your luggage more or less. Greece wasn't the country then to have measures to prevent that happening. But it doesn't mean that it was right.”

I ask her what she would say to Boris Johnson if she met him. “I'd say ‘don't just cite the clichés. You're preventing the completion of one of the finest works of art on the planet. You're keeping something in a dark and dreary gallery of the British Museum as opposed to allowing it to see the light’,” says Hislop.

“The Acropolis Museum in Athens is so full of light,” she adds.

“It's like we've got this huge section of a jigsaw and we're just holding it because it's ours. This is something I find naive about still holding that view in 2021.”

Tide turning

Does she think that the Parthenon Sculptures will, eventually, return to their birthplace? Very much so, Hislop assures me.

“I think that the Marbles will return to Greece. It's a question of time. There's a zeitgeist that will sweep these precious things back to Athens.”

“I genuinely do think that the tide will turn with another generation. It might be another 10 or 20 years. This British colonialist attitude is going to seem very, very out of date and very politically incorrect,” she says.

She adds: “Forty years ago there was this sense of those wonderful sculptures that they're somehow better off here in London, that we're looking after them. That excuse is very dated now. The museum which is waiting for them is a way better place in so many ways. There is absolutely no remaining excuse for them not to go back.”

“It's almost like keeping a child from its mother. We're keeping the child. We adopted it, we brought it up but we're not giving it back.”

Hislop went on to explain why, in her view, the Parthenon Marbles could be part of the growing debate over contested heritage and Britain’s colonial past.

“I think that many people in this country, many younger people, people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, are really questioning our colonial past. They don't accept it at all; they are ashamed of it. That's what the British Museum was set up to do; to display things from our empire. When I was a child, we didn't question that. But fifty or sixty years on, we are deeply questioning what such a museum represents and the so-called ownership of many of the things inside.”

Hislop is keen to refute the so-called “floodgates” argument, according to which the return of the Parthenon Marbles could lead to a barrage of other nations' repatriation demands risking emptying the British Museum.

“We all know that the basement of the British Museum is packed. They have got so much stuff that would fill the galleries,” she says, adding that “it is also possible to create absolutely authentic, accurate copies. If the British Museum really wants to keep that as an educational gallery, make absolutely faithful copies but give the original back.”

Boris ban

Hislop reveals that for the last 1.5 years, her own family has banned her “from mentioning Boris in the house because he makes me really angry. I mean, really angry.”

Why is that? I ask her. “He led us over the cliff with Brexit which for me is a catastrophe for Britain. It turns us into this sort of parochial inward-looking country that I feel much less connected with than I did five or ten years ago when we were all European.”

“I wept when that Brexit vote happened,” she says. “I really think it was such a black day when the vote came.”

Hislop says that she “personally blames Boris” for Brexit. “If he had backed Remain, then the UK would still be part of Europe. I genuinely believe that the only reason he took the side that he did in the campaign was that he saw it as a route to becoming prime minister. The depth of his ambition... have no doubt about it. He sees himself as a kind of another Churchill.”

“For me, Boris is wrong on absolutely everything. Whatever he says, I can't agree with in any way whatsoever. Since he became prime minister, I don't think he's made really one good decision. I feel dismayed by him. He always gets away with things,” she adds.

Hislop also thinks that the British prime minister has handled the Covid-19 crisis appallingly. “Boris is very well-known for saying one thing and doing another. He tells lies. He's handled the last year of the pandemic pretty catastrophically. We've lost tens of thousands of people in lockdown. I have a lot of animosity.”

She’s speaking from personal experience, she tells me. “I was once asked to partner him in a tennis match and he turned up without a racket. It's a humorous anecdote, but it says everything about Boris Johnson; that he's all bluster, he's all talk. He is never prepared; I think he is very superficial.”

“He obviously goes to Greece to his father's house every year for holiday and he'll say he's a classicist, he knows Ancient Greek and all of this, but he doesn't actually seem to me to add up to anything.”

Last week, Johnson posed exclusively for Ta Nea next to a bust of Pericles in his parliamentary office in Westminster. “I saw the photograph next to his hero, Pericles; all of that is incredibly skin-deep,” Hislop says.

“We have 60 million people in this country who I feel have all been individually very badly led astray by him. I’m sorry I'm sort of ranting about Boris but it's partly to demonstrate how frustrated and heart-broken I am.”

Being Greek

Hislop was awarded honorary Greek citizenship in September. What does it feel like to be a six-month old Greek, I ask her.

“This is like my firman,” she says, showing me her citizenship certificate (over Zoom). “I keep it in my study.”

During the first lockdown, Hislop wrote her new book One August Night, the sequel to her 2005 bestseller The Island. Over the past few months, including during the UK’s third national lockdown, she has been working from her Chelsea home on the television adaptation of her novels Cartes Postales from Greece and The Last Dance to be released in October by the Greek state broadcaster ERT.

“Most of the time I’m kind of working in Greece although I'm sitting on my desk in London. It’s a strange thing. My body is here but my brain is somewhere else,” she says.

“The filming starts next Monday (in Crete) and I'm hoping to go out at the end of the month. That would be the first time I'm using my Greek passport. And I should be using it with huge pride.”

“We're not really allowed to travel, unless it's for work. I'm slightly hoping that they’ll challenge me at Heathrow and say ‘where are you going, madam?’ And I'll just say ‘I'm Greek, I'm on my way’!”

To  read the article in Ta Nea, kindly follow the link here or to read the original article in Greek, access this pdf.

Author, Victoria Hislop, launched her latest book 'The Figurine' last year in the UK, and on the 25th of January this year, the book, translated into Greek, and entitled 'To Eidolio', was launched at the Acropolis Museum. The Museum’s Director, Nikos Stampoulidis, introduced the book before Victoria was interviewed by Alexis Papahelas, Editor-in-Chief of Kathimerini.

Victoria Hislop joined BCRPM in March 2021 but it feels as though she has been a supporter forever.

Press coverage reflected Greece's love for this author as much as the love this author has for Greece. Kathimerini's article post Victoria's book launch in Athens explains that 'The Figurine' (published in Greek by Psichogios), addresses the issue of antiquity theft.

"I think the extent of the looting of antiquities and the long and complex chain of intermediaries who profit from it really surprised me. And, of course, the lack of scruples of those who have benefited, even the famous auction houses who in the past have deliberately overlooked the “history” of how certain objects were acquired,” explains Victoria.

"There are some very notable examples of illegality that are better known than figurine thefts" continues Victoria. "The Parthenon Marbles for example, which is a huge issue for Greece – and should be for the British as well. I firmly believe that the sculptures should be returned to Athens and reunited with the others in the beautiful Acropolis Museum. And on this there are developments. There is dialogue between Greece and the chairman of the British Museum. But for now, the British Museum is not going to change its fundamental belief that the sculptures “belong” to it. They are currently looking for a new director and we hope it is someone with understanding as far as the division of these sculptures is concerned. What is really required is for the museum to acknowledge that they acquired stolen property when they bought the sculptures from Lord Elgin. And for two centuries they have been endlessly repeating to themselves, and to their visitors, the same lie: that the sultan gave official permission for Elgin to take the sculptures. I believe that one day they will be returned, but not until we have a change of government, a more enlightened one. We still have the government that brought about Brexit and who believe in some kind of superiority of Britain over the world – and that we have a right to own these works of art. This is not an open-minded position."

To read the full article, follow the link here. To watch the promo video for the book's Greek version, follow the link to YouTube.

George Dalaras, Victoria Hslop, Nikos Stampolidis and Anna Dalaras

On 30 January another interview was published, following on from Victoria's presentation at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall as part of the second cycle of events "Writers of the world travel to the Concert Hall". Victoria is quoted: "If something is stolen from another country, it must return to its home . Already countless things from other major museums in the world have been returned to the right place. Although the British Museum is conservative, I think it should open its eyes, and UK politicians should listen to society", referring to the UK opinion polls showing that a majority continue to support for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the second cycle of events: "Writers of the world travel to the Concert Hall"

Victoria agreed with Dr. Papakostas, who described antiquities as "rape of cultural heritage" and explained how much historical information is lost when artefacts are removed from their place of origin. Victoria Hislop admitted that it was only five years ago that she realized how important archaeology is, and she estimated that many people still do not understand it.

Dr. Papakostas in conversation with VIictoria Hislop

Tina Mandilara also interviwed Victoria on 02 February for Proto Thema. "In addition to the Greek language, which she learned by taking intensive lessons, Hislop speaks with passion and love for Greece that, as one review wrote, "overflows through her every word." Especially her new voluminous - almost 600 pages - book "The Idol"  literally runs through the entire spectrum of Greek History, since it starts from the days of the military coup of '67 and then moves on to present day Greece."

Tina addresses with Victoria the plight of the Parthenon Marbles: 'Regarding the argument that PM Sunak refused to meet PM Mitsotakis after the Greek prime minister's interview with the BBC, Hislop counters that "it is nonsense. How was it possible for the Greek prime minister not to discuss such an issue and, even more, how is it possible to omit it from the agenda? It doesn't make any sense." Of course, she says that this negative outcome  was ultimately for good since "we who fight for the return of the Parthenon Marbles were also heard. We sincerely thank Sunak for what he did in that respect." Concludes Victoria Hislop.

Four video presentation in the Parthenon Gallery at the Acropolis Museumfeaturing 3D-imaging of the frieze blocks.

1. Illustration from the west frieze - the rider with the restless horse at the centre of the frieze. In 1801 the scene was intact. The rider's head of which Elgin had made a cast, was lost prior to 1870.

http://www.youtube.com/ west frieze

 2. East Frieze Block VI, restoration, length 4.20 metres, weight 7 tons

http://www.youtube.com/ BlockVI

3. Block II from the north frieze - the chiselling

http://www.youtube.com/ Block II from the north frieze

4. South frieze, Block III - until the mid 18th century the block remained intact. During the summer of 1803, Elgin's team used iron crow bars and exploited the natural cracks of the marble to detach the piece with the sculpted surface. The detached piece was transported to England and eventually found its way to the British Museum. 

http://www.youtube.com/ Block III from the south frieze

www.vanityfair.com

July 2009

In the British Museum’s statement on the Parthenon Marbles, we come across the familiar claim of the legality of Elgin’s acquisition. ‘Lord Elgin’s activities,’ we read, ‘were thoroughly investigated by a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1816 and found to be entirely legal.’ Simple, succinct, almost convincing, this is the only legal argument in the Museum’s arsenal against repatriation. But is it true?

In early 1816, shortly after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and the return of his European loot, a parliamentary select committee was formed in London to evaluate Elgin’s request for the British government to buy his collection of marbles and other antiquities. The committee was assigned two tasks: to determine whether the government should acquire the collection, and to assess its monetary value.

Not being a court of justice, the select committee did not have the authority to decide questions of legality – not in the sense that those of us in the legal profession understand ‘legality’. Its official mandate did not explicitly include investigating the lawfulness of Elgin’s actions, although, ultimately, the committee did raise the question as an incidental concern. Did Elgin have permission to remove the Marbles?

The ‘firman’ that was not

Elgin claimed that he had obtained authorisation to carry out the removals. No original proof has ever been produced of that authorisation, the famous ‘firman’ that, if it existed, was not a firman at all (both Dr Philip Hunt, Elgin’s right-hand man, and its presumed Italian translation described the document as a ‘letter’).

At first, the select committee appeared to try to corroborate Elgin’s claim. Did Elgin have a document in his possession attesting permission? He didn’t. If someone had such a document, Elgin said, it would be his agent, Giovanni Battista Lusieri, who was still in Athens, or it would be the local Ottoman authorities in Athens. William Richard Hamilton, Elgin’s private secretary, had a more interesting story: when asked whether he knew anything about the permission, he admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the matter! But let us leave Hamilton aside. Elgin contended that surely the (written) permission must be in Athens. Now one expects that, to conduct a thorough investigation, the committee would need to send to Athens for Lusieri and the local authorities to look there for some proof of the ‘firman’ that was not. How else could the select committee, acting in good faith, decide the matter?

Yet, the committee showed no willingness to make the effort. In its report, it stated:

'The Turkish ministers of that day are, in fact, the only persons in the world capable (if they are still alive) of deciding the doubt; and it is probable that even they, if it were possible to consult them, might be unable to form any very distinct discrimination as to the character in consideration of which they acceded to Lord Elgin’s request.'

If they were still alive? If it were possible to consult them? The Sultan (the one with the authority to sign firmans) was still alive, and it would have been easy to consult him. The British government had an ambassador in Constantinople (Sir Robert Liston) – why not ask him? And why not call in as witness a former British ambassador to the Sublime Porte who openly affirmed that the Ottomans categorically denied Elgin’s ownership of the marbles? On 31 July 1811, Sir Robert Adair informed Elgin that ‘the Porte absolutely denied’ that he, Elgin, had ‘any property in those marbles’.

‘… the Porte absolutely denied your having any property in those marbles.’

Robert Adair’s draft letter to Elgin (31 July 1811). Collection of Theodore Theodorou. Used with permission. For a full transcript, see http://www.adairtoelgin.com.

It was not the first time that Adair shared this knowledge. In April 1811, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Charles Abbot, 1st Lord Colchester, recorded in his diary that Adair ‘was expressly informed by the Turkish Government that they entirely disavowed ever having given any authority to Lord Elgin for removing any part of his collection’. Even Elgin repeated, in an 1811 letter to the then prime minister, Spencer Perceval, that he did not lawfully own ‘his’ collection. People in government were fully aware of the fact that Elgin did not have permission to act as he did.

When the task was to persuade the Ottomans to permit the shipment of the part of Elgin’s collection that had remained in Athens, the government exerted pressure on both its ambassador (Adair at the time) and the Turkish officials. But when it came to determining whether Elgin had permission to act as he did, the select committee forgot it had a British ambassador (Liston) and appeared to hope that the Turkish officials were dead. Better let sleeping dogs lie. The committee took Elgin’s word and entirely ignored the fact that everything other than milord’s own impression pointed to the absence of permission.

The corruption

Then there was the issue of corruption. The select committee had Elgin’s admission of bribes. A list of his expenses incurred to procure the Marbles was published as an annexe to the select committee report. In it, we learn that Elgin paid 21,902 piastres (about £157,500 today) for ‘presents, found necessary for the local authorities, in Athens alone’. To grasp the significance of this sum, let us recall that, when parliament ultimately purchased the marbles, it paid Elgin a mere £35,000 (equivalent to about £4 million today). Corruption we assume just ‘happened’ in the Ottoman empire. But did it also ‘happen’ in Great Britain? Elgin was not an ordinary traveller in the Ottoman empire; he was the British ambassador, a representative of the Crown. Corruption was an offence in England and had been illegal since the time of the Magna Carta. Throughout the 18th century corruption was a crime punishable by English law. In the realm of electoral law, to bribe a voter had been an offence since the 1690s.

That bribes were a relevant legal consideration is also evident from the heated parliamentary debate on the corruption involved in obtaining the Marbles at the time. The acquisition was so inexplicable that some MPs even regarded it as a bribe to Elgin, and MP Preston remarked that, if ambassadors were allowed to get away with what Elgin had done, many would come back home as ‘merchants’. Yet the select committee did not act on the knowledge of the corruption.

The unpalatable truth is that the committee was expected to arrive at a predetermined conclusion: the Marbles should be bought for the nation. The absence of any statement in the committee’s report regarding the legality of the acquisition is significant. The committee repeated statements made by Elgin and his agents as if they reflected the truth. But never did it offer its own express conclusion that the acquisition was lawful. Nowhere in the select committee report do we find the committee’s opinion that Elgin’s actions were ‘legal’ – let alone ‘entirely legal’.

Catharine Titi

Catharine Titi is a tenured Research Associate Professor at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and author of 'The Parthenon Marbles and International Law' (Springer 2023).

This event was a panel discussion about the cultural repatriation of national treasures, inspired by the current status of the Parthenon Marbles.The event was held at the LSE by the Hellenic Observatory.

The debate over the reunification of the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles remains newsworthy. With attention post the Black Lives Matter protests signalling initiatives taken to return national treasures to their countries of origin, the campaign continues. For the Marbles, the British Museum has signalled a willingness to consider 'a deal', and the Greek Prime Minister highlighted Greece's willingness to discuss this further. He was due to visit the UK next month and have talks with UK's PM, although he did try to do this when Mr Johnson was PM too, gaining the support of UK audiences with his appearance on ITV's Good Morning Britain,16 November, 2021.

The panel that spoke on 18 October, considered the implications of reuniting the Marbles back to Athens and the issues that would arise should such a maganimous act take place any time soon.

Listen to Professor Paul Cartledge, BCRPM and the IARPS's Vice-Chair, alongside Ed Vaizey Chair of a new campaign the 'Parthenon Project', and Dr Tatiana Flessas, Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage and Property Law at the LSE. You can also revisit the talk that Dr Flessas gave on 09 October 2019 at the seminar held at the City of London University alongside BCRPM's Oliver Taplin, Jonathan Jones from the Guardian and Dr Florian Schmidt-Gabain, Attorney, Zurich, Lecturer in Art Law, Universities of Basel and Zurich.

Whichever side of the fence you may be sitting by, there is no doubt that the compelling moral and ethical reasons for reunificaton are as strong today as they were in June 2009, when the Acropolis Museum was opened. Considering also that the first request was made when Greece became indepependent, a request by the morden state of Greece to the UK, nearly two centuries ago.

Greece's requests have never waned garnering greater impetus through UNESCO's ICPRCP also. Yet the BM have remained firm in not wanting to reunite the marbles, that is up until this summer, when the new Chair of the British Museum Trustees, George Osborne suggested to Andrew Marr on LBC that a 'deal' could be made. This deal rests on Greece accepting to share half of the surviving, fragmented sculptures, and would be formalised as a loan agreement that would enable parts of the sculptures to travel back and forth with fragmented pieces currently held in the Acropolis Museum doing the same. With over 100,000 Greek artefacts in the BM, surely there are other exemplars to display in Room 18 which might allow Greece's justifiable request to be met with magnanimity, understanding and empathy? And let's also not forget that since Greek Minister of Culture Evangelos Venizelos in 2000 visited the BM, Greece pledged that should the Parthenon sculptures be returned, the Greek Government would make sure that the Duveen Galleries would always host Greek antiquities on loan for exhibitions. Greece would be willing to send rare and even newly discovered antiquities, which have never been seen outside Greece. This Greek offer has been repeated, and most recently by PM Mitsotakis when he was last in London.

Thursday, 6 February 2020 from 18:00 to 20:00

SW1.18, Somerset House East Wing
The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

WHO OWNS HISTORY?  A panel Discussion at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London

Description
The panel will feature a discussion of Geoffrey Robertson's recently published book, "Who Owns History? Elgin's Loot and the Case for Returning Plundered Treasure" (Biteback Publishing, 2019).

The biggest question in the world of art and culture concerns the return of property taken without consent. Throughout history, conquerors or colonial masters have taken artefacts from subjugated peoples, who now want them returned from museums and private collections in Europe and the USA.

The controversy rages on over the 'Elgin Marbles', and has been given immediacy by figures such as France's President Macron, who says he will order French museums to return hundreds of artworks acquired by force or fraud in Africa, and by British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has pledged that a Labour government would return the 'Elgin Marbles' to Greece. Elsewhere, there is a debate in Belgium about whether the Africa Museum, newly opened with 120,000 items acquired mainly by armed forces in the Congo, should close.
Although there is an international convention dated 1970 that deals with the restoration of artefacts stolen since that time, there is no agreement on the rules of law or ethics which should govern the fate of objects forcefully or lawlessly acquired in previous centuries.
Who Owns History? delves into the crucial debate over the ;Elgin Marbles', but also offers a system for the return of cultural property based on human rights law principles that are being developed by the courts. It is not a legal text, but rather an examination of how the past can be experienced by everyone, as well as by the people of the country of origin.

Speaker:
Mr Geoffrey Robertson QC
Mr Robertson is founder and joint head of Doughty Street Chambers. He has had a distinguished career as a trial and appellate counsel, an international judge, and author of leading textbooks. He has argued many landmark cases in media, constitutional and criminal law, in the European Court of Justice; the European Court of Human Rights; the Supreme Court (House of Lords and Privy Council); the UN War Crimes courts; the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and in the highest courts of many commonwealth countries.

Geoffrey has, as a jury advocate, appeared in many criminal trials at the Old Bailey and libel trials in the High Court. He has appeared in several hundred reported cases in the Court of Appeal (both civil and criminal divisions) and in judicial reviews in the High Court, and in subsequent appeals. He has a large advisory practice, for clients including governments, media corporations, NGO’s and local councils.

Commentators:
Professor Edith Hall, Department of Classics, King's College London

Since being awarded the Hellenic Foundation Prize for her Oxford doctorate (1988), Edith has held posts at Cambridge, Oxford, Durham and London Universities. She has published twenty books. She is Co-Founder and Consultant Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek & Roman Drama at Oxford and Chairman of the Gilbert Murray Trust. She has won funding for research from the AHRB, the AHRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, and has just been awarded a Humboldt Research Prize. She appears regularly on BBC Radio, and has acted as consultant to professional productions of ancient drama at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Northern Broadsides, Theaterkombinat and other professional companies.

Professor John Tasioulas, Director of the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law, King's College London

Professor John Tasioulas joined The Dickson Poon School of Law in September, 2014 as the inaugural Chair of Politics, Philosophy & Law and Director of the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy & Law. He was previously Reader in Moral and Legal Philosophy at the University of Oxford, where he taught from 1998-2010, and Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London from 2011-2014. Professor Tasioulas is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Law School, a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, an Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and a member of the Academia Europaea. He has held visiting appointments at the Australian National University, the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the University of Melbourne, and has acted as a consultant on human rights to the World Bank. He has written extensively on topics such as human rights, crime and punishment, the rule of law, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, and the theory of international law, including the nature of customary international law, jus cogens norms, and minimum core obligations.

To read Professor John Tasioulas' response during the discussion please see here.

Chair:
Professor Philippa Webb, Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London

Philippa Webb is Professor of Public International Law. She joined The Dickson Poon School of Law in 2012 after a decade in international legal practice. She was previously visiting Assistant Professor in the Advanced LLM Programme at Leiden University (2009-2011). She has been Visiting Professor at Université Paris X Nanterre, ESADE Law School and Pepperdine University’s London programme. Professor Webb holds a doctorate (JSD) and an LLM from Yale Law School. She obtained the University Medal in her LLB and the University Medal and First Class Honours in her BA (Asian Studies), both of which were awarded by the University of New South Wales in Australia. Professor Webb has extensive experience in international courts and tribunals. She served as the Special Assistant and Legal Officer to Judge Rosalyn Higgins during her Presidency of the International Court of Justice (2006-2009) and, prior to that, as the Judicial Clerk to Judges Higgins and Owada (2004-2005). She was the Associate Legal Adviser to Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo at the International Criminal Court (2005-2006).

23 October 2018

The debating society at UCL schedule a debate for the evening of the 23rd October with the motion 'This House believes the Elgin Marbles should be repatriated'. The evening, part of  society's weekly debate series, will be held at the Bloomsbury campus in London at 19:00.

Speakers for the motion are: William St Clair, Tom Flynn and Alexi Kaye Campbell, a member of BCRPM since October 2017. Speakers opposing the motion include Dominic Selwood, Nick Trend, Deputy Travel Editor for the Telegraph and Jonathan Jones art critic for the Guardian. 

Pictured above are the speakers supporting the motion from left to right: Tom Flynn, Alexi Kaye Campbell and William St Clair, supported by BCRPM's Chair Dame Janet Suzman.

Martin Bailey wrote in The Art Newspaper on Wednesday, 10 May 2023, revealing declassified UK government documents showed the Foreign Office had been dismissive of the British Museum’s lobbying to retain the Parthenon Marbles in 1983. The year when a formal claim was first lodged, after Greece's then Greek culture minister, Melina Mercouri visited London and the British Museum. 

'The Foreign Office recorded that Mercouri argued that the Marbles “are an integral part of a monument that represents the national spirit of Greece”. Wilson responded that they are part of a museum which is a unique international institution that “should not be dismembered”. But the officials concluded that Mercouri “won the argument hands down”.'

Fast forward four decades, and the argument for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles is as compeling today as it has been since the 19th century, and the first request made by Greece after gaining independence. 

Janet Suzman, BCRPM's Chair often speaks of what Melina was like when she first met her in London. "Melina was electric, she swept through Britain in the 80's and captured the hearts and minds of all those that understood the injustice of the removal of these sculptures, their sale to the government by Lord Elgin in 1816, plus their continued display in the British Museum as art pieces, not as a collection of peerless sculptures that will always be intrinsically connected to the Parthenon. A building, which after two and half millennia of history, wars and occupations, still stands proud on the Sacred Hill.

"We could be informed how exactly these stone figures came to be here in this cold gallery in London" suggests Janet Suzman. "Since no proof from the Ottoman Sultanate has yet been found permitting them to be taken from Greece, we could, at the very least, be told that fact. Otherwise we must assume the British Museum has a very tenuous hold on reality when it claims they were legitimately acquired."

"The BCRPM wants to see visitors to the British Museum enlightened, either by a leaflet made available in the Greek galleries, or cogent signage on the plinths themselves, with full information about their acquisition."

"The modern Hellenic Republic, free of the yoke of the Ottomans, desperately wants its cultural heritage - these perticular Parthenon scuptures - returned. For over two hundred years it has wanted them returned. The public deserves to know why; Lord Elgin chopped them off the Parthenon and stole them, silently and clandestinely, and they ought to be back in their own place, where the sun shines." Concludes Janet Suzman.

'In the name of fairness and morality' said Melina in 1986 'please give them back. Such a gesture from Great Britain would ever honour your name'.

“It is with a great sense of pleasure I learned that the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports Dr. L Mendoni has announced the reopening of all museums in Greece from June 15, said Emanuel J Comino AM, founder, and Chairman of the International Organising Committee – Australia – for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles.

“The timing is auspicious as on June 20, a mere five days later, we celebrate the eleventh anniversary of the opening of the Acropolis Museum.

The Acropolis Museum is rated one of the 10 best museums in the world. The reason why is obvious as soon as anyone steps inside. It’s a place deeply and dynamically connected with the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

Every time I visit, I’m not only moved by its superb design and the beautiful presentation of the remaining Parthenon Marbles, but I’m touched with a little sadness. I’m reminded of Elgin’s vandalism, and the Parthenon Marbles now kept in the British Museum. This strengthens my commitment to the campaign for their return.

The Parthenon Marbles kept in the British Museum must be returned to Athens and placed in the Acropolis Museum. This is the only place where the people of the world can begin to appreciate the fullness of their beauty and their contribution to the modern world. Only when they are together can people understand what they are telling us about more than 2000 years of glorious Greek history.

I have long recognised that the British Nation and its people strongly espouse and believe in justice, freedom and friendship. They have demonstrated this over the years, wherever these such values are threatened anywhere around the world.

So, it was with interest I also noted comments from Hartwig Fischer, British Museum Director, this week, he said:

“We stand with everyone who is denied equal rights and protection from violence in the fullest sense of these terms. These are challenges that we as a society must address, injustices that must be overcome.” 

These are sentiments that accord with my understanding of Britain as a country that espouses justice, freedom, and friendship.

Mr. Fischer added:

“We will continue to research, acknowledge and address the colonial history of Britain and its impact on our institution in exhibitions like Collecting Histories and Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific perspectives from 2019. But there is much more to do.”

“Yes Mr Fischer, there is much more to do. The Parthenon Marbles were taken while Greece was under Ottoman occupation, and Britain was an expanding colonial power in the eastern Mediterranean. They were never given to Britain.

Let us hope your comments are not just empty words. It is time to act.”

The BCRPM concurs with our Australian colleagues in their eloquent plea to the Director of the British Museum and would add: “Yes, Mr Fischer, as you say, indeed there is much more to do. The movement unleashed in the world today needs to force those who have profited from peoples deprived of their selfhood by force majeure, to acknowledge that fact, and make restitution.” Dame Janet Suzman Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Dame Janet Suzman with Emanuel J Comino AM, Sunday 14 April 2019 at the Acropolis Museum 

Our recent trip to Athens after a 10 year hiatus, highlighted the favourable and unfavourable changes in this capital city. I travelled with my husband and daughter, and the main aim was to refresh our memories of the cultural magnificence we (as British born Greeks), take for granted.

Having worked in travel for 27 years, I have been lucky enough to travel to many parts of the world both near and far, and both positive and negative changes are inevitable, as was the case on this occasion, when visiting Athens.

The central areas of Athens known as Syntagma Square, Monastiraki and Plaka, somehow did not compare to previous years as I remember them, where the hustle and bustle was leisurely, and probably more traditionally Greek. This area of the city is busy with traditional buildings, luxury hotels, bars, restaurants, shops and crowds filling this space. Time doesn't stand still and Athens has expanded, its population now over 3 million. This central area in my view looked tired, and in need of revival. Perhaps, this was partly caused by the economic crisis of the last 10 years and more recently, Covid 19 and its aftermath.

I was keen for my daughter to experience the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just off Syntagma Square, below the Hellenic Parliament; and also to visit the Acropolis and of course the main star attraction, the Parthenon.

Once we reached the top of  the Acropolis, Athens' iconic tourist attraction, we watched the Greek flag gently blowing in the wind against a blue cloudless sky, and soaked up the many years of ancient history. I was consumed by a sense of pride and honour of my Greek heritage.

Even in November, the citadel was buzzing with tourists from different parts of the world. The evening view of the Acropolis from Monastiraki was captivating in that one picture was just simply not enough!

We then made our way down to the newly built Acropolis Museum which focuses on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis. The museum houses every artifact found on the rock and surrounding slopes dating back from the Greek Bronze age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. A plethora of artifacts with a wealth of information feeding the curious mind.

This modern museum, officially opened in June 2019, houses the original marble sculptures of the Parthenon, exhibited in the same way as they would have been on the monument. Sadly, it is obvious to also see, the missing sculptures, those so many refer to as the 'Elgin marbles', removed by Lord Elgin when Greece had no voice.

Lord Elgin was forced to sell what he had removed, to the British government in 1816, and in turn the government placed these treasures in trust with the British Museum.

The sculptures that are still in the British Museum's Room 18, have been replaced in the Acropolis Museum's Parthenon Gallery by contrasting, stark white plaster copies, further emphasising their harsh removal.

The importance of this collection of sculptures and why the calls for their return grows louder, and louder, is that these marbles deserve to be returned to their birthplace. They deserve to be housed in this amazing museum, to join their surviving halves, with direct views to the Parthenon. This would be the ultimate gesture of respect by the UK to Greece. The Parthenon Marbles were, and will always be referenced by the Parthenon, the jewel in the crown that is the Acropolis.

Athens will always hold a special place in my heart, and after this latest trip, in the hearts of my family too. Our short visit allowed us to re-engage with our Greek heritage but above all, enrich our minds with the profound cultural wealth present in this amazing ancient capital city.

We're looking forward to visiting again, this time, not leaving it so long.

Zoe Hawa