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No return despite “secret talks” DW 06/12/2022

No return despite “secret talks” DW 06/12/2022

 


There is a Greek demand that has existed for centuries. That the so-called Parthenon Marbles, a series of sculptures that were once part of the Parthenon, be removed from the British Museum, where they are currently on display, and returned to Greece once and for all.

The 2,500-year-old sculptures, which depict scenes from Greek mythology, are sometimes called the Elgin Marbles, after Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. His staff began removing them from the Acropolis in 1801 and sold them to the British government, along with hundreds of other ancient objects taken from Athens.

The topic made headlines again when the Greek newspaper Your Nea reported that the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is up for re-election in 2023, said there was “progress” and a “sense of momentum” linked to the return of marbles to Greece. The article quoted a source as saying a deal was “90% complete” in alleged secret negotiations between the British Museum and Greece.

Yet this may have been just part of the Greek prime minister’s strategy to drum up support from the country’s people, as the UK government has said it has no intention of changing the rules. laws prohibiting such objects from being removed from the collection of the British Museum.

The British Museum, meanwhile, has also denied any chance of the Marbles returning immediately.

Visitors view several of the sculptures on display at the British Museum.
The vast transport was taken from the Acropolis in the early 19th centuryImage: David Cliff/NurPhoto/picture alliance

The marble sculptures consist of parts of a frieze, metopes and figures. They make up about half of the surviving sculptural decorations of the Parthenon, many of their counterparts are in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Their sale to the British Museum had only just been passed by an Act of Parliament in 1816 and had already been hotly opposed by some, including the poet and author Lord Byron, who called it “theft”.

Greece has long maintained the items were stolen, while the British Museum says they were acquired legally and should remain in the UK.

As debate erupts frequently, the British Museum’s website includes a statement on behalf of museum trustees pointing out that the sculptures were transported by Lord Elgin who “acted with the full knowledge and permission of the legal authorities of the time in Athens and London.”

In response to the current discussion, the British Museum issued a statement on Monday saying it had no intention of dismantling the collection as it tells the story of a “common humanity”. “We are looking for new, positive, long-term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that of course includes Greece,” the museum said.

Figures of Greek gods and goddesses in battle and horses.
Replicas of one of the friezes of the Acropolis Museum in AthensImage: DW/A. carassava

Pressure mounts after Italy return fragment

When a museum in Sicily, Italy returned a 2,500-year-old marble fragment from the Parthenon to Athens, it sparked new calls for the British Museum to open talks about returning its marble sculptures.

On January 10, the Acropolis Museum in Athens presented the “Fragment of Fagan”, the foot of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis which was returned from the Antonio Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo.

Described by Greece’s Culture Ministry as ‘a deposit, not a loan’ that would remain in Athens for the next eight years, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis took the opportunity to weigh in on the vast Parthenon collection still held in the Kingdom -United.

“I think it also paves the way for the British Museum to enter into serious discussions with the Greek authorities, in order to find a mutually acceptable solution,” Mitsotakis said at the Acropolis museum, where the Parthenon sculptures are kept.

As AFP reported, Mitsotakis cited opinion polls in the UK in favor of restitution, saying that “where there is a will, there is a way…sooner or later it will happen.” will produce”.

The initial debate over restitution

Whether or not the marble sculptures were legally acquired by the UK remains at the heart of the restitution debate, says Alexander Herman, deputy director of the Institute of Art and Law and author of the 2021 book ” Restitution: The Return of Cultural Artefacts” for the series “Hot Topics in the Art World”.

“For over 200 years it has been part of the cultural agenda in the UK and obviously in Greece,” Herman told DW.

Greece was occupied by Turkey at the time Lord Elgin removed the carvings, but soon after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832, demands were received for the return of various artifacts, points out Herman.

As a neutral observer, Herman studied both sides of the Parthenon sculpture debate closely.

A portrait of Alexander Herman smiling.
Alexander Herman studied the Parthenon Marbles debate extensivelyImage: Kailee Mandel

But a broader debate on restitution has taken off in recent years.

Museums around the world, from the United States to Germany, have returned objects acquired in obscure circumstances, often in former colonial strongholds.

In November 2021, France returned to Benin 26 works of art from the former kingdom of Dahomey.

In recent years, the debate has raged around the Benin Bronzes of Berlin, centerpieces of the ethnological museum of the Humboldt Forum. In August 2022, an agreement was signed which returned ownership of the bronzes to Nigeria.

In November 2022, the German Foundation for Lost Art brought together 40 experts from around the world to discuss looted art and the restitution of colonial objects.

There seems to be an increased awareness of the subject in public dialogue, further highlighting the long-running debate between Greece and the UK.

Restitution of Beninese art

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UK calls to return the sculptures

The meeting between the two world leaders in November did not go as the Greek Prime Minister had hoped. Boris Johnson claimed to have nothing to do with it, saying that while he “understands the strength of the feelings of the Greek people” the matter was about the British Museum and not the UK government.

Boris Johnson points the finger at Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Boris Johnson made no promises on the return of the sculptures during his meeting with Greek Prime Minister MitsotakisImage: Victoria Jones/PA Wire/picture alliance

Calls have multiplied for the marbles to be returned.

The subject was taken up in October 2021 by a UNESCO advisory committee, which recommended that the British Museum open a dialogue with Greece regarding their return.

Apparently many in the UK also want the statues returned to Greece: a YouGov poll published in November found that 56% of those polled in the UK favored the repatriation of the sculptures.

Other voices in the UK also weighed in. Writer and activist Stephen Fry, who is the author of several books recounting Greek mythology, called for the statues to be returned to Greece, proposing that the British Museum could use 3D technology to keep visitors connected. to the works.

The Parthenon building on the Acropolis of Athens shines in the sun.
Sculptures began to be taken from the Acropolis in 1801 by Lord ElginImage: Roman Sigaev/Zoonar/picture alliance

Find common ground?

According to restitution specialist Herman, the two sides have become too entrenched in their arguments to easily find a way out of the current impasse. “The more each side tries to win the debate by proving beyond doubt for example that the items were acquired legally in the case of the UK or for the Greek side, that they were stolen and belong to their homeland, the more these arguments end up further entrenching the parties.Both sides need to be able to find a “half-way negotiation or talk” in order to find a solution, Herman says.

If ever a resolution were to come, it would be significant, says the researcher: “It would be a rather special moment, I think, for Anglo-Greek relations, but also for Europe and the world, to show that even the differences more intractable can be solved.”

This article was last updated on December 6, 2022.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier

Sources

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2/ https://www.dw.com/en/parthenon-marbles-no-return-despite-reported-secret-talks/a-60146803

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