The Marbles Reunited campaign has an associated Facebook group which is open to all who support the campaign for reunification of the Elgin Marbles in Athens.

If you are a supporter & a member of Facebook, then you are encouraged to join the group. (Note that this is not the same as full membership of the Marbles Reunited campaign. Any who join the group are encouraged to become members, but it is not obligatory). If you join, please also encourage any friends you have who might be interested in it to also become members - the more people who join, the greater the awareness of the campaign.

The Facegroup group is located here.

Marbles Reunited’s website is located here.

A follow-up article to Malcolm Brabant’s broadcast about the New Acropolis Museum. The museum has been & in the minds of many people, always will be controversial, due to its proximity to one of the worlds most iconic archaeological sites. Once the building opens however, many perceptions will change & evolve as people finally get a chance to experience the building themselves.

From:
BBC News

Page last updated at 01:05 GMT, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 02:05 UK
New home for Greece’s holy grail
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, in Athens

The Acropolis Museum is now just months away from entering service in Greece’s struggle with its most implacable cultural adversary.

Its priceless treasures lie in marble halls, hidden from view in giant removal boxes.

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BBC reporter Malcolm Brabant has been shown round the New Acropolis Museum in Athens & reports on its progress & how it will act as a powerful argument for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

You can watch the broadcast online here.

Nashville Tennessee is home to the most accurate replica of the Parthenon. Despite the accuracy of parts of it however, anyone who has seen the real Parthenon in Athens will understand that without its surrounding context, it can never even come close to recreating the experience.

From:
Home & Away magazine (American Automobile Association)

The Temple in Tennessee
Nashville’s Parthenon stands as a tribute to ancient Grecian culture.
By Andrea Gross

The Parthenon is one of the world’s most renowned buildings, an artistic and architectural wonder that serves as a reminder of the glories of ancient Greece. And, as we all know, it sits atop the Acropolis, one of the highest hills in Athens.

To the surprise of many, it also sits atop a small hill in Nashville.

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Discussion continues on a total ban on trade in Iraqi artefacts until the situation in the country has stabilised.

From:
The Guardian

Ban proposed on Iraqi antiquities trade
Maev Kennedy
Thursday May 1, 2008
guardian.co.uk

A worldwide ban on buying and selling any Iraqi antiquities was proposed yesterday in London by a senior Iraqi official, as the only way of ending an illicit trade which has left looted sites resembling lunar landscapes, pitted with hundreds of holes and trenches.

Dr Bahaa Mayah, an archaeologist and adviser to the Iraqi Minister for Tourism and Antiquities, speaking at the British Museum where Iraqi, British and American experts had gathered to discuss the plight of looted antiquities, said, “we have to stop this problem at the roots”. A ban on trading in any Iraqi artefacts would strip them of their commercial value, he said, and mean there was no longer any financial incentive to dig them out of the ground.

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Many arguments have arisen from the looting of Iraq. Much of the trade in looted artefacts though is directly reliant on dealers in the west & not enough is being done to stop this.

From:
The Independent

Iraqi expert accuses West over antiquities trade
By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent
Thursday, 1 May 2008

A senior Iraqi official has accused the West of not doing enough to stop the thriving trade in antiquities smuggled out of the country’s depleted archeological sites and sold in auction houses across Britain, America and Europe.

Dr Bahaa Mayah, a special adviser to Iraq’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, called for an immediate global ban on the sale of at least 100,000 artefacts that have been stolen since the invasion.

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Australia’s Charles Darwin University is hosting a lecture on The global campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

From:
Charles Darwin University

Battle over ‘Marbles’ spans two centuries
29 April 2008

Charles Darwin University will hold a free public lecture this week presenting, “The global campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles”.

The founder and chairman of the International Organising Committee Australia for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles, Mr Emanuel J. Comino will speak about his campaign to return the “world’s greatest single collection of classical Greek sculptures” to Greece.

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Many excuses are made by the museums of the west for the retention of artefacts. In this case, the argument is that making art works out of artefacts, particular those originating from “primitive” cultures will increase their chance of survival.

From:
Afrikanet

WOLF LEPENIES AND THE ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BERLIN.
Written by Dr. Kwame Opoku
Sunday, 27 April 2008
WHY DO EUROPEANS, EVEN INTELLECTUALS, HAVE DIFFICULTY IN CONTEMPLATING THE RESTITUTION OF STOLEN AFRICAN CULTURAL OBJECTS? WOLF LEPENIES AND THE ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BERLIN.

Universal culture can only be achieved when all cultures are able and free to make their contribution but this cannot be done when the guardians of one culture hijack the masterpieces of another culture. (Picture: Mask pwo or mwana pwo, Chokwe, Angola. Ethnology Museum, Berlin.)

In a recent article in a leading German newspaper, Abschied vom intellektuellen Kolonialismus with the title, Farewell to intellectual Colonialism; What Berlin can learn from the debate over the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. (1) Wolf Lepenies, holder of the Peace Price of the German Book Industry and recipient of several other academic distinctions, reminded me once again of the enormous difficulties Europeans, even intellectuals, seem to experience when they deal with African problems and above all, when they consider matters in which the interests of Europeans and Africans are involved. Somehow they seem unable or unwilling to give to Africans the same consideration as they give to others.

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The donation of artefacts back to Canada by the Elgin family has now been delayed by the British Government. One fears that any return decision on the Elgin Marbles would probably suffer a similar fate.

From:
Ottawa Citizen

Red tape likely to delay Elgin artifacts display
Library and Archives’ acquisitions yet to receive OK from Britain
Paul Gessell, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

Library and Archives Canada held a news conference yesterday to announce it has acquired, through a combination of donation and purchase, thousands of personal letters, state documents, paintings and other artifacts owned by Lord Elgin, governor general from 1847-1854.

The announcement was somewhat premature. Britain still has not given the green light for the export of all the loot.

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Some more information on the return of the lekythos to Greece yesterday from Switzerland. Looting Matters also discusses this event in more detail, looking at the secrecy that seems to surround some of the coverage of it.

Greek Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis has also used this event to highlight again the need for the Elgin Marbles to be returned.

From:
MSNBC

Ancient urn returns to Greece
Campaign underway to reclaim illegally exported antiquities
Associated Press

updated 3:41 p.m. ET April 21, 2008ATHENS, Greece - A 2,400-year-old funerary urn has been returned to Greece and put on display, part of a campaign to reclaim illegally exported antiquities from museums and art dealers around the world.

The marble urn was displayed Monday at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

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The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures currently has fourteen member organisations:

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden & USA

If people are aware of other organisations whose main goal is the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, especially national committees who are not already members, could they please let me know (using the contact form - menu at the top right of this page) & the details will be passed on to the relevant people.

Please note that membership of the International Association is only open to organisations - individual membership is not possible.

This is also a good point to remind people that the Marbles Reunited campaign in the UK is looking for a campaign director - see the previous post for more details.

Following negotiations by the Greek Government, a lekythos or flask used for oil has now returned to Athens from a private collection in Switzerland.

From:
Athens News Agency

04/21/2008
Ancient lekythos returned

Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis on Monday officially presented an ancient marble oil flask or lekythos dating from the 4th century B.C. that was returned to Greece from a private collection in Switzerland, at a press conference held at the National Archaeological Museum.

The procedure to repatriate the ancient artifact was completed last Thursday and in a few days it will be taken to the museum’s conservation workshops, where it will remain for two months.

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