In Turkey, various groups have recently been trying to put pressure on the British Museum for the return of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Like those involved in many similar cases though, they are having difficulty coordinating their own efforts with those of their government, only to meet with negative responses from the British Museum which refuses to consider any sort of negotiations.

From:
Turkish Daily News

Tuesday, Nov 14 2006 3:44 pm GMT+2
No official petition filed to take King Mausolos’ mausoleum back
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

Representatives of several Bodrum-based nongovernmental organizations visiting London to take part in an international tourism fair held in the British capital found that no official petition has been filed with British authorities to return King Mausolos’ mausoleum to Bodrum, its original location.
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Much as the British Museum feels that preservation of culture & artefacts means bringing them to London, it would appear that some other institutions take a more enlightened view.
The Imperial Museum in the UK has purchased a Victoria Cross medal awarded to a New Zealand soldier for its historical significance, but has agreed that it can be displayed in the Army Museum in Waiouru, recognising that this medal remains a part of New Zealand’s culture.

From:
Stuff (New Zealand)

Upham medals sold to British museum but to stay in NZ
14 November 2006
By IAN STUART

The rare medals of New Zealand’s most decorated soldier, Captain Charles Upham, have been bought by an overseas museum but will stay in this country.

Captain Upham’s Victoria Cross and bar, the only double VC ever won by a combat soldier, have been bought by Britain’s Imperial War Museum and will be lent to New Zealand for 999 years.
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More articles from various sources on Birgit Wiger-Angner’s handover of the fragment of the Erechtheion to Greece.

From:
BBC News

Last Updated: Friday, 10 November 2006, 22:50 GMT
Swede gives back Acropolis marble
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

A retired Swedish gym teacher is the toast of Greece after returning a piece of sculpted marble taken from the Acropolis more than a century ago.

Birgit Wiger-Angner’s family held the marble for 110 years, but she decided to return it to Athens after hearing about Greece’s Elgin marbles campaign.
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More details of the exhibition of disputed Roman Treasures by Bonhams prior to their proposed sale.

From:
The Age (Melbourne)

Mysterious deaths, the Marquess and the forbidden treasure
Michael backman
November 10, 2006

AN EXTRAORDINARY event is under way in London. The auction house Bonhams is exhibiting to invited viewers one of the world’s most astonishing but rarely seen art treasures: the 2500-year-old Sevso Hoard. It comprises 14 items of silver and represents probably the most important collection of Roman silver ever found. What also makes the event extraordinary is that the Hoard most probably was stolen.

Many are interested in the fate of the Hoard. China has asked the US State Department to place an embargo on the importation of all artefacts and artworks made in China before 1911. What is unusual about the Chinese request is its extremely broad scope. US-based art dealers and auction houses are aghast that their Government might agree to this request or some version of it as part of a wider trade deal. The US has just decided to delay its decision until early next year, but rarely does it reject such requests in their entirety.
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More coverage of the handover to Greece by Sweden of a fragment from the Erechtheion.

From:
Middle East Times (Egypt)

Sweden to return Acropolis frieze to Greece
AFP
November 7, 2006

STOCKHOLM — A marble frieze from the Acropolis in Athens that was taken to Sweden by a naval officer 110 years ago and remained in his family’s possession until last year is to be officially returned to Greece this week, a Stockholm museum announced Monday.

The marble fragment comes from the Erechtheion temple, built around 420 BCE and known for its ornamental decoration and pillars in the form of statues of women known as Karyatides, the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities said.
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The official handover of a fragment of the Erechtheion currently held in Sweden, will take place next week.
Although this does not represent a part of the Parthenon itself, it is still a significant step, not least because it shows that in the opinions of many members of the public artefacts such as these should be repatriated. Each time a piece is returned without setting a precedent or opening the floodgates, the British Museum’s argument for retention becomes slightly weaker.

From:
Sveriges Radio International (Radio Sweden)

8th November 2006
Acropolis Frieze Returned to Greece

A marble frieze from the Acropolis in Athens is being returned from Sweden.

Stockholm’s Museum of Mediterranean and Middle East Antiquities says the marble fragment will be officially returned to Greece this week. It comes from the Erechtheion temple, build around 420 BC. The frieze was taken to Sweden by a naval officer 110 years ago, and remained in his family’s possession until last year, when it was turned over to the museum.
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The Parthenon Sculptures are regularly a topic at UNESCO meetings discussing issues related to cultural property. Here though, the issue is raised at the UN General Assembly as part of a draft resolution on cultural property restitution. This is an important move, not least because such discussions within a global forum will considerably raise the profile of the case.

From:
United Nations

3 November 2006
Sixty-first General Assembly
General Assembly
GA/10527
Plenary

47th & 48th Meetings (AM & PM)
ADOPTING CONSENSUS TEXT ON SPORT FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT, GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INVITES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INTEGRATE SPORT INTO DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
Drafts Tabled on Inter-Religious Dialogue, Return of Cultural Property,
Culture of Peace Decade; Annual ECOSOC Report Also Presented, in Day-Long Debate

Recognizing that sports and physical education presented opportunities for solidarity and cooperation in promoting tolerance, a culture of peace, and social and gender equality, the United Nations General Assembly today invited its Member States to join sports organizations, the world media and civil society in a global effort to support sport-based initiatives, which would help foster peace, cultural exchange and the attainment of globally agreed development goals.
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