http://www.elginism.com/20060904/524/ Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Marbles - Sculptures from the Greek Acropolis) reunification campaign news Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:04:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.elginism.com/20060904/524/comment-page-1/#comment-356 Vidi « Archaeoastronomy Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:23:13 +0000 http://www.elginism.com/20060904/524/#comment-356 [...] A fragment of the Parthenon frieze has been returned to Greece. Elginism has a series of posts on the subject. [...] [...] A fragment of the Parthenon frieze has been returned to Greece. Elginism has a series of posts on the subject. [...]

]]> http://www.elginism.com/20060904/524/comment-page-1/#comment-332 George Vardas Mon, 04 Sep 2006 03:38:33 +0000 http://www.elginism.com/20060904/524/#comment-332 There is an interesting and some would say delicious twist to the the return by the Getty Museum of illicitly-acquired artefacts to Greece (and Italy). The Getty, along with the Metopolitan Museum of New York (another museum tainted by stolen antiquities) were both signatories to the now infamous Universal Museum declaration back in 2002 in which they extolled the virtues of the so-called universal or encyclopaedic museum. The declaration was simply a put-up job by the British Museum as part of its ongoing spin-doctoring regarding the Elgin collection of Parthenon Sculptures. At a time when a fragment of the Parthenon frieze is being returned from Germany, two of the "universal museums" enlisted for support by the BM are now themselves returning artefacts and entering into long-term reciprocal loan arrangements with source countries. The BM can continue to resort to spin - the latest appears to be Neil MacGregor's semantic play on location and dislocation of cultural heritage - but the fact remains that the Parthenon sculptures need to be reunited so that they can best be appreciated on aesthetic and historical grounds as a whole within sight of the Parthenon in the New Acropolis Museum nearing completion in Athens. Until the BM confronts this reality, and starts dealing with the Greeks on the same terms as it is with its new cultural arrangements with Iraq, Kenya, Ethiopia, China and the rest, its self-described (and self-serving) role as the world's "cultural ambassador" will remain a hollow epithet. There is an interesting and some would say delicious twist to the the return by the Getty Museum of illicitly-acquired artefacts to Greece (and Italy). The Getty, along with the Metopolitan Museum of New York (another museum tainted by stolen antiquities) were both signatories to the now infamous Universal Museum declaration back in 2002 in which they extolled the virtues of the so-called universal or encyclopaedic museum. The declaration was simply a put-up job by the British Museum as part of its ongoing spin-doctoring regarding the Elgin collection of Parthenon Sculptures. At a time when a fragment of the Parthenon frieze is being returned from Germany, two of the “universal museums” enlisted for support by the BM are now themselves returning artefacts and entering into long-term reciprocal loan arrangements with source countries. The BM can continue to resort to spin – the latest appears to be Neil MacGregor’s semantic play on location and dislocation of cultural heritage – but the fact remains that the Parthenon sculptures need to be reunited so that they can best be appreciated on aesthetic and historical grounds as a whole within sight of the Parthenon in the New Acropolis Museum nearing completion in Athens. Until the BM confronts this reality, and starts dealing with the Greeks on the same terms as it is with its new cultural arrangements with Iraq, Kenya, Ethiopia, China and the rest, its self-described (and self-serving) role as the world’s “cultural ambassador” will remain a hollow epithet.

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