Yet again the plight of the buildings in front of the New Acropolis Museum re-surfaces in the news. No decision has been made, but indications are that they will be demolished. Apart from the front elevation though, the buildings are fairly un-noteworthy except through their proximity to the Acropolis. One wonders whether better timing could have got this issue out of the way long ago to stop it detracting from the imminently opening of the New Acropolis Museum in the coming months.

From:
Reuters

Greece may demolish landmarks for Acropolis view
Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:11AM EDT
By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS, July 13 (Reuters Life!) – Greek activists vowed to stage protests and take legal action to stop the demolition of two historic buildings in order to clear the view from the new Acropolis museum.

The new museum which opens its gates in 2008 after years of delays, is expected to spur on renewed efforts to bring home the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum in London.
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In a new twist to the long running sage, Italy has issued an ultimatum to the Getty to return artefacts or face an “embargo”.

From:
Time Magazine blogs

July 11, 2007 1:42
The Italian Stallion
Posted by Richard Lacayo

Things are getting serious here. Francesco Rutelli, the Italian culture minister who has been on the warpath over looted antiquities, abruptly issued an ultimatum yesterday to the J. Paul Getty Museum. Return everything we demand by the end of the month or Italy will impose “an embargo” on the Getty. Meaning “an end to cultural and scientific collaboration.” Meaning, presumably, an end to everything from scholarly exchanges to archeological digs.

If you’ve just joined this game in mid-play, here’s a quick summary of the action so far. Italy wants the Getty to return more than 40 ancient works. The Getty was prepared to agree to the return of 26, but that agreement fell through when Rutelli also demanded return of the so-called Getty Bronze. A Greek statue of a victorious athlete dating from around the third century B.C., it was fished out of international waters near Italy in 1964. It now happens to be one of the star attractions of the Getty Villa in Malibu, where it has its own gallery. The Getty insists that the Italian claim on the bronze boy is invalid, since it was found in international waters. The Italians counter that it was brought briefly onto Italian soil and illegally exported from there. I stopped by the Getty Villa a few months ago to pay it what I knew might be a farewell visit. It’s a piece worth fighting over.
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Zahi Hawass talks about how his country needs to reclaim more artefacts to fill the new museums that it is currently building.

From:
New York Sun

Egypt’s Antiquities Tsar Wields His Power
By KATE TAYLOR
July 12, 2007

Egypt currently has a dozen new museums under construction — and not enough masterpieces of ancient art to fill them, the secretary-general of the Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, said yesterday in an interview.

“People used to say that Egypt does not have good museums. We have better museums now than they have,” Mr. Hawass, who is in New York to promote the Discovery Channel documentary, “Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen,” about the possible identification of the mummy of Hatshepsut, said. But “we don’t have enough objects,” Mr. Hawass said.
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The Greek government have announced further plans for stemming the trade in looted antiquities from the country.

From:
Khaleej Times (Dubai)

Khaleej Times Online >> News >> THE WORLD
Greece plans crackdown on antiques trafficking
(AFP)
9 July 2007

ATHENS – Greece plans a raft of fresh measures to combat the multi-million dollar international trade in stolen and fake antiques, Culture Minister Georgos Voulgarakis said on Monday.

The government will introduce legislation later this month to ensure closer cooperation between archeologists and the police to combat ‘one the most lucrative criminal activities in the world,’ Voulgarakis said.
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Something will be missing from the New Acropolis Museum when it opens – but maybe this absence will hasten its return?

From:
Cafe Babel

Anna Karla – Athens – 10.7.2007
European heritage battle

At the foot of the Acropolis, a new museum is undergoing construction – but something important is missing: the British Museum is not prepared to return pieces of the world-famous Parthenon frieze to Athens

Light filters through the glass façade on the top floor of the New Acropolis Museum. The ground is covered with boards and there is an odour of dust and mortar. ‘We find ourselves on the third floor, in the Parthenon gallery,’ explains Dimitrios Pandermalis, professor of archaeology and director of Organisation for the Construction of the New Acropolis Museum (OANMA). ‘One day, the entire frieze of the Parthenon temple will hang here.’ Wearing a safety helmet, he climbs over concrete slabs and across unsteady walkways. The new building is still a long way from being able to house antique treasures.
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Preparations for moving items from the existing museum on the Acropolis, to the New Acropolis Museum, are now well underway.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Monday July 2, 2007
Museum on Acropolis closes for big move

The Acropolis Museum next to the Parthenon will close today so that preparations can get under way for the transfer of some 300 ancient artifacts to the new museum that is being built just 400 meters away, the Culture Ministry said on Saturday.

Three giant lifting cranes will be used to help move 5th century BC antiquities from the Parthenon to the New Acropolis Museum at the foot of the hill.
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