http://www.elginism.com/20090125/1698/ Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Marbles or Sculptures) Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:10:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.elginism.com/20090125/1698/comment-page-1/#comment-5389 Sophia Psarra Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:53:42 +0000 http://www.elginism.com/?p=1698#comment-5389 If we accept the benefits of a universal museum, we might as easily accept the idea of universal buildings such as the Parthenon. As the vast scholarship this building has attracted demonstrates, it unified architecture and sculpture, promoting ideas that have acquired universal value, that is, democracy and its development in 5th century Athens. Museums remove artifacts from their original contexts, but there is merit in this decontextualization such as the study and display of culture in a comparative manner. But the case of universal buildings that have influenced western civilization in an immense way, might support the return of certain artifacts not to the country they 'belong' to, but to the contexts from which they were taken from, integrating in this way all elements that sustained their universal message. The New Acropolis Museum is the best available place for showing the marbles, in direct visual contact with the Parthenon. These sculptures do not belong to any nation or any universal, national or regional museum, and are not the only symbols of the Greek identity. It is well known among the Greeks that their identity is a far more complex issue based on multiple factors alongside their ancient past. The marbles belong to a universal building and a location of universal significance. The legitimization of a universal museum on the basis of an unparalleled diversity of collections developed in the 18th century, legitimizes the return of the marbles to a building that developed and continues to project throughout the centuries an unparalleled universality. If we accept the benefits of a universal museum, we might as easily accept the idea of universal buildings such as the Parthenon. As the vast scholarship this building has attracted demonstrates, it unified architecture and sculpture, promoting ideas that have acquired universal value, that is, democracy and its development in 5th century Athens. Museums remove artifacts from their original contexts, but there is merit in this decontextualization such as the study and display of culture in a comparative manner. But the case of universal buildings that have influenced western civilization in an immense way, might support the return of certain artifacts not to the country they ‘belong’ to, but to the contexts from which they were taken from, integrating in this way all elements that sustained their universal message. The New Acropolis Museum is the best available place for showing the marbles, in direct visual contact with the Parthenon. These sculptures do not belong to any nation or any universal, national or regional museum, and are not the only symbols of the Greek identity. It is well known among the Greeks that their identity is a far more complex issue based on multiple factors alongside their ancient past. The marbles belong to a universal building and a location of universal significance. The legitimization of a universal museum on the basis of an unparalleled diversity of collections developed in the 18th century, legitimizes the return of the marbles to a building that developed and continues to project throughout the centuries an unparalleled universality.

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