Following on from the Colloquy on the return of the Parthenon Marbles in June, they have now put online videos of all the speakers who were there.

You can view them on Youtube here.

Since posting yesterday about the exhibition of watercolour paintings of the Elgin Marbles, I have come across a video, which gives you a far better idea of the quality of these paintings & the level of detail in them.

You can see it on Youtube here.

Monuments Men was originally a book by Robert M. Edsel, soon to be made into a film by George Clooney.

The story is based around people at various museums, who during the second world war did anything in their power to protect as many of their artefacts as possible from potential seizure by the Nazis. Now, in its own way, this is admirable behaviour – although I think a distinction needs to be made between protecting the artefacts – and just not wanting someone else to have them – thus enriching their culture rather than your own. Many of the items that were “protected” were removed from other countries in times of war – and these earlier removals were seen as entirely acceptable, while at the same time, we tried to stop the same thing from happening to them again. Many times, the excuse has been given for the removal of items such as the Parthenon Marbles, that had the British not takes them, Napoleon would have. Looking at it another way though, is this different from walking past a shop that has the door open at night & robbing it before someone else does, rather than closing the door & helping to secure it?

I’m sure that most of the monuments men had entirely admirable intentions – I just have trouble reconciling some of their behaviour & the reasoning behind it, with that of their predecessors – that the same action by one person can be right, when it is wrong by another.

From:
Get The Big Picture

Monday, October 29, 2012 at 7:06AM
Some Dude Named Clooney Snags Steve Zissou & Galadriel for Next Movie

Say what you will about George Clooney (and I really don’t have anything negative to say about the guy), but he has a pretty good eye when it comes to picking projects, be it for acting or directing. I’m a fan of the movies he’s directed (especially Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). He’s not flashy, workman like I would say, but outside of Leatherheads, the guy has delivered. His next project might be another win for the Cloonster and he’s bringing Bill Murray & Cate Blanchett along for the ride.

The movie is called Monuments Men (based on a book of the same name by Robert Edsel) and while it’s another movie set during World War II, this one has a really interesting premise:
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The Thirsty Gargoyle has an interesting blog post about why the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned. Their post is inspired by Stephen Fry’s views on the subject, but looks in more detail about how many in Britain take views on subjects, despite knowing too little about it to be in a position to form a real opinion.

Read it here.

Turkey has been very active in pursuing foreign museums that it claims are illegally holding Turkish artefacts in recent months. Now, there are claims that tiles on display in the Louvre formed part of a mosaic illegally removed from a Turkish Mosque, although it is unclear how & when the pieces were removed from their original setting.

From:
France 24

Latest update: 02/11/2012
Louvre – Paris
Louvre denies Turkish tiles ‘stolen’ from historic mosque

Paris’s world famous Louvre museum denied accusations on Friday that it was exhibiting tiles stolen from Turkey hundreds of years ago, following claims made in a Turkish daily that the tiles were pilfered from a historic mosque.

The Louvre museum in Paris on Friday said there had been no official demand from Ankara to return tiles that a Turkish daily claims were stolen from a historic mosque, adding they had been acquired legally.
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An exhibition at Gurari Collections, Boston, MA, is displaying various watercolour paintings of the Parthenon Sculptures by artist Wendy Artin.

From:
People of Shambhala

Elgin Marbles given new life in watercolor exhibition
Posted by People of Shambhala on October 28, 2012

One of the most important artifacts of the ancient world — the Elgin Marbles — has come to the USA in the form of a new watercolor exhibition in Boston.

The Elgin Marbles were acquired Lord Elgin when he served as ambassador to the Ottoman court of the Sultan in Istanbulin between 1801 and 1805. The sculptures were later bought by the British Parliament and given to the British Museum where they currently reside. However, Greece has repeatedly called for the artifacts to be returned to their country of origin.
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In the past (& fairly recently, in relation to any riots that ever take place there), people have suggested that it is lucky that the Parthenon Marbles (or Egyptian artefacts etc depending what is happening around the world) artefacts in the British Museum, otherwise they would have been more likely to be destroyed.

The assertions of this, assume that for some reason museums in the UK are completely secure – that accidents can’t happen & that every artefact remains forever in the same condition as it was when it was acquired.

Surely though, it would be something hard to own up to – and very galling to the original (& claiming to be rightful) owners, that their artefacts that you were “looking after safely” for them were lost or destroyed? It is hardly as though this is the first time that such a story has surfaced.

From:
Big News Network

British artwork damaged at museums
Big News Network (UPI) Tuesday 6th November, 2012

LONDON — British officials said 199 art exhibits have been lost or stolen from Britain’s national galleries and museums during the last three years.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed many of the artworks, including pieces by Poussin to Roy Lichtenstein, were damaged by the very staff members who are supposed to protect and preserve them, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
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Using the Layar app for phones & tablets, it appears that it is already possible to see what the Duveen Gallery at the British Museum would look like if the Parthenon Marbles were returned.

I’m not sure exactly who the target market is for this, but it can help to generate a lot of publicity for the issue, particularly if people use it obviously while visiting the British Museum.

The original article is on Mark Skwarek’s blog & consists almost entirely made of images, so you will have to follow this link to view it.

For travellers who want to plan their trips in advance & have limited time, booking tickets online and skipping the queue has been a great way to maximise the time actually spent inside the museums, particularly those such as the Vatican Museum that are prone to lengthy queues. Greece has now announced that a similar service will be available for many of their archaeological sites. This is great news, although the benefits are probably not as great as somewhere like Rome, as in my experience, the queues to actually get into sites such as the Acropolis have never been as problematic as they are in some countries.

From:
Greek Reporter

E-tickets for Greek Museums, Archaeological Sites
By Christina Flora on November 3, 2012 in News

The Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports has begun a special ticket issuing program for museums and archaeological sites using computers and mobile phones.

The e-ticket program is going to operate within the next few months and will include 30 frequent visited museums and archaeological sites such as Acropolis, Delphi, Ancient Olympia and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Visitors will be able to get their ticket with a single click on the link which is going to be created soon.
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