A new phase in the ongoing CCAM restoration of the Acropolis site in Athens

Further coverage of the next phase of restoration work on the west pediment of the Parthenon.

The West end of the Parthenon

From:
CTV News (Canada)

Parthenon to get a boost as part of Greek Acropolis restoration
AFP
Published Friday, August 5, 2016 8:09AM EDT

Restoration work on Athens’ Acropolis is set to shift to the west side of the Parthenon under a 40-year-long effort to restore the ancient archaeological monument, officials said Thursday.

“Most of the restoration work was completed in 2015, whereby we fixed the most important and urgent problems,” the head of the operation Vassiliki Eleftheriou told AFP.
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Although many would like them returned, others take a certain pride in the way they have been preserved overseas and feel that they are perhaps better looked after there

This article sums up something that I have noticed hinted at in various previous articles and more specifically in comments on twitter.

Within Britain’s largest museums, there are huge collections of artefacts that were acquired from India in a range of circumstances, some more questionable than others. Many in India justifiably want some of these artefacts returned. Many more however, see the well preserved state of the artefacts in the UK as a contrast to the lacklustre state of many museums in their own country. Still more do not trust the motives of politicians, who they feel want items returned only for nationalist reasons.

I think a lot of the ambivalence to restitution of Indian artefacts perhaps stems from the distrust many have of the government there – endemic corruption potentially puts the items at greater risk if they are returned home. In a perfect world though, when these issues are solved, I would hope that more in India would want to also reclaim their heritage.

Detail from the Amravati Stupa in the British Museum

From:
Indian Express

British museums shine thanks to all the loot from India
Adrija Roychowdhury
Published on:August 15, 2016 12:41 pm

In Britain, a museum visitor from India is suddenly made aware of how his or her past has brutally been ripped away and appended to British history, now on display for tourists from around the world to gloat over.

I first stepped onto the streets of London in the summer of 2015 as part of research work for my Masters thesis. An apt way to describe the city would be to call it a snippet of a dream carefully plucked out from a history book. For someone who was enthralled by the magnificence of British history, London was everything I had read and heard about all my life.
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The long running Acropolis programme of works on the Acropolis site enters a new phase

The current restoration of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis has been ongoing for many years now. This week, the go-ahead has been given by the Central Archaeological Council for works to proceed on the West Pediment.

You can read more about the proposals (in Greek) here.

The West end of the Parthenon

From:
Greek Reporter

Restoration Work on Parthenon’s Western Pediment to Begin
By Kerry Kolasa-Sikiaridi –
Aug 4, 2016

The Central Archaeological Council (KAS) approved on Wednesday two projects for the restoration of the upright marble slabs and background wall of the drum which form part of Parthenon’s western pediment.

According to the researchers who presented the two studies, the work involves rescue interventions aimed at dealing with the problems found by restorers in that section of the pediment – mainly cracks formed by various causes. In the future, the studies could be used to evaluate whether it would be useful to add material in place of the two missing slabs, they said.
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The fact that such a bill has been proposed with cross party support means that whether or not implemented, the appetite for return exists in the UK

The below articles contain further coverage of the Parthenon Sculptures (Return to Greece) Bill currently presented to the UK parliament. Whether or not this bill actually becomes law,, it is indicative that there is cross party support for the restitution of the sculptures. As with many issues in parliament (the EU is one that has been prominent in recent months), those in different parties may support the cause for a variety of different reasons, but the fact remains that they are all supporting the same end goal.

Parthenon Marbles in British Museum

From:
Hyperallergic

British MPs Propose Bill to Return the Elgin Marbles to Greece
by Allison Meier
July 11, 2016

With the 200th anniversary this week of the July 11, 1816 purchase through an Act of Parliament of the Parthenon Marbles for the British Museum, members of parliament (MPs) are introducing a bill that would repatriate the ancient artifacts. Greece has advocated for their return ever since the country’s 1832 War of Independence, but with the UK soon to negotiate its departure from the European Union following Brexit, supporters see this as an opportunity to finally send the sculptures back to their home.

The Parthenon Marbles, sometimes called the Elgin Marbles for Lord Elgin, who sold them to the British Museum, have a contentious and complicated history. The complications stem from the circumstances under which they were removed, and whether that removal under a time of Turkish occupation means they should be returned. The “Parthenon Sculptures (Return to Greece) Bill” asks for “provision for the transfer of ownership and return to Greece of the artefacts known as the Parthenon Sculptures, or Elgin Marbles, purchased by Parliament in 1816; to amend the British Museum Act 1963 accordingly; and for connected purposes.”
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Could Britain leaving the EU lead to the return of disputed Nigerian treasures

Taking a cue from the Parthenon Sculptures (Return to Greece) Bill, and the legal claim inadmissibility, questions are being asked about whether Brexit could be a route to the repatriation of other disputed artefacts in the British Museum. Nigeria has various claims relating to the seizure of artefacts from the ancient kingdom of Benin during punitive raids by the British in 1897.

Benin Bronzes in the British Museum

From:
The Guardian (Nigeria)

Brexit: How hope may rise for Nigeria’s looted artefacts
By Tajudeen Sowole
31 July 2016

If the two centuries of ownership crisis between United Kingdom and Greece, over controversial Parthenon Marbles, is resolved as a result of Brexit, hopes may appear on the horizon for return of artefacts of Nigerian origin incarcerated in the British Museum, London. Currently, what has been described as “a cross party group” of British MPs has reopened bid to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece as part of effort to keep healthy relationship with Athens after Brexit.

Also known as the Elgin Marbles, the objects, which include parts of sculptures and frieze from 2,500 years old of remnant ancient master pieces became subject of ownership tussle after the British government acquired them 200 years ago. The sculptures were originally removed from Parthenon, an ancient edifice in Athens by the seventh Earl of Elgin, Thomas Bruce, who was suspected to have ‘stolen’ the pieces from Greece during Ottoman Empire rule. But the then British Parliament disagreed that the marble pieces were illegitimately acquired.
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