The British Museum’s statements regarding the Elgin Marbles could well have an impact on many other items in their collection that people want returned.

From:
Straits Times

British Museum won’t return any of its stolen cultural relics
The Dunhuang Cave relics will stay at the British Museum following its refusal to return Greece’s Elgin Marbles, say officials
By Alfred Lee

LONDON – The British Museum is unlikely to return China’s Dunhuang Cave treasures and other stolen cultural relics following its statement yesterday that it has decided to not give back Greece’s famous Elgin Marbles.

The Marbles were looted from the Parthenon in Athens in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to Greece.
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British Museum director Neil MacGregor has made the somewhat reckless move of suggesting that the Parthenon Sculptures will never return to Greece.

This point of view that he is taking, would suggest that there is no point in Greece wasting their time entering into any sort of negotiations & leaves no space for any consideration that there might ever be an organised return of artefacts, allowing the museum to move on from the issue.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Elgin marbles ‘will never be returned to Greece‘
By Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent
(Filed: 23/02/2003)

The Elgin marbles will never be returned to Greece, even on loan, the director of the British Museum has told The Telegraph.

In a ruling which will infuriate the Greek authorities, Neil MacGregor – who took over as director of the museum last August – said that the marbles could “do most good” in their current home, where they are seen in a broader historical context.
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The declaration on “Universal Museums” has been met with trepidation by many, who think that it exhibits an out of date approach to cultural property & international diplomacy.

From:
The Art Newspaper

“A George Bush approach to international relations”
ICOM and lobby groups react with hostility to appeal by leading museum directors to view collections acquired in earlier times as important to “universal museums”
By Martin Bailey

LONDON. In our January issue we published the declaration on “universal museums”, signed by the directors of more than 30 of the world’s greatest museums. These included the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Berlin State Museums and the Rijksmuseum (The Art Newspaper, no. 132, January 2003, pp.1,6).

The statement argued that “objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values, reflective of that earlier era.” Despite demands for repatriation, the directors stressed the importance of the “universal museum”, where world culture is on display.
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The Times has published some of the responses that it received in response to its piece on the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
The Times

January 28, 2003

Return of the Elgin Marbles

With the 2004 Olympics approaching, is it time for Britain to settle this long-running dispute?
BRITAIN should return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. They form no part of our heritage and are rarely viewed by visitors to the British Museum. They should be reunited with their other halves in Athens.

David Brown, Colchester, Essex

Table talk

A SIMPLE solution struck me while reading Saturday’s article on the Elgin Marbles. Let the Greek and British powers that be sit around the table and trade pieces of sculpture. That way both countries would benefit, and visitors to the museums would be able to see the sculptures in a more complete form. I wonder if an agreement could be reached. Perhaps this would be asking too much of human nature.
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Many countries (generally most of those whose institutions weren’t involved in signing the declaration) have issues with the “Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums”, that was issued a few months ago. The declaration favours only seeing one version of history, while ignoring other verions and the original owners.

From:
People’s Daily

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Foreign Museums Refuse to Return Cultural relics, Chinese Experts in Action

On 10 December, 2002, eighteen major museums and research institutes of Europe and America, including the British Museum and the Louvre Museum, jointly signed a Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums (hereinafter referred to as “Declaration”), which opposes returning art works, especially ancient ones, to their original owners.

On 10 December, 2002, eighteen major museums and research institutes of Europe and America, including the British Museum and the Louvre Museum, jointly signed a Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums (hereinafter referred to as “Declaration”), which opposes returning art works, especially ancient ones, to their original owners.
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Greece is arranging an artefact swap with Italy, whereby they give Italy a fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet, in exchange for a fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
The Times

January 11, 2003
Grecian return puts Marbles in spotlight
From Richard Owen in Rome

GREECE is to return one of its greatest historical treasures to Italy in return for a small fragment of the Parthenon frieze.

The fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet is one of two donated to the Temple of Zeus on Mount Olympus by Hieron, the “Tyrant of Syracuse” in Sicily. Hieron was giving thanks to the gods for his military victories over the Etruscans and Carthaginians.
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The so called “Universal Museums” claim to represent the whole world, but it must be borne in mind, that this is an entirely self-appointed role, which comes at the expense of many specialist local museums. Proclaiming that they are in a different category of institution, to which the rules don;t apply in the same way as they do to others, raises far more problems than it solves.

From:
The Art Newspaper

We serve all cultures, say the big, global museums
Leading institutions seek to shift focus of debate on restitution
By Martin Bailey

LONDON. The world’s leading museums have for the first time united to issue a declaration. Their statement on “the importance and value of universal museums” follows increasing concern about the politicisation of Greek claims against the British Museum (BM) over the Parthenon Marbles.

Although the declaration released in December does not specifically mention the marbles, it points out that the acquisition of classical antiquities from Greece by European and North American museums “marked the significance of Greek sculpture for mankind as a whole and its enduring value for the contemporary world.”
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Nowadays, the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are split between different museums. A new exhibition aims to give an idea what some of the pieces would look like if they were united together once more.

From:
BBC News

Thursday, 2 January, 2003, 17:38 GMT
Elgin Marbles make ‘virtual’ return

The return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece has been simulated in a virtual reality exhibition, showing how the Parthenon treasures would look if they went back to Athens.

The virtual exhibition was first presented to the UK during a recent visit by Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.
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In the past, the British Museum has claimed that it can look after artefacts such as the Parthenon Sculptures better than institutions in the home countries of these artefacts can. The evidence available regularly seems to contradict this assertion however.

From:
Guardian

Missing Roman goblet baffles museum
Sarah Hall
Tuesday December 31, 2002
The Guardian

It sounds like the title of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. But the mystery of the missing Roman goblet is no fictional riddle.

Archivists at the British Museum are scratching their heads after learning that the biggest hoard of Roman treasure ever found in Britain comprised 35 pieces – not 34, as has been believed for the past 60 years – and that the goblet that is missing could be worth more than £1m.
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Museums in the UK are coming out strongly in criticism of suggestions that they should return Aboriginal artefacts in their collections. It is thought that some of this unwillingness stems from their fears that such a move would weaken their case for the continuing retention of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

Is it altruism or the fear of losing their marbles?
December 28 2002

Powerful forces are working to convince the British Government that the place for Aboriginal remains is London’s museums, writes Peter Fray.

“The race is a very degraded one and … even the coarse traders and cattle-ranchers make no irregular unions with their women so the race remains pure.” – Dr Arthur Gedge, circa 1900.
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The Canadian Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles, is campaigning within Canada for the return of the Parthenon Marbles that are currently in the British Museum to Athens, Greece. Senator Shirley Maheu plans to table a motion in the Senate, calling on the federal government to urge the British government to return the marbles before the 2004 Olympic Games.

From:
Winnipeg Sun

Sunday, December 22, 2002
Ashton fights for marbles
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER

Manitoba Conservation Minister Steve Ashton is trying to repatriate the Parthenon marbles — but jokes his friends have asked whether he’s lost his marbles.

The MLA from Thompson says he’s one step closer to realizing his dream of having the ancient sculptures returned to Athens from London’s British Museum.
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the British Museum has in the past, often made a point about how artefacts in their collection are looked after far better than they would have been in their original countries, such as Athens. stories of lost artefacts & damaged artefacts, along with secret repairs by staff, fail to inspire confidence in this worldview.

From:
The Times

December 22, 2002
Breakages and bungling at British Museum
Will Iredale and Jonathan Calvert

PRICELESS artefacts from ancient Greece and Rome are being mislaid, broken and poorly protected in the cash-strapped British Museum, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Chaotic scenes at the museum — custodian of some of the world’s greatest antiquities — were witnessed by an undercover reporter posing as a work experience trainee.
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