Following their success in persuading the Louvre to return disputed artefacts, Egypt has once again set its sights on other artefacts of questionable provenance held in museums around the world.

From:
Agence France Presse

Egypt battling for more relics after Louvre success
By Ines Bel Aiba (AFP) – 2 days ago

CAIRO — Many relics from ancient Egypt remain in foreign museums and Cairo is struggling to persuade other countries to send them back, like France which agreed to return a set of 3,000-year-old wall painting fragments.

“It is the Egyptian people’s right to see works of art from their country’s civilisation,” said Abdel Halim Nureddin, a former head of Egypt’s antiquities authority.
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In the past, Egypt’s Zahi Hawass has asked for the return of disputed artefacts in the Louvre. Now, as a means to escalate the issue, he is trhreatening to withdraw any co-operation between Egypt & the Louvre until the issue is resolved.

From:
Agence France Presse

Egypt breaks ties with France’s Louvre Museum
By Christophe de Roquefeuil (AFP)
7th October 2009

CAIRO — Egypt announced on Wednesday that it has cut all cooperation with France’s Louvre Museum until it secures the return of “stolen” Pharaonic antiquities in the latest row involving the exhibits of a major European institution.

“We made the decision to end any cooperation with the Louvre until they return” the works, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told AFP.
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More coverage of the reversal of the original decision to censor depictions of the iconoclasm from a short fim about the history of the Athenian Acropolis which is on display in the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse – 8/4/2009 4:02 PM GMT
Acropolis Museum backs down in Parthenon video row

Greece’s new Acropolis Museum on Tuesday said it will undo controversial editing of a video showing the Parthenon temple vandalised by early Christians in a row that has sparked complaints of Church-backed censorship.

The video will be restored after its maker, renowned French-Greek filmaker Costa-Gavras, said he meant to attach no blame to Christian priests for the destruction, museum director Dimitris Pantermalis said.
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More coverage of the removal of depictions of the iconoclasm from a film on display in the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
Agence France Presse

Acropolis Museum accused of muzzling filmmaker
(AFP) – 20 hours ago

ATHENS — A rights group has accused Greece’s new Acropolis Museum of censoring a video that shows early Christians vandalising antiquities after complaints attributed to the country’s Orthodox Church.

The Greek section of the Helsinki Monitor (GHM) on human rights on Monday said it had filed an injunction application against the museum, demanding that the video by prominent French filmmaker Costa-Gavras be restored in full.
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The issue of the Parthenon Sculptures has been relatively static for many years, despite progress made on many other restitution cases during the same time. What was needed is a catalyst to start the reunification process – something that represents a step forward in the situation. That catalyst has now been created in the form of the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
Agence France Presse

New museum for Acropolis
Article By: Helene Colliopoulou
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:57

Greece’s Acropolis Museum was finally unveiled this week, an ultra-modern glass building at the foot of the ancient citadel originally intended to be open in time for the 2004 Olympics.

Designed by celebrated Franco-Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, it offers panoramic views of the stone citadel and showcases sculptures from the golden age of Athenian democracy in the fifth century BCE.
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On the eve of the official opening of the New Acropolis Museum, the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures held a meeting to discuss how the issue might be tackled in the coming years & how the organisation could help facilitate the return of the Elgin Marbles. Members were present from organisations in sixteen different countries, all of whose primary aim is the reunification of the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in Athens.

From:
Agence France Presse

Return Elgin marbles for London Olympics: campaigners
3 days ago

ATHENS (AFP) — The 2012 London Olympics would represent a symbolic moment perfect for the return of the long-disputed Elgin Marbles from Britain to Greece, campaigners said Friday.

Representatives of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) — which has members in 17 countries — visited Athens Friday ahead of the new Acropolis Museum’s inauguration on Saturday.
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Much is being made in the press about the rejection of a supposed Elgin Marbles loan deal that never existed in the first place. Unfortunately, many more interesting facts about the opening are being drowned out by the noise made by this story.

From:
Agence France Presse

British Museum to attend Greek launch despite marbles spat
2 days ago

LONDON (AFP) — British Museum officials will attend the inauguration of Greece’s New Acropolis Museum next week, it said Friday but insisted its stance on the long-disputed Parthenon Marbles remains unchanged.

A spokeswoman for the museum also stressed that it had not made an offer nor received a request for those sculptures held in London to be loaned to Athens, following comments by a Greek minister this week.
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Without further information, it seems to me that the latest story regarding the rejection of a potential loan of the Parthenon Marbles does not make sense. There was never a loan offer as such – everything seems to be based on the prerequisites laid out by the British Museum in many previous statements on what conditions would need to be met before a loan could take place (not specifically of the Parthenon Marbles – in theory it would be the same with any artefact). This situation has not changed, so is hardly newsworthy, although the Marbles are obviously on the agenda for the press this week with the imminent opening of the New Acropolis Museum in a few days time.
Further to the above point though, it is not clear that there was never any loan offer made by the British Museum. Even if it is take as an assumed offer based on other statements, this does not sound very definite, as many other potential loans may meet the prerequisite condition, but then be rejected for other reasons.

From:
Bloomberg News

Greece Rejects British Museum’s Terms for Elgin Marbles Loan
By Maria Petrakis

June 11 (Bloomberg) — Greece said it won’t accept the British Museum’s conditions for allowing the Elgin Marbles, a collection of disputed ancient artworks, to go on display at the New Acropolis Museum.

Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said the museum’s loan condition — that Greece acknowledge the fifth-century B.C. antiquities as the property of the British Museum — would be unacceptable to any Greek government.
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Gradually more information is becoming available on the nature of the opening events planned for the New Acropolis Museum. Various dignitaries visiting Greece have also already been given a preview of the site.

From:
Agence France Presse

Acropolis museum to open in June: minister
26-04-09

ATHENS (AFP) — The ultra-modern Acropolis museum, situated below the ancient landmark that defines the Greek capital Athens, will belatedly open in June, Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said Sunday.

“We are preparing a jewel of a museum whose opening on June 20 will be a major, global event,” said Samaras after giving European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso a guided tour of the venue.
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Greece’s president Karolos Papoulias has now called for an end to the strikes that are currently closing Athens’s Acropolis to visitors. Whilst there is sympathy for the strikers, their actions have the potential to cause major damage to the Greece’s tourist trade.

From:
Associated Press

Greece: Strikers close Acropolis for back pay
1 day ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Striking Culture Ministry employees closed the Acropolis to visitors Wednesday for the fifth time in two weeks, turning hundreds of tourists away from the ancient site.

The protesters are mostly contract workers demanding permanent jobs and back pay. Hundreds of visitors stood outside the entrance as strikers handed out fliers detailing their demands.
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Despite attempts by China to block the sale of artefacts looted from Beijing & now in the collection of the late Yves Saint Lauren, the sale is still due to proceed.

A new & bizarre twist in the story is added by the seller’s offer to trade the artefacts in exchange for recognising human rights within China.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

China protests Christie’s auction in Paris of relics
Legal efforts to retrieve two bronzes looted by Western troops in 1860 may fail. Another option: let wealthy donors buy them back.
By Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 20, 2009 edition

Beijing – A rat and a rabbit, emerging from a century and a half of peaceful seclusion, have found themselves in the eye of an international storm about their future, and the proper fate of looted artworks.

Once upon a time, the two animal heads, cast in bronze, adorned a water clock fountain in the Chinese emperor’s Summer Palace here. They were plundered when British and French troops ransacked and burned the palace buildings in 1860.
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Following successful progress of the current restoration programme on the Athenian acropolis, the decision has been made to undertake an additional phase of restoration work on the west facade of the building.

From:
Agence France Presse

Acropolis to undergo restoration from 2009
20 hours ago

ATHENS (AFP) — The world-famous Parthenon of the Athens Acropolis will undergo restoration work from 2009 that will see its western facade obscured by scaffolding for three years, officials said.

The work will mainly be focused on repairing damage caused by the Greek uprising against Ottoman rule in 1821, when the facade was damaged by around 700 bullet holes, architect Manolis Korres said.
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