Andrew George MP, Chair of the Marbles Reunited campaign, explains some of the reasoning behind his request that the the British Government return the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
politics.co.uk

Comment: No bailout, but will the Elgin marbles do?
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 10:35 AM
We might not want to be involved in the bail out, but returning the Elgin Marbles would show we are Greece’s friend.
By Andrew George MP

Whilst the current financial crisis dominates all current press coverage relating to Greece, there is no reason why we should use this as an excuse to ignore other key Anglo-Hellenic issues.

At present, news coming from Greece is predominantly negative – returning the Parthenon Sculptures (popularly known as the Elgin Marbles) would give people there something positive – a reason to celebrate and something that would increase the tourist draw to the country, helping to revive their economy.
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Despite the financial crisis facing Greece, work on the Acropolis restoration is continuing as planned.

From:
Agence France Presse

Greece’s Acropolis: no crisis for restoration
By Isabel Malsang (AFP) – Feb 1, 2011

ATHENS — Like the victory goddess it honours, Athens’ ancient Temple of Athena Nike stands free of scaffolding for the first time in nine years in a testament to another triumph — the prolific restoration of the Acropolis.

Greece may be struggling to ward off financial collapse but nothing will crush the ambitious plan — first started in 1975 — to restore Classical glory to the country’s most visited monument.
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The New Acropolis Museum is now going to be open until 10pm every Friday.

From:
Athens News Agency

01/19/2011
Acropolis Museum open until 10 p.m. on Fridays

(ANA-MPA) — Starting on Jan. 28 this year, the New Acropolis Museum will henceforth stay open until 10 p.m. on Friday evenings so that visitors can tour the exhibits while also viewing the floodlit Acropolis — opposite the museum — at night.

At the same time, the museum will also begin a programme for the conservation and restoration of the Caryatid sculptures – structural columns holding up the temple’s porch that were carved to look like young women – from the Erechtheum.
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There is an e-book available free of charge from the Latsis Foundation to read online, about the artefacts in the Acropolis Museum.

See the book here.

Despite coming in for a lot of bad press recently in Germany for economic reasons, the country’s media are being much more supportive to Greece in their appreciation of the efforts being put into restoring the Acropolis.

From:
Greek Reporter

German Media Praises Acropolis Restoration Efforts
Posted on 09 January 2011 by Venetia Aftzigianni

The German media is impressed by the quality of renovations on the Acropolis. Begining in the mid-1970′s, the project has involved painstaking repairs on major monuments, including the Parthenon, the Erechtheion and Athena Nike Temple, and the Acropolis walls. The architectural masterpieces suffered from pollution and a flawed reparation attempt in the 1930′s. Workers used iron clamps in their repairs that eventually rusted and cracked the marble.

German journalists have uncharacteristically praised Greek efforts.
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Following taking over as the Chairman of the BCRPM, Eddie O’Hara talks to the BBC about why he believes that the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Athens. Eddie O’Hara is also the Honorary President of the Marbles Reunited campaign.

From:
BBC News

5 January 2011 Last updated at 13:59
Parthenon Marbles: Taking up the fight
By Trevor Timpson BBC News

Greek calls for the UK to return the Parthenon Marbles, nearly 200 years after they were removed from the Acropolis and shipped to London, have a new advocate leading the battle in the UK.

Former MP Eddie O’Hara, the new chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM), has told the BBC News website he is optimistic the campaign for the British Museum to return the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, will succeed.
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A followup to the conference on the return of and protection of cultural property, held in Athens in December. Interestingly, the final paragraph suggests that new initiatives for the return of the Parthenon Marbles are finally being explored by the Greek government.

From:
SAE

SAE
“World Cultural Heritage, the Parthenon and its Marbles are not tradable”
Athens, 13.12.2010

The institutional framework for cultural heritage, in terms of international ethics, protection, legal practice, diplomatic approach, international collaboration efforts and other relevant issues, the main focus being on the issue of the Parthenon Marbles, were discussed during the international conference organized on Friday at the New Acropolis Museum by the Foundation for International Legal Studies – I. Krispis, the Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Acropolis Museum and the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE).
“The return of all those masterpieces that constitute our cultural heritage is now more imperative than ever” stressed in his message Minister of the State, Harris Pamboukis, indicating that “the course towards reclaiming and diplomatic pressure is difficult and time consuming, however our cultural treasures have a new modern home, the New Acropolis Museum, located in their place of origin. The argument is irrefutable”.

The message of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Demetris Dollis, responsible for Greeks Abroad was also on the same wavelength, who is currently on an official visit in Australia.
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Further coverage of the Greek government’s response to the article in The Times that claimed that they were no longer claiming ownership of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

From:
Greek Reporter

Ministry denies reviewing position on Parthenon artifacts
Posted on 07 December 2010 by Apostolos Papapostolou

The Culture Ministry yesterday rebuffed a report in the Times newspaper suggesting that Minister Pavlos Geroulanos had offered to forgo its claims to the Parthenon Marbles, which are on display at the British Museum, in return for a long-term loan of the artifacts. Sources at the ministry told Skai that the government has not changed its position regarding its demand for the return of the Marbles. The museum said it had not been informed of any official proposal by the Greek government adding that Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos never referred to the issue of the marbles’ ownership in his meeting with a reporter of the British newspaper “The Times.”

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Despite earlier reports to the contrary suggesting Greek position on the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles might have changed, statements since then by the Greek Culture Ministry state that this is not the cases & that the report in The Times misrepresents their position.

From:
Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Greece remains firm in demand for permanent return of marbles
Dec 6, 2010, 20:55 GMT
DPA

Athens – Greece remained steadfast Monday in its demand for the permanent return of the Parthenon Marbles to the new museum in Athens, denying newspaper reports that said it would forgo its claim for a long-term loan of the artefacts.

In a recent report, The Times newspaper said: ‘Greece was trying to break decades of stalemate with Britain over the Elgin Marbles by dropping its long-standing claim to ownership of the sculptures in return for the British Musuem sending the Acropolis artefacts back to Athens on a long-term loan.’
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Virginia Judge, The New South Wales Arts Minister has called on the British Museum to return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.

From:
Greek Reporter

Categorized | Community, News
NSW Minister for Arts Calls on British Museum to Return Parthenon Marbles
Posted on 03 December 2010 by Venetia Aftzigianni

“Today I call upon the British Museum to conduct itself as a museum, a contemporary museum, and not as some colonial power clinging to a prized trophy.” said Virginia Judge, Minister for Arts in New South Wales. Her speech was attended by David Hill, the President of the Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. The Minister added: ”I do not ask the British Museum to return a vase or some statue with a missing limb. I ask the British Museum to return half the Parthenon; return it to Greece so that it may be reunited with the rest of itself…If we agree with the Code of Ethics of the International Council of Museums, ownership of material culture, which is the result of a transaction with an occupying force, in itself is questionable and unethical.”. The Australian Minister is a member of the NSW government which has consistently supported Greek efforts to take back the Parthenon Marbles. They are also named Elgin marbles by Lord Elgin. He removed a staggering amount of panels and sculptures, including 247 feet of the Parthenon Frieze.

Further coverage of the reports in The Times that Greece has agreed to set aside claims of ownership, in it’s attempts to secure the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.

From:
Bloomberg News

Greece Offers to Forgo Claim to Ownership of Elgin Marbles, Times Reports
By Chris Peterson – Dec 6, 2010 8:08 AM GMT

Greece offered to end the long- running dispute with Britain over the Elgin Marbles by saying it would forgo its claim in return for a long-term loan of the artefacts, once a frieze on the Parthenon, the London-based Times reported, citing Greek Culture Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos.

The frieze was removed in 1801 by British diplomat Lord Elgin with the permission of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, which then ruled Greece, and shipped to London after parliament agreed to buy them. Greece regards them as having been looted, the newspaper said.
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The New Acropolis Museum, as one of the most recently opened tourist sites in Greece is lucky enough to have high quality facilities for visitors, such as disabled access provisions. Many other sites in Greece are less fortunate however. A new initiative aims to try and solve this problem by upgrading many of the other sites to make them more easily accessible to all visitors.

From:
Athens News Agency

11/26/2010
Plan on sites services

ANa-Mpa/The culture and tourism ministry on Wednesday outlined a plan to improve services at Greek museums and archaeological sites, especially in terms of disabled access and availability of water.

The new programme follows a study that revealing a lack of vital services in some 150 museums around the country, including some of the most important and most popular sites.
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