Anthony Snodgrass has stood down as chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, to be replaced by former MP, Eddie O’Hara. Eddie O’Hara is also the Honorary Chair of the Marbles Reunited campaign.

From:
Response Source

New Chairman for the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles
Friday, 03 December 2010
03 December 2010

New Chairman for the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

PROFESSOR Anthony Snodgrass retired from his position as the chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (www.parthenonuk.com and twitter BCRPM) and it was announced former MP Eddie O’Hara would take over the position.
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Despite promises when they were in opposition, since 1997, the UK’s Labour government has failed to make any meaningful headway towards resolving the situation of the Elgin Marbles in The British Museum. Previous statements from the Conservative party suggest that they would be even less in favour of any sort of reunification deal than Labour is.

Nick Clegg, unknown to many before he was elected as a UK MP in 2005, was previously an MEP & during this time he was involved in organising an exhibition at the European Parliament.

Since 2005, there have been 6 Early Day Motions relating to the Parthenon Marbles. Based on an analysis of the people who signed at least one of these EDMs, the breakdown of support (strong support – MPs only normally sign EDMs when they feel strongly about something) by party is:

Liberal Democrats – 33%
Labour – 15%
Conservative – 1%

The weak support from the Conservative party is particularly troubling – it is only 2 out of 193 MPs who have expressed any interest in the issue. These are: Richard Ottaway (Croydon South) & James Gray (North Wiltshire). There are other members of their party who I know are supportive of the issue, but clearly they are not interested enough in it to want to publicly express their support.

The SNP & Plaid Cymru are also supportive of return, but their results are less accurate as they have far fewer MPs:

SNP – 29%
Plaid Cymru – 100% (of 3MPs)

Other minor / regional parties that are supportive:

SDLP (Northern Ireland) – 67% (of 3 MPs)
Respect – 100% (of 1 MP)

Based on these results, a Liberal Democrat government in the UK currently seems by far the most positive option for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. (although the national parties listed above for Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland are also supportive of the issue).

Below is a press release from the Marbles in Exile conference (Note that The Parthenon 2004 campaign is what is now know as Marbles Reunited):

Embargo: 00.01, Wednesday 29th May, 2002
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SHOWS SUPPORT FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES – RICHARD ALLAN MP

Today, the (Parthenon) Marbles in Exile Conference and Exhibition will take place at the European Parliament. Nick Clegg MEP, chair of the Marbles in Exile Conference, says:

“I am thrilled by the positive response across Europe to this issue. After all, it’s about preserving our common European heritage. It is absurd that the Parthenon monument remains torn apart in this way. Imagine the outrage in Britain if Big Ben’s clock face was taken from Westminster and housed in the Prado museum in Spain.”
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Anthony Snodgrass – Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles responds to Simon Jenkins’s earlier article about the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
The Guardian

Letters
New home for the Parthenon marbles
The Guardian, Tuesday 27 October 2009

I know that Simon Jenkins is fundamentally on the same side as I am, and I’m sure it wasn’t he who chose to put that offensive phrase in his headline (A banana republic police HQ maybe, but not a home for the Elgin marbles, 23 October). But his piece did contain more than its fair share of anti-Greek prejudice. The Greeks were “foolish” to turn down the offer of a loan of the Elgin marbles this summer (a heavily conditional offer, confined to a few pieces, never officially proposed and withdrawn as soon as mooted). They have consigned the excavated ancient site under the new museum to a “surreal dungeon” (unfair: it is to be open to visitors). And Jenkins cannot have it both ways: if the Greeks previously “spoiled their case” for restitution of the marbles by shortcomings in conservation, then he should not be complaining now that the restoration works on the Acropolis are so painstaking.

Anyway, the Greeks have now “gone to the other extreme” with a building that “screams the supremacy of Big Modernism” and looks like “the police headquarters of a banana republic”: Bernard Tschumi’s New Acropolis museum in Athens, which is the real target here. Comment is free, and a whole series of other expert architectural critics have commended Tschumi’s building for exactly the opposite quality – “handsome”, “unassuming”, “minimalist”, “unpretentious” – to what Jenkins detects. Simon Jenkins prefers the interior to the exterior: fair enough, so do many of us. But there was no call to package his criticism in this offensive wrapping paper.

Anthony Snodgrass
Chair, British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

Neil MacGregor talks about the digital future of museums & tries to suggest that the issue of the Elgin Marbles is “yesterday’s question”. This seems more like wishful thinking on his part however, as it is very much a current issue – particularly with the opening of the New Acropolis Museum. Furthermore, if he believes that the future of museums is digital, then why doesn’t the British Museum return the Elgin Marbles & keep a digital copy for themselves so that they can be taken care of by people who still see the value in the physical as well as the virtual.

The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles have also published a response to this article.

From:
Guardian

Museums’ future lies on the internet, say Serota and MacGregor
Museum chiefs paint multimedia future for institutions
Wednesday, 08 July 2009

Two titans of the British museum world, Sir Nicholas Serota and Neil MacGregor, last night sketched out their visions for the museum of the future.

Both said that the relationship between institutions and their audiences would be transformed by the internet. Museums, they said, would become more like multimedia organisations.
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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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The Big Question this morning covered the topic of the Elgin Marbles for the last 16 minutes of the program. You can watch it online at the BBCs website. In the front row guests were representatives from both the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles & from Marbles Reunited. Of the panel, Germaine Greer presented a particularly good knowledge of the issue when it was discussed & appeared to be strongly supportive.

From:
BBC

The Big Questions
Series 2
Episode 22

Nicky Campbell presents the show live from Jack Hunt School in Peterborough. Taking part in the topical debates are writer and feminist Professor Germaine Greer, journalist Fareena Alam and the novelist and religious commentator, Anne Atkins.

This week’s big questions are:

Should there be an amnesty for illegal immigrants?
Can date rape be a woman’s fault?
Should the Elgin Marbles be returned?

More coverage of the proposed new law in Britain allowing restitution of artworks looted during the Nazi era.

From:
Britain News

UK ministers planning to return art looted by Nazis to owners
Britain News.Net
Sunday 29th March, 2009 (ANI)

London, Mar 29 : Ministers in Britain are all set to support a new law that would allow museums in the country to return artwork looted by the Nazis to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

The bill, named the Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill, would change the legislation that forbids national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, British Library and National Gallery, from disposing of items in their collections.
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After extensive consultation & deliberations, it seems that attempts to change the law in Britain to allow the restitution of artefacts looted during the nazi era may finally be coming to fruition with Andrew Dismore’s Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill. I have mentioned before about some of the contradictory aspects of the proposed law, which though welcomed highlights the need for consistent legislation to cover all artefacts rather than creating special cases.

From:
The Guardian

Plan for art looted by Nazis to be returned to owners
Jenny Percival
The Guardian, Saturday 28 March 2009

Ministers are preparing to back a new law that would allow museums to restore artwork looted by the Nazis to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

The Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill would reverse legislation that bans national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, British Library and National Gallery, from disposing of items in their collections. Ministers have been promising to change the law for a decade and, after attempts to introduce a government bill collapsed, are preparing to support a private members’ bill introduced by Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon.
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Edward Enfield is to give a talk about the Parthenon Marbles at this year’s World Travel Market, at Excel in London.

The Greek National Tourist Organisation in conjunction with the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles invite you to hear Edward Enfield speak at Excel, for this year’s World Travel Market

ACROPOLIS Now – Greece’s latest cultural offering
The presentation will take place at the Platinum Suite 5, on Wednesday 12th of November, at 11:30 hours.

Almost anyone who has seen the New Acropolis Museum, now believes that its opening will represent the start of a significant new chapter in the campaign for reunification of all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in Athens.

From:
The Times

From Times Online
October 14, 2008
Inside the New Acropolis Museum
Athens finally has a suitable home for the Parthenon sculptures and – British marbles or not – you should go, says Ginny McGrath

The opening of the New Acropolis Museum will almost certainly reignite the debate over the Elgin Marbles.

The museum, which is expected to open in early 2009 after 30 years in conception, has even reserved a space for the missing sculptures in optimistic anticipation of their return.
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A rather late piece from the BBC on the return of the Palermo fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece.

From:
BBC News

Saturday, 4 October 2008
Italy returns Parthenon fragment

Italy’s president has returned a piece of the frieze from the Parthenon temple to Greece after some 200 years.

President Giorgio Napolitano said the move was part of a campaign to restore artefacts “torn from their context”.
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A press release from the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles following the return of the Palermo fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures earlier this week.

From:
British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

Press Release
The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles welcomes the return of the ‘Palermo fragment’ to Athens

YESTERDAY 24 September 2008, the President of the Italian Republic, on a state visit to Greece, brought with him, to present to his Greek counterpart, the ‘Palermo fragment’ from Slab VI of the East Frieze of the Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens. It had spent more than two hundred years in Sicily, after being acquired by a British consul and passed on to the Salinas Museum in Palermo. It portrays, in exquisite detail, the draped lower leg, ankle and foot of a seated goddess, probably Artemis. It will immediately take its place in an inaugural exhibition of returned artefacts, at the brilliantly-designed New Acropolis Museum.
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