In 2010, the use of golf balls were one of the highly publicised techniques used to try & plug the leak of the BP‘s Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following the gas leak that started a week ago on Total‘s Elgin platform in the North Sea, it has been proposed that similar methods are used.

Apparently, due to the far lower density of gas compared to crude oil, golf balls would not be suitable for such a procedure & it has been suggested that instead something much smaller should be used, such as glass or stone marbles. Sources at Total have however indicated that they have decided against trying this method, due to threats of legal action from the British Museum, which holds the copyright on the term Elgin Marbles.

In a carefully worded statement, Henna Biltong from the the British Museum’s press department noted that “While the term Elgin Marbles has not yet specifically been used in relation to the proposed operation to shut off the gas leak, it is felt likely that the press would pick up on the congruence of the terms & start using that term to describe it.” they also pointed out that while they no longer use the term Elgin Marbles to describe the sculptures in their collection, they still hold the sole usage rights to this term. They also feel that overuse of the phrase will weaken the British Museum’s brand within the glocal marketplace. “Its a similar situation to when to google becomes a generic term for searching, or when biro becomes used to describe any rollerball pen, only in this case the effect works in reverse”.

Once again, this seems to be a case of the British Museum acting against the public interest, and being deliberately obstructive. Some experts in the art world have suggested that the threats of legal action stem from animosity with Total, because it is a French company & that during the nineteenth century, many of the best artefacts ended up being taken by Napoleon (and are now held in the Louvre’s collection), before the English had a chance to get there. There is also speculation that the British Museum is hoping to increase its income through charging royalties for such copyrighted terms, following government funding cuts in the last year.

Experts in constitutional affairs have also suggested that the museum could well be worried by the impact of proposed Scottish devolution plans & may be trying to re-brand itself as an English rather than British Museum. Such a move would be weakened by any events that might remind people of the Scottish connections of some of the artefacts in their collection.

The British Museum has declined to comment further on the issue.

As April 1st has not passed, it must be pointed out that most of the story above is entirely fictional, although many bits of it are inspired by facts.

The British Museum is working with the Indian Ministry of Culture, to help to improve their country’s museums. This is a great idea, & shows a useful way that museums can collaborate with one another abroad. During an interview about this, MacGregor was also asked about the Parthenon Marbles & stated that they had been offered to Greece as a loan. In much the same way though, as the British Museum claims that Greece has never in recent years made an official restitution request, it could be argued that the British Museum has never really made any sort of official offer to Greece. There have been statements in the press, but as far as I’m aware, no sort of proper discussions with high level Greek officials. The British Museum seems instead to rely on previous assertions of ownership by Greece as rejections of such as loan offer, allowing them to assume that the loan would be unacceptable on this basis & therefore never even make a proper offer…

From:
Times of India

‘Get people into your museums’
TNN Jan 15, 2012, 06.20AM IST

Indian museums badly need overhauling and who better than the director of British Museum, Neil MacGregor, to help do it. In Delhi recently on an ambitious project in collaboration with the ministry of culture to train Indian professionals, he tells Archana Khare Ghose that exchange between all parts of the world has to go up.

Your team will be training Indian museum professionals. What do you think are the disadvantages that Indian museums suffer from but could improve upon? Fortunately for India, it has two of the hardest things to acquire in a museum – scholarship and great collections. All you need now is to get people into the museums. I think Indian museums are right now focused on their collections but it would be of immense interest for the public if they were to get opportunities to see collections from say, Mexico, China, Iran, etc., in their own museums through loaned exhibitions. The collection of the British Museum is available to see for free to all those who are “curious or studious, native or foreign” and we could loan them for exhibitions.
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The Elgin Marbles have become famous for being famous – often, this means that people forget their significance as works of sculpture in their own right.

From:
The Epoch Times

The Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum
By Michael Paraskos Created: January 17, 2012 Last Updated: January 18, 2012

The Parthenon Marbles are one of the great treasures of the British Museum. Taken from the Parthenon in Athens by Thomas Bruce in the first decade of the 19th century, these wonderful sculptures have been a bone of contention between Britain and Greece ever since.

For my part I am not worked up about the Marbles being sent home. But I am also not indifferent to them, and go to see them a couple of times each year. That probably makes me a more frequent visitor to the Marbles than almost all the Britons who insist they stay in London, or Greeks who demand they go home. In fact my stock reply to people who ask what I think should happen to the Marbles is they should be sent to Shanghai or Tokyo as almost all the visitors I encounter in the gallery are not British or Greek, but East Asian.
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Following the death of Christopher Hitchens, an article on the Malathronas blog looks particularly at how strongly he put forward the arguments for the reunification of all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in Athens.

You can view this article here.

Despite cutbacks across most government spending, free admission to museums seems to be treated as sacrosanct. Boasts are often made by the British Museum, that only there, can the Elgin Marbles be seen free of charge, but little consideration seems to be given to ho this affects the UK culture sector as a whole.

From:
Independent

Museums slash staff and opening hours after ‘devastating’ cuts
Of the 140 museums surveyed, 22 per cent are reducing their opening hours, and 30 per cent are cutting education staff
By Rob Sharp , Arts Correspondent

A fifth of British museums have been hit with “devastating” budget cuts of more than 25 per cent, according to the first wide-ranging survey of the sector since the Coalition’s Comprehensive Spending Review last year.

The cuts have had an impact on opening hours, public events and staffing, the Museums Association says in its report on 140 museums across the country, published today.
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Kwame Opoku has forwarded me a response to Neil MacGregor’s assertions that the artefacts should not be returned & instead substituted with travelling exhibitions to help share the artefacts.

From Kwame Opoku via email.

Travelling Exhibition as Alternative to Restitution? Comments on Suggestion by Director of the British Museum.

The Director of the British Museum has indeed a fertile mind that never tires of inventing new defences for the retention of looted artefacts of others in the major museums.

Once it became clear that the infamous Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums. (2002) and its principles were not as effective as the signatories thought, other approaches had to be considered.

One such approach is the “travelling exhibition”. This seems interesting and reasonable until one begins to consider what is being proposed. MacGregor is reported in Elginism to have told an audience at the University of Western Australia that due to globalisation, the concept of “travelling exhibitions” will become more relevant;
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More coverage of Stephen Fry’s article on why he believes that the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece.

From:
Greek Reporter

Stephen Fry Supports the Return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece
By Stella Tsolakidou on December 24, 2011

Stephen Fry is known for his philhellenic ideas. His latest demonstration of those was his December 19 article, in which he asked from the British PM to return the Parthenon Marbles to their rightful owner: Greece.

Fry begins his article with the title “A moderate proposal” and introduces his idea both as a tribute to life for the also known philhellene Christopher Hitchens, who passed away one week ago, and as a supportive action towards Britain’s good friends (the Greeks) who are currently going through harsh times.
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Another review of the children’s book, Scorpia Rising, that revolves around a (fictional) plot to steal the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum.

Scorpia Rising (Alex Rider)
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Publisher: Walker
ISBN: 1406310492

From:
Guardian

Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz – review
Krazy Kesh
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 December 2011 09.00 GMT

‘I think that this book is unlike any other and brings out the dark side of Anthony Horowitz’s writing mind’

Alex Rider is back with his notorious foes: Scorpia. Although he doesn’t know it, this time they are pulling the strings.
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The new manga book set in the British Museum has an uncanny plot resemblance (entirely coincidentally), to MP Andrew George’s failed April 1st EDM from 2009.

Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure
Author: Hoshino Yukinobu
Publisher: British Museum Press
ISBN: 0714124656

From:
Londonist

>Manga Preview: Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure
By M@ · November 21, 2011 at 15:30 pm

We’re not going to pretend some deep-seated knowledge of manga that we don’t possess, but this new release looks intriguing whether you’re a fan of the artform or not. Hoshino Yukinobu’s latest Professor Munakata adventure has the eponymous ethnologist unravelling the ‘mystery of the missing Stonehenge megaliths and the threats to the British Museum’s treasured holdings’.

This Friday (25 November) the Museum holds a special event to mark the novel’s release in English. Nicole Rousmaniere will describe the Museum’s role in the creation of the story (excerpts were displayed there two years ago), while Paul Gravett, Director of Comica Festival, places the book into a wider context.

The discussion about Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure takes place at 6.30pm on 25 November at the British Museum. Tickets are £5/£3. The story can be purchased here.

Yet again, the focus on ancient artefacts found in the UK relates (quite rightly in most cases) to re-locating them back to their place of discovery, and highlighting the work that needs to be done locally to discover more about their origins – yet when we look at foreign artefacts here only as the result of looting, the contextual arguments are regularly ignored.

From:
Guardian

Bronze Age treasure returns to Ambleside
Swords, dagger and spear are re-identified after years on private display in Royal properties. Guest blogger Eileen Jones reports from the shores of Windermere
Posted by Eileen Jones
Monday 28 November 2011 11.00 GMT

Yet another Northern hoard is making news, following recent discoveries in Yorkshire and Furness, the historic slice of Lancashire gobbled up by Cumbria in 1973/4.

This time it is Ambleside in the Lake District which is making news – and with a curious twist. Its collection of Bronze Age weaponry was discovered 270 year ago. Archaeologists are now trying to find out exactly where.
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More coverage of the newly published letters relating to the history of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum. The letters are particularly interesting, as they reveal how long standing Greece’s attempts to secure the return of the sculptures have been.

From:
GR Reporter

21 Documents About the Return of the Parthenon Marbles Revealed after 200 Years
By Areti Kotseli on March 22, 2012

Since its establishment in 1821, the Greek state has declared its intentions to return to Athens the sculptures from the Parthenon held by the British Museum. This is what twenty-one documents, under the title “The Acropolis of Athens”, revealing the correspondence between the ministers of education and foreign affairs, and reports of the Greek Ambassador in London at that time, have proved. The publishing house “Alitia” has published the documents for the first time and the luxury collection is available only in the souvenir shop of the Acropolis Museum.

“This record is a great weapon in the hands of the Greek state in the negotiations with the British Museum, because it shows the earliest efforts to restore and protect the Athenian Acropolis and to clear it of any foreign intervention,” said the publisher Kostas Tsaruhas.
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More coverage of the new Manga comic book, with a storyline involving the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure
Author: Hoshino Yukinobu
Publisher: British Museum Press
ISBN: 0714124656

From:
New Scientist

British Museum gets the manga treatment
17:17 1 November 2011
Cian O’Luanaigh, contributor

Missing artefacts, a 200-year-old conspiracy, and a mysterious airship over London. Oh, and someone’s nicked Stonehenge…

Folklore and ethnology expert Professor Munakata Tadakusa certainly has his work cut out in Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, the latest collection of comics from acclaimed manga artist Hoshino Yukinobu. Invited to give a talk at London’s British Museum, he soon finds himself investigating a plot to steal museum artefacts and return them to their “rightful” owners.
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