Showing results 13 - 24 of 29 for the tag: Parliament.

June 30, 2009

If MPs are returning their ill gotten gains should the government follow suit?

Posted at 12:53 pm in Elgin Marbles

A letter in the Scotsman questions whether following the scandal involving MPs expenses claims in the British Parliament, the government should follow its own lead & return illegally acquired assets too.

From:
Scotsman

Point of view: Return
Published Date: 29 June 2009

NOW that the flippers in the mother of all parliaments are queuing to pay back their ill-gotten gains (your report, 20 June), can they not be persuaded to return the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece?

George B Anderson
Dunfermline, Fife

May 27, 2009

British Foreign Secretary in Athens

Posted at 5:48 pm in Acropolis, Elgin Marbles

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has visited Athens & whilst there visited the Acropolis. It is unclear whether any of the meetings he attended in Greece talked about the Elgin Marbles, but now that he has seen the Acropolis for himself, it will be interesting to see if this affects his opinion on the way that the government handles the issue of the reunification of the Elgin Marbles.

From:
Athens News Agency

05/27/2009
Miliband in Athens for talks

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, currently on an official visit to Greece, held talks with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and then Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Tuesday. These covered a range of issues, including the Cyprus problem, Turkey’s European accession course, developments in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, climate change, and a missile launch test by North Korea.

In statements after meeting Bakoyannis, Miliband stressed the need for a solution to the Cyprus issue “by Cypriots and for Cypriots” and said that Britain was determined to play only a supportive role in the vitally important negotiations underway, which had to make progress within the next few months.
Read the rest of this entry »

May 8, 2009

Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill draft wording

Posted at 12:57 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

The Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill has now been published in its current form, shortly before its second reading in Parliament. This bill if it becomes law will allow the return by museums of artefacts looted during the Nazi era, something that in many cases is currently not possible, as proved by the Feldmann Case in 2005.

From:
UK Parliament

Session 2008 – 09
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament
Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill

Contents

1 Powers of de-accession
2 Applicability
3 Short title and commencement

Bill 35

A Bill To provide for the transfer from public museum and gallery collections of arts, artefacts and other objects stolen between 1933 and 1945 by or on behalf of the Nazi regime, its members and sympathisers; to provide for the return of such artefacts and objects to the lawful owners, their heirs and successors; and for connected purposes.
Read the rest of this entry »

April 24, 2009

The acquisition of the Elgin Marbles

Posted at 1:11 pm in Elgin Marbles

In the parliamentary debate leading up to the British Government’s acquisition of the Parthenon Marbles, the Society of Dilettanti gave various accounts. Their evidence though shows that what people then thought of as Greek sculpture was something quite different to the real thing, which they had trouble identifying.

From:
New York Review of Books

Volume 56, Number 8 · May 14, 2009
A Silly, Very Cultured Club
By Ingrid D. Rowland
Dilettanti: The Antic and the Antique in Eighteenth-Century England
by Bruce Redford

J. Paul Getty Museum/Getty Research Institute, 220 pp., $49.95

Bruce Redford’s Dilettanti is not itself a dilettantish work, for the book’s succinctness and lightness of touch reflect skill of the highest order. Still, there is an evident link between Redford’s fine-tuned scholarship and the sense of sheer delight (Italian diletto ) that gave its name to the Society of Dilettanti, devoted to the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, when it was formed in 1734. That link is distilled in the motto of this peculiarly English gentlemen’s club, Seria Ludo; the paradoxical Latin phrase meant that in their playfulness, ludo, they also addressed serious matters, seria.[1]
Read the rest of this entry »

April 23, 2009

Parliamentary bill on Nazi-looted art

Posted at 12:51 pm in British Museum, Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

The signs are promising that Andrew Dismore’s bill to allow the restitution of art looted during the holocaust may become law. This is a step that must be welcomed, yet such measures as this & the Human Tissue Act highlight the need for coherent legislation that tackles all restitution issues, rather than piecemeal laws that only manage to be passed by skirting around the big restitution cases.

From:
The Art Newspaper

UK parliament closer to passing bill allowing museums to deaccession Nazi-looted art
Legislation expected to be limited to 1933-1945 only
By Martin Bailey
Posted online: 23.4.09 |

LONDON. A Private Members’ Bill is to be presented for its second reading in parliament on 15 May, to allow UK national museums to deaccession art works spoliated during the Nazi period.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is expected to support the bill, subject to drafting changes, which will greatly increase its chances of eventually becoming law. The DCMS originally hoped to incorporate a clause allowing deaccessioning of Nazi-era spoliation into the Heritage Protection Bill, but last December the bill was dropped, because of pressure of government business in Parliament.
Read the rest of this entry »

April 3, 2009

Allowing the return of looted art to its owners

Posted at 1:01 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Holocaust (stolen art) Restitution Bill

Posted at 12:45 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

More coverage on the proposed changes in the law that will increase the opportunities for museums in Britain to deaccession artefacts if they feel that there is a need to do so.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Art looted by Nazis to be returned to owners
Art works looted by the Nazis could be returned to Holocaust survivors and their descendants under plans by ministers
By Alastair Jamieson
Last Updated: 11:19AM GMT 28 Mar 2009

A government bill would soften a long-standing ban on museums selling items of national importance in their collections.

The Holocaust (stolen art) Restitution Bill would allow curators to return paintings and other artefacts to families who did not wish them to remain in national collections.
Read the rest of this entry »

April 2, 2009

New law to allow return of Nazi loot

Posted at 1:01 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

March 1, 2009

New Acropolis Museum Early Day Motion

Posted at 4:23 pm in Elgin Marbles, New Acropolis Museum

Labour MP Eddie O’Hara has tabled an Early Day Motion referencing the imminent opening of the New Acropolis Museum. Previous posts on EDMs explain the purpose of Early Day Motions.

From:
Parliamentary Information Management Web Site

EDM 260
Early Day Motion
NEW ACROPOLIS MUSEUM AND THE PARTHENON SCULPTURES

11.12.2008
O’Hara, Edward

That this House notes the forthcoming opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens in the spring of 2009; congratulates the Greek government on the completion of a truly world-class new home for the treasures of the Acropolis hill; recognises the unique beauty of the top floor gallery of the museum, built to the same size and orientation as the Parthenon itself and designed specifically for the display of the surviving Parthenon sculptures as an artistic unit and in the best possible location and light with the Parthenon itself in full simultaneous view; Read the rest of this entry »

January 14, 2009

Should all looted artefacts be returned?

Posted at 1:12 pm in Similar cases

A response to Norman Rosenthal’s statements about why museums should not return artefacts looted during the holocaust.

From:
Modern Ghana

RESPONSE TO JONATHAN JONES: “SHOULD ALL LOOTED ART BE RETURNED”?
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Tue, 13 Jan 2009
Feature Article

“The public interest must surely be in upholding the rule of law, rather than promoting an international free-for-all through the unrestricted circulation of tainted works of art. Do we really wish to educate our children to have no respect for history, legality and ethical values by providing museums with the opportunity freely to exhibit stolen property? ”
Read the rest of this entry »

December 27, 2008

British Government monitoring the Elgin Marbles issue

Posted at 1:41 pm in Elgin Marbles

This article is not directly relevant, except that it reveals that the Parthenon Sculptures were one of the search terms monitored by the government. This shows that despite statements that it is entirely the responsibility of the British Museum, the government still feels that they also need to monitor the issue – meaning that it is on their radar if nothing else.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Government spends £16 million on spin
More than £16 million of taxpayers’ cash was spent in the last three years on keeping track of news items relating to the work of Government departments and quangos.
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:43AM GMT 24 Dec 2008

The Conservatives accused Gordon Brown and his ministers of being obsessed with spin, after new figures revealed the scale of the budget for “media monitoring”.

Statistics obtained by the party in a series of Parliamentary answers show that Whitehall departments and taxpayer-funded quangos and agencies have paid private consultancies at least £13 million to monitor news coverage since 2005.
Read the rest of this entry »

October 22, 2008

Greek Prime Minister discusses Elgin Marbles with Gordon Brown

Posted at 1:06 pm in Elgin Marbles

During talks with The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Costas Karamanlis, the Greek Prime Minister, has again raised the issue of the Parthenon Marbles. Gordon Brown’s response to the request is not mentioned. This may be the first time that the issue has been raised directly with Gordon Brown, but it has been discussed with Tony Blair on numerous occasions.

From:
Athens News Agency

10/22/2008
Karamanlis discusses global crisis with Brown

The Inner Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis will convene on Wednesday to discuss Interior Ministry’s issues. On Tuesday, the impact of the global financial crisis on Europe and the European economies were at the focus of talks between Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis and his British counterpart Gordon Brown in London.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Karamanlis praised Brown’s contribution to the common effort for amelioration of the crisis. He said the primary target of the efforts was to minimize the consequences of the international financial crisis on the lives of the citizens and on the real economy, and particularly on the financially weaker brackets.
Read the rest of this entry »