British Museum director, Neil MacGregor, is interviewed about the Parthenon Marbles. Unfortunately, his views on the subject are no more forward looking than those of his predecessor.

From:
Art & Antiques

Culture Clash

LONDON — The Elgin Marbles, an ensemble of friezes and sculptures taken from the Parthenon by a British nobleman, have been displayed in the British Museum since 1816. Museum Director Neil MacGregor took office in August and now stands at the center of the world’s most enduring conflict over cultural heritage. In a Q&A with Art & Antiques, MacGregor talks about Greece’s demands that the marbles be returned in time for the 2004 Olympics. He also touches on the venerable institution’s fiscal crisis.

A&A
About 40 percent of the Elgin Marbles are in Athens, 50 percent are here, and the rest are scattered around museums all over Europe. You’re an art historian. Wouldn’t it be nice to have them all in one place? Don’t the Greeks have a point on that?

NM
Of course they have a point, but half the marbles are lost forever. We’re talking about the proportions of what remains. They can’t get them up onto the Parthenon because it’s a ruin, so the argument that one normally makes for gathering things together from the same ensemble, that you are restoring or recovering the work of art, doesn’t apply here. One’s got to recognize that their life as part of the Parthenon is over. It seems to me rather a fortunate accident of history that about half of what survived is in London.
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Former Australian Broadcasting Corporation boss, David Hill, a campaigner for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, is confident that they will soon be sent back to Athens.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

Marbles are back in play
March 19 2003

Although the British Museum has refused to give up the Elgin marbles, a group led by former ABC boss David Hill is confident it can get them back to the Parthenon. Geraldine O’Brien reports.

This week, in a speech in Athens, the former ABC boss, David Hill, confidently predicted an end to the long-running and acrimonious dispute between Greece and Britain over the Parthenon marbles. (It is a point of honour in some circles to refer to them as the Parthenon, rather than Elgin, marbles, thereby honouring their origin rather than the British ambassador who somewhat dubiously “acquired” them in 1801.)
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More coverage of Neil MacGregor’s statement that the Parthenon Marbles will never return to Athens.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Monday February 24, 2003
Museum severs Marbles talks

LONDON (AP) – The British Museum’s Elgin Collection of sculptures from the Parthenon should never be returned to their original home in Greece, the museum’s director was quoted as saying yesterday.

“I do not believe there is a case for returning the marbles,” Museum Director Neil MacGregor said, according to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. “They have a purpose here because this is where they can do most good… The British Museum can situate the achievements of these Greek sculptures in the context of the wider ancient world.”
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The British Museum’s statements regarding the Elgin Marbles could well have an impact on many other items in their collection that people want returned.

From:
Straits Times

British Museum won’t return any of its stolen cultural relics
The Dunhuang Cave relics will stay at the British Museum following its refusal to return Greece’s Elgin Marbles, say officials
By Alfred Lee

LONDON – The British Museum is unlikely to return China’s Dunhuang Cave treasures and other stolen cultural relics following its statement yesterday that it has decided to not give back Greece’s famous Elgin Marbles.

The Marbles were looted from the Parthenon in Athens in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to Greece.
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British Museum director Neil MacGregor has made the somewhat reckless move of suggesting that the Parthenon Sculptures will never return to Greece.

This point of view that he is taking, would suggest that there is no point in Greece wasting their time entering into any sort of negotiations & leaves no space for any consideration that there might ever be an organised return of artefacts, allowing the museum to move on from the issue.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Elgin marbles ‘will never be returned to Greece‘
By Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent
(Filed: 23/02/2003)

The Elgin marbles will never be returned to Greece, even on loan, the director of the British Museum has told The Telegraph.

In a ruling which will infuriate the Greek authorities, Neil MacGregor – who took over as director of the museum last August – said that the marbles could “do most good” in their current home, where they are seen in a broader historical context.
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A new exhibition, titled Marbles Reunited aims to demonstrate how much is gained if the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are reunited in one place, rather than fragmented between different museums.

From:
BBC News

Monday, 27 January, 2003, 14:11 GMT
Science reunites Elgin Marbles

A virtual reality exhibition showing how the Elgin Marbles would look if they were reunited goes on display at the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

The latest technology is being used to simulate how the 5th Century BC sculptures will appear if they are reunited with the rest of the Parthenon Marbles in Athens.
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Various former Olympic medal winners from Britain have expressed their support for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece.

From:
Guardian

Medallists back return of marbles to Parthenon
David Hencke
Saturday January 25, 2003

Ten British Olympic medal winners are backing the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece for next year’s Olympic Games, it will be announced on Monday.

The move – which will be a big fillip for the campaign to base the sculptures removed by Lord Elgin in a new purpose-built museum at the Parthenon – comes after the British Museum insisted that they must remain as major attraction in Britain.
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Many countries (generally most of those whose institutions weren’t involved in signing the declaration) have issues with the “Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums”, that was issued a few months ago. The declaration favours only seeing one version of history, while ignoring other verions and the original owners.

From:
People’s Daily

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Foreign Museums Refuse to Return Cultural relics, Chinese Experts in Action

On 10 December, 2002, eighteen major museums and research institutes of Europe and America, including the British Museum and the Louvre Museum, jointly signed a Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums (hereinafter referred to as “Declaration”), which opposes returning art works, especially ancient ones, to their original owners.

On 10 December, 2002, eighteen major museums and research institutes of Europe and America, including the British Museum and the Louvre Museum, jointly signed a Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums (hereinafter referred to as “Declaration”), which opposes returning art works, especially ancient ones, to their original owners.
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Greece is arranging an artefact swap with Italy, whereby they give Italy a fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet, in exchange for a fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
The Times

January 11, 2003
Grecian return puts Marbles in spotlight
From Richard Owen in Rome

GREECE is to return one of its greatest historical treasures to Italy in return for a small fragment of the Parthenon frieze.

The fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet is one of two donated to the Temple of Zeus on Mount Olympus by Hieron, the “Tyrant of Syracuse” in Sicily. Hieron was giving thanks to the gods for his military victories over the Etruscans and Carthaginians.
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The so called “Universal Museums” claim to represent the whole world, but it must be borne in mind, that this is an entirely self-appointed role, which comes at the expense of many specialist local museums. Proclaiming that they are in a different category of institution, to which the rules don;t apply in the same way as they do to others, raises far more problems than it solves.

From:
The Art Newspaper

We serve all cultures, say the big, global museums
Leading institutions seek to shift focus of debate on restitution
By Martin Bailey

LONDON. The world’s leading museums have for the first time united to issue a declaration. Their statement on “the importance and value of universal museums” follows increasing concern about the politicisation of Greek claims against the British Museum (BM) over the Parthenon Marbles.

Although the declaration released in December does not specifically mention the marbles, it points out that the acquisition of classical antiquities from Greece by European and North American museums “marked the significance of Greek sculpture for mankind as a whole and its enduring value for the contemporary world.”
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Nowadays, the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are split between different museums. A new exhibition aims to give an idea what some of the pieces would look like if they were united together once more.

From:
BBC News

Thursday, 2 January, 2003, 17:38 GMT
Elgin Marbles make ‘virtual’ return

The return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece has been simulated in a virtual reality exhibition, showing how the Parthenon treasures would look if they went back to Athens.

The virtual exhibition was first presented to the UK during a recent visit by Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.
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Museums in the UK are coming out strongly in criticism of suggestions that they should return Aboriginal artefacts in their collections. It is thought that some of this unwillingness stems from their fears that such a move would weaken their case for the continuing retention of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

Is it altruism or the fear of losing their marbles?
December 28 2002

Powerful forces are working to convince the British Government that the place for Aboriginal remains is London’s museums, writes Peter Fray.

“The race is a very degraded one and … even the coarse traders and cattle-ranchers make no irregular unions with their women so the race remains pure.” – Dr Arthur Gedge, circa 1900.
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