Trafficking Culture has recently added a new dictionary section to their website. This dictionary give concise explanations of a huge range of items relating to disputed cultural property. It seems from what I’ve seen so far, to cover a wide range of items – everything from the Euphronios Krater, to the Treasure Act in the UK.

Well worth looking at if you are interested in the subject.

The dictionary is on their website here.

They still need don’t have any entry for the Parthenon Sculptures though…

Andrew George MP, the chair of the Marbles Reunited campaign, has tabled a new Early Day Motion, highlighting many of the recent developments that relate to the return of the Parthenon Marbles. EDMs are a way in which members of parliament can both gauge the level of support for proposals.

From:
Parliamentary Information Management Web Site

PARTHENON MARBLES
Session: 2012-13
Date tabled: 18.09.2012
Primary sponsor: George, Andrew
Sponsors:Caton, Martin; Corbyn, Jeremy; Galloway, George; Hancock, Mike; Sanders, Adrian

That this House is aware that half of the Parthenon sculptures, controversially removed from Athens by Lord Elgin 210 years ago using a flimsy legal justification during the Ottoman occupation of Greece, remain on display in the British Museum; notes that, when presented with the facts, the British public favours the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles in Athens; and that at the Intelligence Squared debate on 11 June 2012, the audience voted 384 to 125 in favour of return, having marginally voted in favour of their retention before the debate commenced; further notes the opinion poll being conducted by the Journal of the Museums Association which showed 73 per cent in favour of reunification and 27 per cent against; is aware that the British Museum has abandoned most of its conventional arguments and now advances the novel concept of a universal museum; believes that in view of the uniqueness of the case for the reunification of these sculptures, it would consequently not constitute a precedent for other restitution cases; and calls on the Government to take heed of the consistent indications of domestic public and professional opinion and the growing worldwide interest by initiating a review of the cultural, ethical and political justifications for refusing to reunite these British-held Parthenon sculptures with those now displayed in the purpose-built Acropolis Museum in the shadow of the monument to which they belong, the Parthenon in Athens.

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Derek Fincham of the South Texas College of Law may be better known to some readers of this website as the author of the Illicit Cultural Property blog.

In a recently published paper, he looks at a series of principles that the British Museum & Greece could use together to secure a just return of the sculptures.

You can download the full paper at the page below, or with this link.

From:
Social Science Research Network

The Parthenon Sculptures and Cultural Justice
Derek Fincham
South Texas College of Law
August 18, 2012

Abstract:
From government and philosophy to art drama and culture, the ancient Athenians, as most everyone knows, gave future generations so much. Yet the pinnacle of their artistic achievement, the Parthenon, remains a damaged and incomplete work of art. 2012 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the last removal of works of art from the Parthenon. That taking was ordered by an English diplomat known to history as Lord Elgin, and it reminds us that cultures create lasting monuments. But not equally. Cultures which remove the artistic achievements of other nations have increasingly been confronted with uncomfortable questions about how these objects were acquired. Nations of origin are increasingly deciding to press claims for repatriation of works taken long ago. They proceed through history mindful of the irresistible genius of their forebears have created and are unwilling to cease their calls for return.
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The Thirsty Gargoyle has an interesting blog post about why the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned. Their post is inspired by Stephen Fry’s views on the subject, but looks in more detail about how many in Britain take views on subjects, despite knowing too little about it to be in a position to form a real opinion.

Read it here.

Turkey has been very active in pursuing foreign museums that it claims are illegally holding Turkish artefacts in recent months. Now, there are claims that tiles on display in the Louvre formed part of a mosaic illegally removed from a Turkish Mosque, although it is unclear how & when the pieces were removed from their original setting.

From:
France 24

Latest update: 02/11/2012
Louvre – Paris
Louvre denies Turkish tiles ‘stolen’ from historic mosque

Paris’s world famous Louvre museum denied accusations on Friday that it was exhibiting tiles stolen from Turkey hundreds of years ago, following claims made in a Turkish daily that the tiles were pilfered from a historic mosque.

The Louvre museum in Paris on Friday said there had been no official demand from Ankara to return tiles that a Turkish daily claims were stolen from a historic mosque, adding they had been acquired legally.
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Keri Douglas has organised a talk in Washington this Friday, on Art, antiquities & law. The talk is being given by Marc Masurovsky, co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project.

Visit the event’s website for full details & to purchase tickets.

From:
Eventbrite

Art, Antiquities & War: Is Our Obsession to Posses Art Above the Law Lecture Series
Keri Douglas
Friday, October 19, 2012 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (EDT)
Washington, United States

Event Details
Marc Masurovsky, editor of plundered-art.blogspot.com and co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project will discuss the merits and challenges of the current legislation (S.2212) being considered in the U.S. Senate that potentially would give full immunity for any cultural object regardless of origin, whether licit or not, to enter the United States for cultural display without fear of being the subject of a legal claim. The proposed bill also exempts a small category of objects that were “taken” under Nazi rule—the so-called “Nazi exception”. At stake are the challenges that foreign lenders face in light of S. 2212 as well as potential or actual claimants seeking the return of their looted property.
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More coverage of the looted Afghan artefacts, which were returned by the UK earlier this year.

From:
Museums Association Journal

Hundreds of stolen items returned to Kabul | Museums Association
Patrick Steele
01 September 2012

Some of the 825 stolen objects returned to the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul in July, with the assistance of the British Museum and Ministry of Defence, were saved by a London-based philanthropist.

The British Museum’s Middle East curator, John Simpson, said the philanthropist offered to acquire the objects for the Afghan museum if the British Museum could “advise on legality and process” and act as an intermediary.
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The Young Archaeologists Club has a poll on their website over whether the British Museum ought to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

From:
Young Archaeologists Club

YAC’s Parthenon Sculptures Vote!
Submitted by Nicky Milsted on Tue, 2012-09-04 11:09
What are the Parthenon Sculptures?

The Parthenon Sculptures are sometimes called the Elgin Marbles because they were brought to Britain by Lord Elgin. The sculptures come from the famous Parthenon temple, which is part of the Acropolis in Athens. The Ancient Greeks began building the temple in 447BC.

Around half of the sculptures were destroyed in ancient times, before Lord Elgin arrived at the Parthenon. Of the remaining sculptures, about 50% are now in the British Museum, where they have been on display since 1817. Most of the rest are in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.
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Despite little sign of success so far, Turkey is continuing their policy of aggressively lobbying foreign museums who currently hold Turkish artefacts, where the ownership is disputed.

From:
Sofia Globe

Turkey lobbies museums around world to return artifacts
Posted Sep 3 2012 by Dorian Jones of VOANews

Turkey is following an increasingly aggressive policy of getting top museums around the world to return its heritage. Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay says that in the last decade, more than 4,000 artifacts had been brought back to Turkey from world museums and collections.

Turkey’s minister of culture recently opened a new archeological museum in the western city of Izmir. Ertugrul Gunay is the architect of a museum revolution in the country aiming to harness Turkey’s rich heritage.
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The Egyptian Museum in Berlin is celebrating the centenary of the discovery of the bust of Nevertiti. Perhaps this would be a fitting point, for them to also enter into serious discussions with Egypt, who also claims ownership of the artefact.

From:
Hurriyet

Berlin marks 100 years of discovering Nefertiti
BERLIN – Agence France-Presse

Berlin’s Egyptian Museum has said that it will celebrate the centenary of the discovery of the 3,400-year-old fabled bust of Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti amid an ongoing feud with Cairo over its ownership.

The museum said it would open an exhibition on Dec. 6 honoring the famous sculpture and other jewels of the Amarna period in its collection on the German capital’s Museum Island.
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More coverage of the story that first emerged over a year ago, about one of the earliest examples of a birch bark canoe, owned by a family in Cornwall, who decided to return it to Canada.

From:
Vancouver Sun

Rare birchbark canoe repatriated from U.K. to Peterborough museum
By Mike Fuhrmann, The Canadian Press August 17, 2012

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The latest arrival at the Canadian Canoe Museum, a six-metre-long birchbark craft, is in poor shape. Ribs poke out from the sides and much of the frame has disintegrated.

But the vessel’s remarkable history — and the fact that it has survived at all, becoming one of oldest birchbark canoes in the world — make it a “stunning find,” says museum curator Jeremy Ward.
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The Elgin Marbles are by far the most famous sculptures missing from a Greek temple – but there are many other similar, less known cases. Each case is of course different, but there are still parallels that can be drawn.

In the case of this article, is is the sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia, located on the island of Aegina in the Argo-Saronic Gulf, close to Piraeus, which are now held by a museum in Germany.

From:
George Vardas

The Aegina Marbles: Time to come home?

On 13 April 2011 a group of local dignitaries, school children and villagers gathered in front of the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina, carrying placards and making speeches calling for the return of sculptures removed from the sacred temple exactly 200 years ago. Whilst the more famous Elgin Marbles are the paragon of looted works of art and have been the subject of much debate as demands intensify for their return from the British Museum, the significance of the Aegina sculptures should not be forgotten as they continue to decorate the galleries of the Glyptothek Museum in Munich, Germany, a neo-Classical building, displaying sculptures from Greece’s archaic period

Aegina is the closest island to Athens and is one of the jewels of the Argo-Saronic Gulf. On the eastern part of the island on a pine-covered hill, commanding views over the gulf, lies a beautiful Doric temple built in around 490BC out of limestone and marble. The sanctuary is dedicated to the goddess Aphaia (the “Dark One” or “Invisible One” and possibly a Minoan goddess linked to the veneration of Athena). The sculptures that once adorned the temple have been described as amongst the most famous and important artistic remains from the Archaic and early Classical periods, depicting the heroism of the Greek warriors during the Trojan War. Heroic combat is not only the stuff of Greek mythology and history but, to borrow from Shelley, it also resides in the marbled immortality that is Ancient Greece.
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