In a surprisingly rapid response to Egypt’s threats to withdraw cooperation with the Louvre, the French Museum has now agreed to the return of five fresco fragments, admitting that there are now serious doubts over their provenance.

From:
Bloomberg

France to Give Back to Egypt Five Artifacts Bought by Louvre
By Farah Nayeri

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) — France said it is returning to Egypt five fresco fragments acquired by the Louvre Museum, saying there were “serious doubts” about their provenance, and responding to Egyptian demands for their return.

The 35-member commission overseeing France’s national museum collections met today, and unanimously agreed that the fresco fragments from the wall of a prince’s tomb must be given back, the culture ministry said in an e-mailed release. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand has decided to return them.
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More coverage of Iran’s threat’s to cease co-operation with the British Museum if the dispute over the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder is not resolved.

From:
Fars News Agency

15:30 | 2009-10-08
Iran Warns British Museum over Cyrus Cylinder

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tehran announced that it would cease cooperation with the British Museum in London until it loans the Cyrus the Great Cylinder to the National Museum of Iran.

The clay cylinder is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform with an account by Cyrus II, king of Persia (559-530 BC). The Cyrus Cylinder is described as the world’s first charter of human rights.
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The vice president of Iran has issued a warning to cease all co-operation with the British Museum if they do not stop procrastinating over the planned loan of the Cyrus Cylinder. This move echoes the efforts by Egypt to escalate their dispute with the Louvre over disputed artefacts.

From:
Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies

Iran’s Vice President Threatens the British Museum
Wednesday, 07 October 2009 18:31

LONDON, (CAIS) — The Islamic Republic vice president who is also the director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO) has threatened to cease the cooperation between the National Museum in Tehran and the British Museum in London, if the Cyrus the Great Cylinder is not loaned to Iran, reported the Persian service of the Aryan Heritage (Miras-e Ariya) on Wednesday.

While visiting the Iran’s National Museum, Hamid Baqaee told journalists: “The BM uses the current political situation in Iran as an excuse not to loan the cylinder to the National Museum.”
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Artefacts stolen from Afghanistan and recovered by British customs in 2004 have now gone on display in Kabul after being returned earlier this year.

From:
The Age (Melbourne)

Stolen artefacts return to Kabul
JON BOONE, KABUL
October 8, 2009

It was a moment that went a long way to putting Afghanistan and its cultural heritage back on the map. In a small space in a once bombed-out building on the southern edge of Kabul, Afghan dignitaries and western diplomats squeezed past each other to see into the display cases: bronze age digging implements, pieces of carved marble and elaborate metal goods spanning Afghanistan’s rich history.

It was only a two-room exhibit and much of the rest of Afghanistan’s National Museum remained empty. But the opening of the room marked a first step towards the restoration of a museum which, before the destruction wreaked during the country’s civil war, once boasted one of the greatest collections of ancient artefacts anywhere in the world.
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More coverage of Zahi Hawass’s threats to cut ties between Egypt & the Louvre, as arguments over disputed artefacts in the French museum escalate. Hawass also alleges that the Louvre knew the artefacts were obtained illegally at the time that they were acquired.

From:
Independent Online (Zaire)

Artefacts drive wedge between Egypt, Louvre
October 08 2009 at 09:18AM
By Paul Schemm

Egypt’s antiquities czar took his campaign to recover the nation’s lost treasures to a new level on Wednesday by cutting ties with one of the world’s premier museums, the Louvre, over disputed artefacts.

The Paris museum’s refusal to return painted wall fragments of a 3 200-year-old tomb near the ancient temple city of Luxor could jeopardise its future excavations in Egypt.
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In the past, Egypt’s Zahi Hawass has asked for the return of disputed artefacts in the Louvre. Now, as a means to escalate the issue, he is trhreatening to withdraw any co-operation between Egypt & the Louvre until the issue is resolved.

From:
Agence France Presse

Egypt breaks ties with France’s Louvre Museum
By Christophe de Roquefeuil (AFP)
7th October 2009

CAIRO — Egypt announced on Wednesday that it has cut all cooperation with France’s Louvre Museum until it secures the return of “stolen” Pharaonic antiquities in the latest row involving the exhibits of a major European institution.

“We made the decision to end any cooperation with the Louvre until they return” the works, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told AFP.
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A number of the arguments for the reunification of the surviving Elgin Marbles are based on the fact that it makes more sense to locate the sculptures close to their original context. The reasons include that of seeing the sculptures & their original location (which they were designed for) only a short distance away from one another, that the sculptures hold more significance to the local community than to people elsewhere & that the sculptures form part of a local sense of identity. The institutions that hold the Parthenon Marbles (& many other similarly disputed artefacts) dismiss such claims as nationalistic, rubbishing the idea that artefacts make any sort of local connection.

Often when new artefacts are discovered, attempts are made to keep them on display locally to where they were found, rather than being moved to a bigger museum further away. The reasons given are generally similar to those given for the Parthenon Marbles. Such cases generally receive positive publicity & support by many who agree that the reasons for keeping the artefacts in the area near where they were found make sense. Many of these campaigns are eventually successful & funds are found to raise money for local museums to keep hold of the treasures. The only difference between cases such as these & those such as the Parthenon Marbles, is that the campaigns are started before the artefacts are ever acquired by the big institutions and that the parties involved are typically all contained within he same country. Apart from this though, there is little difference in the reasoning (if anything the Parthenon Sculptures have a far stronger case in this regard, as they were designed to be seen in a specific context.

From:
Birmingham Mail

Museums launch joint appeal to keep The Staffordshire Hoard in the Midlands
Oct 6 2009

MUSEUM bosses and city leaders have launched an appeal to keep the prized Staffordshire Hoard in the Midlands.

More than 36,000 people have queued to see the Anglo-Saxon gold since it went on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which extended its opening hours in the gold rush.
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For many years, one of the excuses for the British Museum’s retention of the Parthenon Sculptures was that there was no suitable place in Greece to put them. This has now been solved by the completed Acropolis Museum which continues to receive overwhelmingly positive reviews.

From:
National Post

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Ready For The Return
The impressive new Acropolis Museum makes the case that Greece is all set for the Elgin Marbles
Ian McKellar, National Post

Let’s say you consider yourself something of a budding ruinologist. Perhaps you’ve visited some ancient Roman sites on a trip to Provence, maybe you’ve seen the pyramids or perchance you’ve even made it to Chichen Itza in the Mayan Riviera.

For such a cultured person as yourself, Greece presents a most appealing, if troubling, opportunity. The nation is the cradle of Western civilization, and Athens is chockablock with museums and historical sites — but always there are the whispers of bad traffic, of poor air quality, of stifling heat during the summer months.
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Some further coverage of the news that some of the Lewis Chessmen will be loaned to Scotland temporarily, but that they will definitely not be returning long term. As expected, many are not happy with this decision by the British Museum.

From:
Press and Journal

Letters Page
Published: 02/10/2009
Lewis Chessmen returning

SIR, – I refer to your story (October 1) about the Lewis Chessmen returning to Scotland.

Once again, the authorities have graced us with their kindness, and agreed to “lend” the nation of Scotland her own items of cultural significance. How thoroughly decent of them.

The Scottish Government should be applauded and criticised in equal measure. We have seen the Stone of Destiny, arguably Scotland’s most important historical and cultural item, return to its rightful place, but with steel shackles attached. And now, some more of the Lewis Chessmen return to their adopted homeland, but please do not get comfortable, as England wants them back.
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As anticipated, an announcement has been made that some of the Lewis Chessmen will return to Scotland. The British Museum has also used the announcement though to make it clear that they never intend on these artefacts to leave the institution permanently – if anything making their views on the subject clearer & more emphatic than before, falling back again on the justification of the widely discredited Universal Museum argument.

From:
Press and Journal

October 2, 2009
Lewis Chessmen go north — but they’re just visiting
Tom Maxwell

The Lewis Chessmen are being brought north for an important tour of Scotland after the SNP government said it would contribute £75,000 towards the costs of a new exhibition to be staged by the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland.

Nationalist ministers remain committed to the long-term goal of bringing the 12th-century figures to Scotland on a permanent basis, and hope the exhibition will further that aim.
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More coverage of the expected news that some of the Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum will be loaned to Scotland’s National Museum temporarily.

From:
Press and Journal

Chessmen to make move back to Scotland
Checkmate for First Minister as iconic Lewis pieces are finally repatriated
By Cameron Brooks
Published: 01/10/2009

CULTURE Minister Mike Russell is expected to announce today that the British Museum in London has agreed to return some of the world’s most famous chess pieces to Scotland.

The Press and Journal understands that trustees will lend the National Museum of Scotland a substantial number of the 82 Lewis Chessmen pieces it holds on a temporary basis.
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Aegean Airlines is allowing has made an offer to 208 schools located on Greece’s islands to transport their pupils to Athens to see the New Acropolis Museum for free – making Greece’s culture far more accessible to a wider range of the country’s citizens than just those based near to Athens.

From:
Crete Gazette

Greek Pupils Travel Free with Aegean Airlines to the New Acropolis Museum
1st October 2009

Thousands of Greek pupils of the 9th grade will have the chance to travel for free to Athens from their area of residence to enjoy the unique experience of visiting the new Acropolis Museum and get to know the rich cultural heritage. This chance is given to them by Aegean Airlines, offering free transportation to pupils from the Greek Islands.

The project Aegean – Close to the Youth aims at offering to pupils from 208 different schools in the Greek Islands, the chance to visit the New Museum of the Acropolis. The project, once approved by the pertinent ministry and officials will start in October and will be involve all the pupils of ninth grade for the school year 2009-2010.
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