The British Museum regularly props up its defence for the retention of the Elgin Marbles with the fact that the sculptures can be seen in their museum free of charge, without any real debate a to whether this is necessarily a universally good thing. As budgets for government spending are cut in the UK, more & more questions must be asked about whether these institutions should keep their free admission, or charge visitors (which doesn’t necessarily need to be a large amount).

From:
Evening Standard

British Museum reduces opening hours as budget cuts begin to bite
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent
30.09.10

The British Museum is to reduce its opening hours from January to cope with government budget cuts.

Late-night opening to the permanent collections will be axed on Thursdays and restricted to one evening a week — Fridays. Staff recruitment will be “significantly reduced”.
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There is a talk about the Parthenon Marbles organised by Worcester Anglo-Hellenic Club on November 25th.

From:
Worcester News

Worcester Anglo-Hellenic Club
3:44pm Tuesday 9th November 2010

AT the October meeting, members and guests of the monthly Greek interest club enjoyed a highly informative travelogue from Leigh and Celia Canham entitled Lesbos.

During the first half, Leigh gave a whistle-stop tour in pictures and words of the third largest but little-known island in the northeast Aegean known as the Emerald isle, due to its green and lush appearance. To aid enjoyment, the locally distilled aniseed aperitif ouzo was on hand for sampling.
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On Saturday 13th November, there will be a tour (in English) of the New Acropolis Museum aimed at (older) children & their parents. If you are interested in attending, contact the organisers on their website.

From:
Livin’ Lovin’

Young and beautiful at the Acropolis Museum (En)

Being a parent is a handful!!!

Being a parent of a teenager is a HUGE handful!!! Taking a teenager to a museum is ……(you know…). We know, we’ve been there and still are. In order to make your life easier, we had an idea: why not organize a tour of the Acropolis museum, especially designed for young people and their parents? What that means is a very experienced and highly qualified guide (who is a mother of a teenager herself) who knows exactly how to present the museum in a way that will keep everyone happy and motivated. The visit will be on Saturday 13th of November at 11:00 am and please apply soon, because we want to have time to plan ahead.

The guided tour will be in English and it’s not to be missed.

A new book by a longstanding member of the British Museum’s staff promises to expose some of what happens behind the scenes at the museum. This may or may not be interesting – depending on your point of view & on what is actually revealed in the book.

From:
Love Reading

Bone of Contention? Skeletons Abound as Author Opens British Museum Closet
29 Sep 2010

Norman Jacobs lifts the lid on one of London’s oldest historical institutions

A “fascinating and insightful” expose of the British Museum hits the shelves in November.

Behind the Colonnade lifts the lid on London’s oldest historical institution, and reveals the building’s “secrets, charms and colourful past”. The 216-page autobiography chronicles events of the last four decades, as witnessed by one of its longest-serving – and most trusted – employees. Author Norman Jacobs spent 37 years at the museum where he “watched, listened and recorded” life in its corridors. The father-of-two, 63, compiled his “notes and memories” and decided to pen Behind the Colonnade following his retirement in 2004 aged 57.
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Various artefacts have been returned to the US by two private collectors. It is unclear from the article, whether this followed a request made by Greece, or whether there was any claims over the legality of the removal of these items from Greece.

From:
Greek Reporter

East Coast, New York, News
Greek Antiquities Return to Greece from New York
Posted on 25 September 2010 by Eleni Bozos

Repatriated from New York, were twenty two (22) silver coins from the area of Abdera and two marble fragments. The antiquities, as a donation to the country of Greece, were delivered to the Consulate General of New York, where they were received by a representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and were brought by him to Greece. The ancient coins were donated by Dr. Jonathan Kagan and the two marble fragments by the family of Teo Nikolaki and Nikolaos Garbidakis.
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The American Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures has produced a video to accompany a traveling exhibition of imagery of the Parthenon.

You can also subscribe to their YouYube channel to see their other videos.

Stealing the Marbles is a new crime novel by Ej Knapp about a heist involving the theft of the Parthenon Sculptures.

More information is available on the author’s website.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that a crime novel has been written about this particular subject – Reg Gardney’s book; Strange Police, covered vary similar ground.

Two different people both seem to be advocating that loans of artefacts between museum are the way of the future. in the case of the British Museum however, this is always something that is done very much on their terms – they won’t countenance any sort of longer term loaning. It buys them some sympathy, when they can tell people how much of their collection has been lent out – but in most cases these loans are made for less than a year. MacGregor seems to like the idea of sharing to nearby museums – actually allowing the original owners of the artefacts to see them again in their own country is clearly a more contentious issue however.

The second article sees lending in far more equitable terms – partly as a way of helping museums to deal with an art market inflated by wealthy private collectors.

From:
Museums Association

MacGregor – Museums can be Lending Libraries
Rebecca Atkinson
05/10/2010 international level

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum (BM), has called for national museums to be seen as “lending libraries” from which partner museums can borrow objects to use as they wish.

Speaking at the Museums Association conference, MacGregor discussed the History of the World in 100 Objects collaboration between the BM, the BBC and regional museums.
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After more than twenty years of campaigning, a belt has been returned from a museum in Albany to the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

From:
Watertown Daily Times

Wampum belt returned to reservation museum
CEREMONY HELD: Mohawks say 300-year-old ‘wolf belt’ symbolizes tribe’s history
By LORI SHULL
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

HOGANSBURG — A 300-year-old piece of history returned to the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation on Friday, after more than a century in a museum in Albany.

In a ceremony steeped in Mohawk traditions, about 100 people came out to install the belt made of purple and white wampum beads in the tribe’s museum. Speeches in Mohawk, native singers and a traditional lunch of corn soup and fry bread ushered the 2-foot-long belt into a long glass case in a specially designed room in the small museum.
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The latest newsletter from the Marbles Reunited campaign is now available to download from their website.

You can download if here.

You can also browse through all their previous newsletters here.