The Pfahlbaumuseum in Bodensee has agreed to return 8,000 pottery fragments that were illegally excavated in Greece in 1941.

From:
ENET

16:15 Wednesday 29 May 2013
Thousands of Greek antiquities repatriated from Germany

8,000 pottery fragments illegally excavated during Second World War

Germany’s Pfahlbaumuseum will in June return to Greece 8,000 pottery fragments illegally excavated from Thessaly during the Second World War
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The New Acropolis Museum has made it to third place in a list of the top fifty museums in the world. One wonders whether it would make it to the top spot if it it housed all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
Huffington Post

The Parthenon Marbles: A Piece of History Still Orphaned
Posted: 05/28/2013 1:03 pm

Last May 18th, on the occasion of International Museum Day, a list of the top fifty museums of the world, as published by the Sunday Times, came to my attention. It was both with great joy and sadness that I saw the Acropolis Museum of Athens in third spot, right behind the Smithsonian in Washington and the British Museum in London.

For, the Acropolis Museum, founded on the passion and spirit of Melina Mercouri, the renowned Greek actress and Minister of Culture, patiently awaits the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their rightful resting place. It was brilliantly designed in minimalist architectural style in order to reflect the facade of the Parthenon that is visible through its glass structure and bears silent witness to Greece’s Golden Age.
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The Chinese Schoolboy who carved his name on a sculpture on the wall of an ancient temple in Egypt has had his name exposed online & is now being subjected to online harassment as a result. While graffiti on ancient sites is something to be condemned, it is hardly a new problem – even Byron (who much criticised Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon Sculptures) carved his initials on the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio.

Having said this, Egypt’s antiquities currently face far bigger problems than initials scratched on a wall – and perhaps focusing people’s attentions on this distracts from the enormous scale of the actual issues faced at present.

From:
Independent

Chinese schoolboy, 15, exposed as Egypt’s ancient temple graffiti vandal
Internet users name and shame teenager who scratched 3,500-year-old artwork
Clifford Coonan
Beijing
Tuesday 28 May 2013

The parents of a Chinese teenager who scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old Egyptian artwork have apologised for his actions after internet users tracked down the boy to name and shame him.

The 15-year-old, from Nanjing, was identified after a photo of his graffiti – which said “Ding Jinhao was here” in Mandarin – at the Temple of Luxor was posted online on Friday.
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The Partheon Sculptures were originally coloured. Now a new technology may be able to detect more minute traces of the original pigments, enabling us to build up a clearer idea of exactly how ancient painted artefacts might ave looked originally.

From:
Nanotechnology Now

Abstract:
The fabled ivory carvings from the ancient Phoenician city of Arslan Tash — literally meaning “Stone Lion” — may appear a dull monochrome in museums today, but they glittered with brilliant blue, red, gold and other colors 2,800 years ago, a new study has confirmed after decades of speculation. It appears in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.

Re-creating the original colors of treasured ivory carvings from the ancient past
Washington, DC | Posted on May 29th, 2013
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Whenever the Acropolis & other archaeological sites in Athens are closed due to strikes, it brings with it a lot of negative publicity, with images of tourists whose holidays have been disrupted.

We should remember though, that the museums in the UK are not as immune to strike action as they might want to pretend – and also, that to the best of my knowledge, the New Acropolis Museum (which is run differently to other Greek state museums) has never been closed due to strikes.

From:
BBC News

29 May 2013 Last updated at 17:36
Museums prepare for strike action

Access to several UK museums, galleries and heritage sites may be affected this week due to industrial action.

The National and National Portrait Galleries have warned some of their rooms may be closed on Thursday.
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As in other years, the New Acropolis Museum is going to have free admission & various special events to celebrate International Museums Day on May 18th.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Friday May 17, 2013
Celebrating International Museum Day around Greece

Museums around the country celebrate their past, present and future this weekend as a number of local cultural institutions take part in festivities marking this year’s International Museum Day.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day back in 1977 in an effort to raise public awareness with regard to the key role played by cultural organizations in societies. The annual celebration usually takes place around May 18.
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