April 7, 2015
Greece responds to UNESCO marbles mediation rejection
Greek culture minister Nikos Xydakis has responded to the news that his country’s request for mediation over the Parthenon Marbles issue has been rejected by both the British Government and the British Museum.
Part of the Parthenon Marbles, the river god Ilissos in the Duveen Gallery
From:
ABC News (Australia)
Greece condemns British Museum’s refusal to allow mediation over ancient Parthenon sculptures
Posted 28 Mar 2015, 10:02pmGreece has condemned the British Museum’s decision to reject a UNESCO offer to help resolve a decades-old dispute over returning ancient Parthenon sculptures to Athens.
The sculptures are part of the collection popularly known as the Elgin Marbles which were acquired by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s when he was ambassador to the Ottoman court.
The British parliament purchased the art treasures in 1816 and gave them to the museum.For the past 30 years, Athens has been demanding the return of the sculptures which had decorated the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens from ancient times.
“We deplore the categorical refusal by the British of UNESCO’s invitation to launch a mediation process over the Parthenon sculptures housed in the British Museum,” Greek culture minister Nikos Xydakis said.
“The British negativism is overwhelming, along with its lack of respect for the role of mediators.”
The UN cultural agency had offered to mediate between Greece and Britain over the ancient artworks during a meeting in October 2014.
But Sir Richard Lambert, the director of the British Museum, said in a letter to Athens this week that the trustees “decided respectfully to decline this request”.
He said UNESCO’s role was to pursue and safeguard endangered cultural heritage and that “the surviving Parthenon sculptures, carefully preserved in a number of European museums, clearly do not fall into this category”.
“We believe that the more constructive way forward, on which we have already embarked, is to collaborate directly with other museums and cultural institutions, not just in Greece but across the world.”
Sir Richard said the British Museum wanted to continue exploring collaborative ventures directly with Greek institutions – “not on a government-to-government basis”.
For his part, the Greek minister criticised Britain for viewing the dispute as just an issue between museums and not between states.
“We call on Great Britain to reconsider its position,” Mr Xydakis said.
AFP
From:
Sky News (Australia)
Greece condemns UK over sculptures
Published: 4:36 pm, Sunday, 29 March 2015Greece has criticised the ‘negativism’ of the British Museum in rejecting mediation by UNESCO to help resolve the decades-old dispute over returning ancient Parthenon sculptures to Athens.
The sculptures are part of the collection popularly known as the ‘Elgin Marbles’ which were acquired by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s when he was ambassador to the Ottoman court. The British parliament purchased the art treasures in 1816 and gave them to the museum.
For the past 30 years Athens has been demanding the return of the sculptures which had decorated the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens from ancient times.
‘We deplore the categorical refusal by the British of UNESCO’s invitation to launch a mediation process over the Parthenon sculptures housed in the British Museum,’ said Nikos Xydakis, a Greek culture minister, in a statement on Saturday.
‘The British negativism is overwhelming, along with its lack of respect for the role of mediators,’ he added.
The UN cultural agency had offered to mediate between Greece and Britain over the ancient artworks during a meeting in October 2014.
But Sir Richard Lambert, the director of the British Museum, said in a letter to Athens this week that at a meeting on March 19 the trustees ‘decided respectfully to decline this request’.
He said UNESCO’s role was to pursue and safeguard endangered cultural heritage and that ‘the surviving Parthenon sculptures, carefully preserved in a number of European museums, clearly do not fall into this category.’
Lambert said the British Museum wanted to continue exploring collaborative ventures directly with Greek institutions – ‘not on a government-to-government basis’.
- UNESCO mediation rejection – what next : April 10, 2015
- IARPS support for the UNESCO mediation process to resolve the Marbles deadlock : January 20, 2014
- The nature of the rejection of UNESCO mediation for Marbles : April 13, 2015
- When will UK respond to Parthenon Marbles mediation request : February 25, 2014
- Could UNESCO mediation be a game changer for Greece’s Elgin Marbles issue : November 9, 2013
- Could mediation through UNESCO offer a solution to the Parthenon Marbles issue? : October 3, 2013
- ICOMOS support for Parthenon Marbles UNESCO mediation : November 17, 2014
- Letter from IARPS to David Cameron about Parthenon Marbles : December 3, 2014
elginism said,
04.08.15 at 5:10 am
Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
ParthenonInt said,
04.08.15 at 5:11 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
initlabor said,
04.08.15 at 5:16 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
jagzarandona said,
04.08.15 at 5:42 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
HellenicLeaders said,
04.08.15 at 5:45 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
Anonomouse1981 said,
04.08.15 at 5:49 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
roalddocter said,
04.08.15 at 6:22 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
Roy Stephenson said,
04.08.15 at 6:58 am
Richard Lambert is Chair of Trustees not Director of BM. If you are going continue chipping away at this issue, probably best to get their role titles correct.
ChasingAphrodit said,
04.08.15 at 7:30 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
egrafton said,
04.08.15 at 7:32 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
Matthew said,
04.08.15 at 8:01 am
It was in the text of an article I reposted. I also spotted this error.
DR.KWAME OPOKU said,
04.08.15 at 8:56 am
The British Museum and the British Government should hear the words of the Greek Minister and reconsider their position. They surely cannot believe that by refusing mediation by UNESCO the problem will go away. To express a wish to continue the good relations with Greek institutions and at the same time refuse mediation does not make sense, especially as no alternative mode of settlement is proposed. The reaction of the British Government does not set a good example for other States that may be having disputes with others. In this respect, the refusal is a disservice to International Law.
Steve Kay said,
04.08.15 at 11:16 am
Why hasn’t Greece requested mediation over the Parthenon Sculptures housed in a world famous museum just a few streets from UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris?
marinabc said,
04.08.15 at 3:36 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
NasosNakos said,
04.09.15 at 3:04 am
RT @elginism: Blog post: Greece responds to UNESCO Parthenon marbles mediation rejection by UK & British Museum
http://t.co/HSPZqQyuAZ
Matthew said,
04.09.15 at 10:45 pm
Because these sculptures represent a far smaller proportion of the total surviving, and were acquired in different circumstances?
elginism said,
04.10.15 at 10:59 pm
@LiamRCarr Sure – Rejection of UNESCO mediation: http://t.co/HSPZqQgTcp
And a recent EDM: http://t.co/V5lnc5LOKP