April 24, 2007
Imperial loot or an emporium of treasures?
Chris Price, Deputy Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles responds to Neil MacGregor’s article in The Guardian.
From:
The Guardian
Monday April 23, 2007
The Guardian
LettersNeil MacGregor, in his analysis of the Britishness of the British Museum (Comment, April 19), says it was an 18th-century “emporium” which enabled ordinary people to look at artefacts from around the world. At an emporium you buy things. A large proportion of thing in the BM were imperial loot. He then goes on to talk of British values. One of these has been generosity – in restoring dignity to nations which Britain once looted. Some of these are today quite capable of looking after their own heritage; why should they not have their own cultural artefacts restored to them? Or does Britishness involve hanging on to a cultural empire to replace its old economic and political one?
Christopher Price
London
- Enlightenment & the British Museum : April 21, 2007
- Neil MacGregor talks about the Elgin Marbles & Cyrus Cylinder : February 11, 2010
- Nail MacGregor’s vision for the British Museum : May 30, 2007
- Is the British Museum a Universal Museum, or is this just a new argument against an old issue? : January 7, 2011
- Should the marbles be put back on the Parthenon? : January 25, 2006
- British Museum can loan Parthenon Marbles, just not to Greece : December 5, 2014
- Are the Elgin Marbles really “yesterday’s question”? : July 10, 2009
- Why Greece should be trusted to look after the Elgin Marbles : January 14, 2004