June 15, 2009

British Museum officials to attend New Acropolis Museum opening

Posted at 9:13 pm in British Museum, Elgin Marbles, New Acropolis Museum

Much is being made in the press about the rejection of a supposed Elgin Marbles loan deal that never existed in the first place. Unfortunately, many more interesting facts about the opening are being drowned out by the noise made by this story.

From:
Agence France Presse

British Museum to attend Greek launch despite marbles spat
2 days ago

LONDON (AFP) — British Museum officials will attend the inauguration of Greece’s New Acropolis Museum next week, it said Friday but insisted its stance on the long-disputed Parthenon Marbles remains unchanged.

A spokeswoman for the museum also stressed that it had not made an offer nor received a request for those sculptures held in London to be loaned to Athens, following comments by a Greek minister this week.

A new museum for the remaining parts of the frieze and other sculptures from the Acropolis is scheduled to open in the Greek capital on June 20, reviving the debate over the significant portions held by the British Museum.

Greece has long pursued a campaign for the return of the priceless friezes. They were removed in 1806 by British ambassador Lord Elgin, when Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, and later sold to the British Museum.

Athens has invited foreign leaders and museum officials to attend the inauguration.

“We have been invited and the museum will be represented at the opening,” a British Museum spokeswoman told AFP.

“We’re very happy to have the invitation and very happy to go. The New Acropolis Museum is going to be a fantastic achievement and there’s great interest from the British Museum to see the new museum and see what they’ve done.

“But none of that changes the British Museum’s position on the retention of the sculptures here in London as part of a worldwide collection.”

Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said this week that Athens would turn down any loan offer as it would “legalise the snatching of the Marbles”.

The British Museum reiterated its lending pre-condition that any borrowing institutions must acknowledge the museum’s ownership of the objects in question.

“You can’t lend something if they don’t recognise your ownership,” the spokeswoman said.

Elgin’s acquisition of the sculptures — with the permission of the Ottoman authorities — was deemed legal in an 1816 British parliamentary investigation.

Copyright © 2009 AFP

From:
CBC (Canada)

Greece refuses British offer of Parthenon marbles loan
Accepting would acknowledge the art treasures as the legitimate property of the British Museum.
Last Updated: Friday, June 12, 2009 | 12:53 PM ET

Greece has said it will not accept the offer of a short-term loan of the Parthenon marbles because doing so would acknowledge the fifth-century B.C. antiquities as the legitimate property of the British Museum.

In a statement Thursday, Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaris said his government would not take up the British offer, which would have had the marbles displayed at the opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

“Accepting it would legalize the snatching of the marbles and the monument’s carving up 207 years ago,” he said.

Samaris was responding to comments by British Museum spokeswoman Hannah Boulton on Greek Skai Radio on Wednesday. She said that the London museum would consider lending the marbles to Greece for three months for the opening of the new museum.
Controversial history

The British Museum’s ownership of the Parthenon marbles has long been a subject of controversy.

In 1799, while Greece was under Ottoman rule, British Ambassador Lord Elgin began removing artifacts from the Acropolis. He sold 75 metres of the original 160 metres of the frieze that ran around the Parthenon’s inner core to the British Museum for £35,000 ($72,000 Cdn).

Over the years, campaigns have been launched calling for the reunification of the frieze — which depicts gods, giants and centaurs from Greek mythology — in Greece. The British Museum has claimed the works are safer in London than in Athens, where the Acropolis has suffered deterioration from pollution.

The Acropolis Museum, which stands just 400 metres from the Parthenon, opens on June 20. Replicas of the artworks in London will be displayed alongside those that have been left in Greece.

In his statement, Samaris said Greece would be willing to loan other antiquities to the British Museum “to fill the gap when the marbles are returned to the country where they belong.”

If the British Museum returned the Parthenon marbles to Greece, other countries would likely demand the return of their art treasures. Nigeria, for one, has been calling for the return of the Benin bronzes, which were removed by Britain in 1897.

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3 Comments »

  1. Chris Macheras said,

    06.16.09 at 3:35 am

    This is ridiculous. I can not believe this fiasco is still going on. The Marbles should have been returned to Athens long ago. They are indeed the property of the Athenians and belong in the place they once stood in glory thousands of years ago. these marbles represent the Glory of ancient Greece!

    Many British have argued that the Greeks did not have the ideal facilities to display these works however it is now evident and 94 Million Pounds later that the new Museum is the IDEAL place to house them. It is a brand new state of the art building and facility and the spiritual home of these works of archeological and artistic significance.

  2. Alexia said,

    06.21.09 at 6:00 pm

    Obviously no Brit showed up to the ceremony despite what is claimed above. There were comments from the British Museum saying that the new museum aims to ridicule the Brits. What an expensive way to do it! Only guilty people feel guilt…The marbles are world heritage. They should be returned to their birthplace, to bathe in the light that inspired them. Running out of excuses now…

  3. Georgia Maltezos said,

    06.21.09 at 8:54 pm

    What right did Elgin have in cutting away parts from the Parthenon marbles?
    He was sneaky enough to ask the Turks when Greece was invaded.
    If the Parthenon was for sale then he should have asked the Greeks. No one has the right to buy stolen property nor take advantage of a country under occupation.
    There’s parts of our marbles in Britain but not in whole pieces.
    eg. part of one leg is in Britain and the other part in Greece. Viciously Elgin hacked away
    parts from the Parthenon ( eg. heads of statues, feet, hands,etc). I’m disgusted when people write ‘ if it wasn’t for Britain the marbles wouldn’t be preserved today’ when Elgin did more damage to The Parthenon Marbles.
    Go to this site where the TRUTH is spoken: http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/default.php?pname=Live_broadcasting&la=2

    Hitler robbed jewish families of their valuables and other countries of artwork- same thing – Hitler had no right to sell or keep these items and artifacts. No one had the right to buy from Hitler these stolen goods.
    The Parthenon marbles were illegally sold by the Turks to Elgin and the British government had no right to buy them from Elgin because they are stolen artifacts.

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