April 25, 2012

Appeal for the protection of Greek cultural heritage

Posted at 12:48 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

Greece’s financial crisis has hit the country’s cultural sector particularly hard – it is easier to cut funding for an archaeology site, than it is for citizens who will vote against the people who made the cuts at the next election.

I’m slightly puzzled by the event in this article though – and the results it intends to produce – they are calling for protection of Greek heritage, with banners in the room where the Parthenon Marbles are, but make no specific mention about the demands for the return of such artefacts (at least not any mentioned in the text).

Note – after this was written, the organisation contacted me to point out that they do also support the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

From:
Greek Reporter

Solidarity Placard for Greeks Inside the British Museum
By Marianna Tsatsou on April 24, 2012

For years, the British Museum has been a sort of guest room for the Parthenon Marbles. Hundreds of tourists visit the Greek sculptures, despite the fact that they are many miles away from their birthplace.

Members of the Coalition of Resistance, President of which is British former politician Tony Benn, showed their support to Greece by hanging a placard writing “Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay. Solidarity for Greece” in the Hellenic Exhibition Hall of the British Museum.

They marked this peaceful demonstration as a symbolic “welcome note” for members of the Association of Greek Archaeologists visiting London to make an appeal to archaeologists and citizens all over the world to support the protection of cultural heritage and historical memory in Greece.

Their campaign, “Monuments have no voice. They must have yours,” accuses the IMF and the Troika of imposing austerity measures, such as wage cuts, leaving archaeologists, which are civil servants, and other workers unable to preserve the ancient Greek statues.

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2 Comments »

  1. Paul Mackney said,

    04.26.12 at 8:12 am

    We do support the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

  2. Matthew said,

    04.27.12 at 8:09 am

    Excellent.

    Thanks for the clarification.

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