December 7, 2010
Lord Elgin speaks about the reasons for returning artefacts to their country of origin
In a very interesting followup to the amusing story of Lord Elgin’s rocks, on display in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the current Lord Elgin has given an interview about why he made the decision to return the rocks, along with various other items to Canada.
Most telling is the quote near the end of the video:
It was a pity I felt, that people in Canada were not able to see them & touch them & so on & only hear about them.
There came a moment that there was a place that they could go to, where they would become, as they were in our house a part of our family, they were going to go back to be part of the family that was Canada.
Surely the same now applies to Greece since the building of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens?
As I’ve said before, one wonders whether the Elgin Marbles would already be back in Greece if the Seventh Earl of Elgin hadn’t been forced to sell them when faced with bankruptcy?
Lord Elgin speaks about the reasons for returning artefacts to their country of origin,- Elgin family to return some stones of no value to their country of origin : April 18, 2008
- Lord Elgin’s rocks on display in the Canadian Museum of Civilization : November 21, 2010
- The Elgin family busts in Ottawa : October 26, 2011
- The location of the Ottawa busts of the eighth Earl of Elgin & his wife : October 26, 2011
- Delays to Elgin family’s return of artefacts : April 28, 2008
- Did Greece fail to protect the Elgin Marbles? : January 15, 2004
- Sydney’s Parthenon Project : October 20, 2007
- Honouring one of the first to speak out against the destructive actions of Lord Elgin : October 18, 2008