For travellers who want to plan their trips in advance & have limited time, booking tickets online and skipping the queue has been a great way to maximise the time actually spent inside the museums, particularly those such as the Vatican Museum that are prone to lengthy queues. Greece has now announced that a similar service will be available for many of their archaeological sites. This is great news, although the benefits are probably not as great as somewhere like Rome, as in my experience, the queues to actually get into sites such as the Acropolis have never been as problematic as they are in some countries.

From:
Greek Reporter

E-tickets for Greek Museums, Archaeological Sites
By Christina Flora on November 3, 2012 in News

The Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports has begun a special ticket issuing program for museums and archaeological sites using computers and mobile phones.

The e-ticket program is going to operate within the next few months and will include 30 frequent visited museums and archaeological sites such as Acropolis, Delphi, Ancient Olympia and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Visitors will be able to get their ticket with a single click on the link which is going to be created soon.
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If you talk to a group of lawyers who believe the return of the Elgin Marbles could be brought about by legal action (as I have done), and each one that you talk to will have a different idea of exactly how it can be achieved – in terms of which court, which jurisdiction, and which points form the basis of the case. One fact remains though – Italy argued for a long time with many of the big US museums for the return of looted artefacts – but only started to see any results once they had initiated legal proceedings against them. Whether or not legal action is aimed at winning the case in court, it can be a powerful tool for bringing people to the negotiating table with a more serious mindset – taking the case seriously rather than ignoring it in the hope that it will go away.

This new book by Greek Australian lawyer Kathryn-Magnolia Feeley gives her perspective on the legal issues involved.

From:
Greek Reporter

Feeley’s Legal Argument For the Return of the Greek Marbles
By Stella Tsolakidou on October 13, 2012 in News

Australian lawyer Kathryn-Magnolia Feeley offers her own approach to the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles from London to Athens. Her ideas will be officially launched Oct. 14 during her book presentation in Canberra.

The author of “How The Greeks Can Get Their Marbles Back- the legal argument for the return of the Parthenon Marbles ” is an expert on human rights law and has worked as an archaeologist in Greece before taking up her lawyer profession.
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In response to the previous story about talks between the British Museum & Greece, the British Museum has emphatically denied that this could lead to the return of the sculptures.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

British Museum denies plan to return Parthenon pieces
Tuesday August 28, 2012

The British Museum denied Friday that it was considering returning fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon to Greece, as suggested by the director of the Acropolis Museum in Athens a day earlier.

The British Museum said it was «open to discussions regarding a short-term loan of some of the objects but not a permanent return.
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Photographer and musician Ares Kalogeropoulos has expanded on his original campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, with a new video.

From:
Greek Reporter

‘I Am Greek and I Want to Go Home’ Movement for the Repatriation of Looted Greek Antiquities
By Areti Kotseli on August 5, 2012 in News

“You can steal a statue. But you can NOT steal my origin.

I AM GREEK

Citizens of the World, I am being kept hostage

HELP ME RETURN HOME, to Greece.

I was made to be ridden by Heroes, I was made to run on stone,
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Following the elections in June, Greece now has a new Culture Minister, Costas Tzavaras. In the first interview I have seen with him since he took on the job, he speaks about various topics, including the importance of the campaign to secure the return of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum to Athens.

From:
Greek Reporter

Greek Minister of Culture On Parthenon Marbles and Greek Cultural Crisis
By Anastasios Papapostolou on July 26, 2012

Costas Tzavaras, in an exclusive interview with the Greek Reporter talks about his new priorities as Minister of Culture, sends a message to attract foreign film productions to Greece and comments on Greece’s new coalition government.

Costas Tzavaras assumed the position of the deputy Minister of Education, responsible for cultural affairs, a few weeks ago and since then he has been working hard to bring back to crisis-hit Greece what he says the country is missing: cultural prosperity. The new minister, which practically filled in what previously was the position of Minister of Culture, believes that the Greek crisis is a product of a cultural crisis that the country had been facing over the past few years and he hopes to change it.
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It is unclear whether this article refers to the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation, or some other part of UNESCO. It appears to be a different event, although it contains similar representation on the Parthenon Marbles & why Greece thinks that they should be returned to Athens.

From:
Greek Reporter

UNESCO Conference on Antiquities Repatriation
By Marianna Tsatsou on June 27, 2012 in EU, news

UNESCO organized a conference on the protection, theft and repatriation of antiquities all over the world which was held on June 19-22 at its office in Porto, Portugal. Greece was among the participants of the 3rd International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, and was represented by officials of foreign affairs, education and culture ministries.

During the four-day event, president of the Acropolis Museum D. Pantermalis and director general M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki presented Greece’s appeal to the British Museum for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, to be housed at the modern Acropolis Museum.
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Amongst supporters of the return of the Parthenon Marbles, opinion is heavily divided over whether legal action is likely to be a successful way to resolve the situation. Italy has had a lot of success with such an approach in resent years – despite the fact that not many cases end up going to trial, it shows that the request is a serious one & encourages the parties to enter into proper negotiations rather than ignoring the issue.

From
Greek Reporter

Greek-Australians to File Appeal Against Britain for the Restoration of the Parthenon Marbles
By Areti Kotseli on June 26, 2012 in News

In collaboration with special committees dedicated to the cause across the world, Greek-Australians are prepared to file a lawsuit against Great Britain with regards to the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Greeks of the Diaspora are trying hard to press the British government to return these valuable examples of Greece’s stolen cultural heritage.

The announcement was made during the London International Colloquy on the matter. Undisclosed evidence advancing the existing ethical and legal argument for the return of the marbles was presented during the colloquy, where three campaigning organizations for the Parthenon Marbles from the UK, USA and Australia convened in a historic unified effort.
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More coverage of the problems facing many of Greece’s archaeological sites as a result of the ongoing financial difficulties in the country.

From:
New York Times

Greek Antiquities, Long Fragile, Are Endangered by Austerity
By RANDY KENNEDY
Published: June 11, 2012

KYTHIRA, Greece — A jarring public-awareness ad that has appeared recently on Greek television news shows a little girl strolling with her mother through the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, one of the country’s cultural crown jewels. The girl skips off by herself, and as she stands alone before a 2,500-year-old marble statue, a hand suddenly sweeps in from behind, covering her mouth and yanking her away.

An instant later, she reappears, apparently unharmed but staring forlornly at an empty plinth: The kidnappers weren’t after the girl — they were after the statue.
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On Wednesday 20th June, the New Acropolis Musuem will celebrate the third anniversary of its opening.

As part of the celebrations, the museum will have extended opening hours & there will be a series of musical performances within the exhibition spaces.

From:
Greek Reporter

Third Year Anniversary of the Opening of the New Acropolis Museum
By Areti Kotseli on June 15, 2012

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens celebrates its three years of existence with a series of events on its premises Wednesday, June 20th. Exhibition spaces will remain open to the public from 8.00 a.m. to midnight and general admission will be offered with a festive 3-Euro ticket.

Famous soloists and eminent musicians will be entertaining visitors in every exhibition space of the museum performing ancient music, music of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras and separate works of the 20th century.
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More coverage of the Intelligence Squared debate on the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles held at Cadogan Hall last Monday. The London Bytes blog also has a good writeup of the event.

From:
Guardian

Stephen Fry steals show, and Greek hearts, in Parthenon marbles debate
A talk in London about whether the British Museum should return the sculptures was screened live to an audience in Athens
Posted by
Lizzy Davies
Tuesday 12 June 2012 15.00 BST

They came in their Athenian finery, filing patiently into the low-lit auditorium and waiting to hear a message of hope. Its deliverer: a man who until recently was unknown to them but who is now regarded as something of a hero; a saviour of the Greek people in the face of foreign meddling and arrogance; a man who has come to their rescue in troubled times to fight for Hellenic pride.

No, restrain yourselves; it wasn’t Syriza’s Alexis Tsipras. The man they had come to see was one Stephen Fry, and the issue at stake was the future of the Parthenon marbles, currently held by the British Museum.
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Two stolen artefacts from a Greek church & one of the monasteries on mount Athos have now been returned to Greece & are going on temporary display.

From:
Greek Reporter

Ancient Greek Items Exhibited at Athens Byzantine Museum
By Marianna Tsatsou on June 3, 2012

Two stolen ancient items, which were displayed until recently in the UK, were transferred to Greece and are now hosted by the Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum beginning as of Wednesday, May 30.

The items will be kept in Athens only temporarily at the Museum, until being given to representatives of the appropriate Ephorates of the Hellenic Museum of Culture.
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More coverage of the Opus Elgin opera, about Lord Elgin’s removal of the sculptures from the Parthenon.

From:
Greek Reporter

Opus Elgin Opera to Bring Light to Return of Parthenon Marbles
By Marianna Tsatsou on May 25, 2012

“Opus Elgin: The Destruction of the Parthenon,” the opera’s world premiere, will take place at Athens Concert Hall, Megaron Mousikis, May 29. This opera work is composed by Theodore Stathis, and renowned Peter Tiboris will be the musical director.

The performance, organized by the non-profit organization Imeros for Culture, is the artistic response to discussions concerning the restitution of the Parthenon Marbles. People in charge for this are trying to awaken the European public to the issue.
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