Showing 2 results for the tag: Observer.

July 27, 2016

More on the proposed Parthenon Sculptures (return to Greece) bill

Posted at 12:48 pm in British Museum, Elgin Marbles

Further coverage of the parliamentary bill tabled on the bicentenary of the legal handover of Elgin's sculptures to the British Museum

Further coverage of the Parthenon Sculptures (Return to Greece) bill, currently presented to the UK Parliament.

Part of the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum

Part of the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum

From:
Observer

UK Parliament Pushes Bill to Return Elgin Marbles to Greece
By Alanna Martinez
07/15/16 9:08am

For 200 years there’s been squabble over who rightfully owns the world famous Elgin Marbles: the British Museum or Greece? Now, even Brits themselves are pretty sure the answer is “not us.”

The sculptures were taken (or stolen, depending who you ask) from the Parthenon between 1801 and 1805 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and in 1816 they were purchased by the British Museum following parliamentary approval. Earlier this week, a new bill proposed by members of parliament could transfer ownership of the sculptures back to Greece on the 200th anniversary of Britain’s controversial acquisition of the artifacts, reports the Independent.
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December 9, 2010

Can the British Museum forget the idea of imperialist looting and acquisitions?

Posted at 10:30 pm in Similar cases

As mentioned previously, Neil MacGregor’s series, A history of the world in 100 objects has now finished and has doubtlessly been more successful than the BBC ever imagined it would be. It has however provided a colossal platform for Neil MacGregor (and thus the British Museum’s) viewpoint.

Mary Beard argues here that the series manages to “Forget the idea of imperialist looting or acquisitiveness”, but I’m wondering whether this is not more a case of wishful thinking by the British Museum that people would forget it, as the reality is that for many people (mostly located outside the UK & not necessarily Radio 4 or World Service” listeners), the imperialist looting which is perpetuated today within the British Museum is a continuing source of anguish.

From:
Guardian

A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor – review
Brilliant on radio, Neil MacGregor’s 100 objects also make a marvellous book, says Mary Beard
Mary Beard
The Guardian, Saturday 13 November 2010

Chapter 33 of Neil MacGregor’s marvellous book-of-the-radio-series is about the Rosetta stone. This lump of granite from Egypt, “about the size of one of those large suitcases you see people trundling around on wheels at airports”, is, as he frankly admits, “decidedly dull to look at”. It earns its place in A History of the World in 100 Objects because in the 19th century the equally dull text – on tax breaks for priests, inscribed upon it, in three different languages (Greek, demotic Egyptian and hieroglyphs) – became the key to decoding the hieroglyphic script of the ancient pharaohs.

But, more than that, the stone also has a powerful modern history of its own. It was fought over by French and British troops at the end of the Napoleonic wars, and finally taken to London. MacGregor is one of the few to point out that it is actually inscribed in four, not three, languages: on its side, we can still read, in English, “Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801.”
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