Parthenon Marbles

Hellenic Electronic Center (HEC) For the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet is described as “stolen Iraqi property” in a civil complaint filed Monday. Federal authorities say the tablet was illegally imported into the US and they want the rare artifact returned to Iraq.

The artifact was sold to a US craft store for $1.6 million in an auction for display in the Washington, D.C.-based Museum of the Bible. Prosecutors allege that the auction house deliberately withheld information about its origins.

The 3,500-year-old artifact bears text from the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s oldest works of literature.

Sources: BBC, NPR

The Parthenon marbles at the British Museum in London. (Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

A recent opinion was published by Molly Roberts, Editorial Writer, Washington Post.

A well written article which deserves attention. The author among other well-made points, writes:

“The problem Bruce’s beneficiaries have now run into is that those one-time “barbarians” have transformed into the rightful inheritors of Hellas. Greece is today revered as the cradle of Western culture, and who better to house that culture than the Greeks? The British turn this point around and argue that it was their foresight in whisking Iris and company off to the isles that spawned neoclassicism in the first place by reintroducing a forgotten style to their taste-making citizens.”

The author also points out that

“There’s an aesthetic case for unification, somewhere, and a geographic case for reunification in Greece.
No god or goddess should be made to bear the indignity of headlessness, and no visitor should be needlessly deprived of viewing a masterpiece that’s actually in one piece.”

The modern, spacious, sunbathed Acropolis Museum with the Acropolis in the backdrop, is waiting for the return of Greece’s treasures.

The newly built Athens’s Acropolis Museum is the perfect place displaying these timeless artifacts and not the dark and gloomy presentation at BM. Simply it is the natural location, where the Museum’s open spaces let’s the visitors to simultaneously see the artifacts and view the Acropolis itself.

Let’s not forget,

Elgin, the vandal and the thief, removed and stole:
247 feet—just under half—of the total friezes(1),
15 metopes(2), 17 pediment(3),
and various pieces of architecture figures from the Parthenon.
In addition, removed and stole one of the caryatids (female sculptures)
from the nearby portico of the Erechtheion,
4 fragments from the frieze of the temple to Athena Nike,
and architectural members from the Propylaia.

The stolen artifacts that are missing from the Parthenon must be returned to their origins.

Referenced source article: Give Iris her body back, Britain – Washington Post

 

Ancient Greek Elgin Marbles are on display at the British Museum in London, removed from the Parthenon by Elgin early 1800s, which has sparked a long-running dispute between Greece and Britain. Now the Greek efforts are intensified with the upcoming Brexit.

The 27 EU countries hardened their positions and among other clauses, the Draft Brexit document is updated to demand the return of the Parthenon ancient treasures. The updated EU27 Brexit Draft also seeks: “The Parties should … address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin.

UPDATE – This is a developing story.

According to eKathimerini and other sources, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that Greece will continue her campaign for the return of the Parthenon artifacts and will consider which avenues  would be the best for the  cause. He specifically said: “Greece’s request for the return of the Parthenon marbles remains strong and it is not linked to a Brexit deal,”

Sources: eKathimerini | CNBC | REUTERS

🇬🇧 Students from Crete visiting the British Museum, in a touching and original way, are protesting the stay of the Parthenon Sculptures in London. The students were there on an educational excursion.

🇬🇷 Μαθητές από την Κρήτη που βρέθηκαν στο Βρετανικό Μουσείο, με ένα συγκινητικό και πρωτότυπο τρόπο, διαμαρτύρονται για την παραμονή των Γλυπτών του Παρθενώνα στο Λονδίνο. Τα παιδιά βρέθηκαν εκεί σε πλαίσιο εκπαιδευτικής εκδρομής.

It seems there is some movement by the UK government and the Arts Council England, soliciting

new guidance for the UK museum sector on the restitution and repatriation of cultural objects“.

The following solicitation has been posted on 10-Jan-2020 to Contracts Finding by 

Published date: 10 January 2020

Description

Arts Council England (ACE) seeks a supplier to produce new guidance for the UK museum sector on the restitution and repatriation of cultural objects. The overarching aim of this work is to create a comprehensive and practical resource for museums to support them in dealing confidently and proactively with all aspects of restitution.

Restitution and repatriation of objects in museum collections is an area of increasing focus and debate across the UK and international museum sector. This is particularly, although not exclusively, focused on objects in Western museums acquired by European nations from former colonies, and links to wider agendas around decolonising museums. There is significant government, public and press interest and increasing calls for action by UK museums and sector bodies to address this agenda.

Following initial discussions facilitated by ACE with colleagues from across the UK museum sector it was agreed that new practical guidance for museums is an appropriate first step in response, and that ACE as the national development body for museums in England and with its statutory responsibilities for cultural property is best-placed to lead this work. The most recent sector guidance, published in 2000 by the Museums and Galleries Commission, is now out of print and very out of date.

It is anticipated that this work will be undertaken through a review of existing research and evidence as well as extensive consultation with practitioners and stakeholders across and beyond the UK museum sector, to identify key challenges, opportunities, practical and ethical issues and examples of best practice in the UK and internationally.

This work will also inform ACE’s policy and strategy on this rapidly developing agenda and help identify further potential further actions for ACE and other sector bodies to support museums, facilitate ongoing dialogue and promote best practice across the sector.

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