15 December 2021, artnet

Parthenon Galleries, Room 18 in the Briish Mueum remained closed for 13 months and were reopened this week, on Monday 13 December 2021 

Dan Hicks' Op-Ed article in artnet says it all. Wednesday 15 December 2021 was the 10th anniversary of Christopher Hitchens' death. For those of you that have supported our Committee for nearly four decades and those of you that have joined us recently, the book that Christopher Hitchens wrote, is one to also read. 

Dan Hicks article 'The U.K. Has Held Onto the Parthenon Marbles for Centuries—But the Tide Is Turning' in arnet suggests that change may come by 2030. As we circulated this article to our members, Alex M Benakis emailed a swift response: 'oh please can we do better than 2030! I will be 93! Don't know if I can hang on for that long.'

Dan starts his article by quoting Christopher Hitchens: "those who support the status quo at the British Museum have the great advantage of inertia on their side.” Dan Hicks adds:'Today, things could hardly be more different.' As more museums are considering returing artefacts to their countries of origin. The best example to date are the returns of the Benin Bronzes.

The third edition Christopher Hitchens book 'The Parthenon Marbles, The Case for Reunification' was launched at Chatham House in May 2008 by BCRPM with George Bizos and Christopher Hitchens travelling to London, a year before the opening of the new Acropolis Museum. It is available from Verso, you can follow the link here.

'Now that the Benin Bronzes are being returned by an ever-growing number of European and North American institutions, might we finally see the return of the Parthenon Marbles?' Asks Dan Hicks. He believes so and adds: 'today, the longstanding push-and-pull between Athens and London over the legal technicalities of what constitutes rightful ownership and what museum press-officers prefer to euphemistically call acquisition is being reframed.'

Dan also feels that 'matters came to a head this fall, on September 28, when a resolution about the return of the Marbles came before UNESCO’s Return and Restitution Intergovernmental Committee (ICPRCP). The British rhetoric that the British Museum “is a world museum” sounded tired coming after the elegant claim by professor Nikos Stampolidis, the newly-elected Director-General of the Acropolis Museum, that “the return of the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece is a universal demand.”

The newly elected Director-General of the Acropolis Museum, Professor Nikos Stampolidis in the Parthenon Gallery, Athens, Greece.

'The committee’s concluding decision stated that “the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely” on the U.K. government and expressed “disappointment” with the U.K.’s position. The group called on the nation “to reconsider its stand and proceed to a bonafide dialog with Greece on the matter.”

This was swiftly followed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis London visit on 16 November 2021 and his eloquent request for reunification made on breakfast TV and at 10 Downing Street, plus the Science Museum. Janet Suzman, BCRPM's Chair wrote: 'Sometimes fairy tales come true: I never thought to see the stunning coverage given to the Parthenon Marbles by two leading right-wing newspapers, The Mail and The Telegraph.' To read her article follow the link here.

Just last week on 08 December 2021, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution (supported by 111 countries) introduced by Greece entitled: “Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin”.

Dan Hicks concludes that 'predictions are always risky, and as an archaeologist I confess that the future is technically not my period of expertise. Nonetheless, in this new cultural, internationalist, and intellectual atmosphere, it’s hard to believe that the Parthenon Marbles won’t have been reunited in Athens by the end of the decade.' To read the full article on arnet, follow the link here.

Dan Hicks is Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford. His latest book, The Brutish Museums: the Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution is now out in paperback. Twitter: @ProfDanHicks