Date & Time: Monday 17 Octber, 18:30 

Place: LSE Lecture Theatre

Ground Floor, Centre Builing

Houghton Street

London

WC2A 2AE

A panel discussion about the cultural repatriation of national treasures, inspired by the current status of the Parthenon Marbles.

The debate over the return of the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles has gained greater attention recently. After the Black Lives Matter protests, initiatives have been taken to return national treasures to their countries of origin. For the Marbles, the British Museum has signalled a willingness to consider new options, and the Greek Prime Minister highlighted the issue on UK television. In this panel, we consider the implications of returning the Marbles back to Athens and the issues to be confronted.
The event will be followed by a reception that will take place in the LSE Lecture Theatre foyer area, from 8.00 pm. Participants are welcome to attend the reception.

Meet the speakers and chair:

Professor Paul Cartledge is AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College Cambridge and emeritus AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, Cambridge University. He has written, co-written, edited or co-edited over 30 books, the most recent being Democracy: A Life (O.U.P. 2018) and Thebes: the Forgotten City of Ancient Greece (Picador 2021). He is Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and a Vice-President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS). He is a Commander of the Order of Honour (Greece) and an Honorary Citizen of Sparti, Greece.

Lord Edward Vaizey of Didcot was appointed to the House of Lords 2020, and sits on the Communications and Media Committee. Lord Vaizey was the Member of Parliament for Wantage between 2005 and 2019 and served as the Culture and Digital Minister from 2010-16. He was appointed a privy councillor in 2016. Lord Vaizey currently serves as a trustee of Tate, and is a governor of St Paul’s School, London. Lord Vaizey is a visiting professor at King’s College, London and Newcastle University; an Honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects; an Honorary Fellow of the Radio Academy; and President of Didcot Town Football Club. In the private sector, Lord Vaizey is an executive-in-residence at LionTree, the leading global M&A advisory firm and is an adviser to a number of technology funds and technology start-ups.

Dr Tatiana Flessas is an Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage and Property Law at the LSE Law School. She has written on cultural heritage conflicts around the world, and has presented on the Parthenon Marbles, Museums and Repatriation, Dark Heritage, and other repatriation and restitutionary issues at conferences and panels internationally. Selected recent media on the Parthenon Marbles include ‘Comment on the Parthenon Marbles Dispute’, The Globalist, Monocle Radio 24, 17 November 2021; ‘The fight over the Parthenon Marbles’, Business Daily, BBC World Service, 20 Nov 2019. ; and ‘In Struggle Over Parthenon Marbles, Greece Gets Unexpected Ally: Xi Jinping’, The New York Times, Nov. 13, 2019. . Her recent and forthcoming work focusses on the difficulty of identifying future heritage when making decisions about present sites and monuments. Dr Flessas holds a BA from Wellesley College, a JD from Northeastern School of Law, and an LLM and PhD from the London School of Economics where she teaches Cultural Heritage Law, Art Law, and Property Law.

Professor Kevin Featherstone is Eleftherios Venizelos Professor in Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor in European Politics in the European Institute at LSE, where he is also Director of the Hellenic Observatory.

Robert Peston on his ITV programme last night, Monday 28 November covered a number of topics from China to the nurses strike, housing and.... the 'Elgin' Marbles. Ed Vaizey and Emily Thornberry were of opposite views with regards to reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Christopher Price and Eddie O'Hara would be unhappy that a Labour MP should not 'see' the merits of reuniting the Parthenon Marbles in the superlative Acropolis Museum. Both Labour MPs in their time, Chris and Eddie had visited the new museum in Athens on a number of occassions. Chris was there for the official opening in June 2009, as Vice-Chair of BCRPM with Eleni Cubitt (Founder and Secretary), Professor Anthony Snodgrass (Chair), Dr Christopher Stockdale (who swam for the reunification in 2000 and cycled in 2005), and Marlen Godwin.

BCRPM has written to Emily Thornberry to ask if she would reconsider her stance and review what was being asked for in the context not just of the history of the removal of these sculptures but more importantly looking at cultural heritage today. Not as a means of power but more about understanding the importance of cultural heritage in relation to the Parthenon, which still stands. Understanding Greece, a country whose peerless collection, the surviving Parthenon Marbles were sawn almost in half, at a time when Greece had no voice.

Greece's ask is wholly justified and we do hope that Emily will revisit the plight of these sculptures.   

But is the lady for turning? Some believe that PM Truss will change her mind on the question of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. Amongst those looking to convince UK's new Prime Minister, is Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Just last month at the UN General Assembly in his address, PM Mitsotakis also spoke of the reunification of the sculptures. This was also amplified at The Spectator Conservative Party Conference fringe event on Tuesday 04 October:

The Elgin Marbles or The Parthenon Sculptures: what is the solution? 

How can we justify keeping the Elgin marbles in the British Museum?  The Spectator’s James Forsyth and special guests discussed how to bring an end to the Parthenon Sculptures dispute.

Speakers: Lord Vaizey, Former Culture Minister; Sarah Baxter, columnist, Sunday Times; Lord Parkinson, former Minister for Arts; Madeline Grant, parliamentary sketchwriter for the Daily Telegraph.

Ed Vaizey said: "The Parthenon sculptures belong to the Parthenon" ,( and he added) that the Acropolis Museum in Athens is a world-class museum.

We concurr about the Acropolis Museum, as it is here in the top floor, glassed walled Parthenon Gallery that the Parthenon Marbles not removed, are displayed the right way round and with direct views to the Parthenon. When Lord Elgin decided to remove half of the sculptures, they were destined to decorate his ancestral home, a fire sale resulted in their current location, the British Museum. Greece has been requesting their return since post independence.

Sarah Baxter and Ed Vaizey supporting the reunification at the event in Birmingham, won the room, according to James Forsyth. To read James Forsyth's article in The Spectator, follow the link here.

Sarah also tweeted:

as did Dino Sofos, Founder CEO,Persephonica & Executive Producer of The News Agents podcast

Prime Minister Liz Truss' rejection of the possible reunification of the Parthenon Marbles was covered in ARTnews by Tessa Solomon:

"As museums across Europe and the United States reckon with the looted artifacts in their collections, the British Museum has been forced to confront the controversies in their holdings.

In June, an advocacy group called the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles organized a protest at the British Museum, marking the 13th anniversary of the inauguration of the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The museum was purpose-built to display the marbles and other treasures of Greek antiquity.

Perhaps in response to the sustained outcry, the British Museum has signaled a softening of its stance towards the issue."

We certainly hope that there is a duty of care for these divided sculptures, which supports their reunification in the Acropolis Museum, and for all the right reasons.