On the 15th of June this year BCRPM held a celebration of the Acropolis Museum's 15th anniversary in Room 18 and Chair Janet Suzman, with members Victoria Hislop and George Gabriel delivered a letter to the new director Nicholas Cullinan.
The reply from Nicholas Cullinan arrived just a few days later and did give all at BCRPM a boost of optimism.
Last Friday the Financial Times article by contributing editor Jan Dalley had an encouraging headline - British Museum chief Nicholas Cullinan:‘I start with the idea that everything is possible’. [Music to all of BCRPM's ears]
“If anyone tells me something isn’t possible, I’ll go all the more into making it happen.” Nicholas Cullinan tells Jan Dalley. The huge challenge ahead is that Nicholas Cullinan is overseeing the most ambitious museum reconstruction ever attempted — “a complete holistic transformation, top to bottom, inside out, buildings, collection, visual identity, ” rumoured to cost £1bn.
The startling statistics about Britain’s biggest cultural institution are no exaggeration, though: with around 3,500 rooms and some 8mn objects in its collection, it is, according to former trustee Antony Gormley, “[one of] the last unmodernised great museums in Europe”. Add to that its recent reputational bashing: last year’s scandal over thefts from the collection, perpetual arguments about sources of philanthropy and funding, and the seemingly insoluble conundrum about repatriation, in particular of the Parthenon Marbles.
The the case for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles is the British Museum's most public and controversial debate is something that all those involved with BCRPM have felt for decades but again the mantra has been 'anything is possible'. Despite certain setbacks, the accomplished efforts by Greece at UNESCO's ICPRCP over the decades has ensured that hope would not wane.
It was good to hear Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the the recent Labour Party conference state that repatriation is on this government's agenda. At last!
Nicholas Cullinan is typically diplomatic, and typically optimistic, writes Jan Dalley, but for us as campaigners that's better than dismissive and superior.. We're still recovering from Hartwig Fisher referring to the division of the sculptures a a 'creative act'!
“I think everyone would like to see a really exciting, innovative solution. No, solution is the wrong word — response. Something outside the usual framework . . . I’m starting with the idea that everything is possible, and we’ll deal with reality as it evolves. Let’s not start with the idea that certain things can’t be done.” Continues Nicholas Cullinan in his conversation with Jan Dalley. “Plans are taking shape."
No doubt the discussions between Greece and the British Museum are ongoing but we continue to also hope that the UK government will take the lead in this matter by amending the Museum Act. Many have tried before and more will continue to do so.
As UK's PM Sir Kier Starmer continues to travel abroad, looking to establish the UK as a nation of possibilities, nurturing collaborations aimed at securing the UK a brighter future, then let the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles be that fine feather in his cap too.
