'Repatriation of objects is on the government’s agenda, says UK culture secretary', the headline of The Art Newspaper article by Gareth Harris.

The UK’s secretary of state for culture, Lisa Nandy, has said that the government is in discussions with national museums about the repatriation of certain objects.

Music to our ears! This also struck a chord with Tristram Hunt, Director of the V & A. Tristram urged the review of the UK museums deaccession act when he spoke in July 2022 whilst attending Cultural Diplomacy at Art for Tomorrow's panel which took place at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. To read more on what Tristram said then, follow the link here. 

Responding to news that ministers are now exploring the repatriation of precious objects, Hunt told The Art Newspaper: “It is very encouraging to learn that the culture secretary is supportive of repatriation reform and updating the legislation that prevents national museums from deaccessioning objects in their collection. We now look forward to active conversations on this with the ministerial team.”

More links to this story also in ARTnews and Museum + Heritage.

To read Lisa Nandy's speech at the Labour Party conference, follow the link here.

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Nine days later, on 05 October, Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK correspondent for Ta Nea published in the Greek daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr) an exclusive interview with UK’s secretary of state for culture, Lisa Nandy, outlining the UK government willingness to engage in direct talks with Greece over the Parthenon Marbles controversy.

To read the Ta Nea article in English, you can also follow the link here.