The lengthy 12 month closure of Room 18 has come to an end. The British Museum's Parthenon Galleries, Room 18, reopened on Monday 13 December, 2021.
This was how they looked before the closure.
And how they look now, after the lengthy closure to carry out 'general maintenance'.
Photo credit of Room 18 at the Bitish Museum:Yannis Andritsopoulos
The glass roof is cleaner and no doubt the leaks have been resolved. Yet the large blow-heaters are by the fire exit door. Is Room 18 still as drafty as ever in these winter months?
TA NEA, 14 December 2021
Yannis Andritsopoulos wrote in Ta Nea today as he recounts his visit to the re-opened Room 18. To read his article in Greek, follow the link here.
Janet Suzman, Chair of the BCRPM added: "The British Museum’s Parthenon galleries re-opened on Monday 13th December - and about time too! In the 12 months since they were closed due to leaking ceilings, one hopes that the powers that be have had the grace to re-think the signage and the availability of information about these unparalleled objects from another civilisation. We could be informed how exactly these stone figures came to be here in this cold gallery in London. Since no proof from the Ottoman Sultanate has yet been found permitting them to be taken from Greece, we could, at the very least, be told that fact. Otherwise we must assume the British Museum has a very tenuous hold on reality when it claims they were legitimately acquired.
The BCRPM wants to see visitors enlightened, either by a leaflet made available in the Greek galleries, or cogent signage on the plinths themselves, with full information about their acquisition.
The modern Hellenic Republic, free of the yoke of the Ottomans, desperately wants its cultural heritage - these perticular Parthenon scuptures - returned. For two hundred years it has wanted them returned. The public deserves to know why; Lord Elgin chopped them off the Parthenon and stole them, silently and clandestinely, and they ought to be back in their own place, where the sun shines and roofs do not leak."
Yannis did pick up a leaflet in Room 18 and it seems that the British Museum, tragically, continues to print the same rote. Meanwhile we will continue to ask the British Museum to tell the story. To tell the story and let the people judge the fairness of their captivity in London. There is a museum waiting for them in Athens.
Yannis asked some of the visitors in Room 18 what they thought about the reopening and the continued divison of these sculptures.
"I'm lucky to have come today. I like to see them, but I would prefer to see them in Athens", said 26-year-old Keong from Korea. "As long as they are stolen, of course they have to go back," notes 43-year-old David from Australia. Two young Spaniards looking at parts of the northern frieze and Dita comments: "In Spain we often read about these sculptures and their history. The British Museum should return them to Greece", and Dita's friend agrees with a firm nod.
Yesterday, four rooms with Greek exhibits were re-opened (15, 16, 17, 18), while halls 19 ("Greece: Athens") and 20 ("Greeks and Lycians") remain closed "due to maintenance", write Yannis.
Kris Tytgat, Chair of the International Association (IARPS), quoted in Ta Nea, adds:
"Many were eagerly awaiting the reopening of Room 18, not just us! The Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO (ICPRCP) expressed concern about the ongoing closure. One wonders why it took 12 months of ''regular maintenance'' to make a key collection of the museum accessible again".
"They completely cleaned the roof and we assume that they also faced the problems of air conditioning and humidity. These contributions are welcome. But no matter how many interventions the Museum makes, the collection of the Parthenon Sculptures will remain an amputated part of an invaluable collection. Room 18 will never be able to compete with the top floor, glass walled, Parthenon Gallery of the Acropolis Museum, bathed by attic light and offering visitors a unique visual contact with the Parthenon. There, the Sculptures, fully protected and properly oriented, are exposed to their natural environment. Only if they are reunited in the city created two and a half millennia ago will they be able to tell their full story to future generations."
Comments powered by CComment