With dialogue happening, we were hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel in the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. Dialogue that rightly started behind closed doors, and had been ongoing for over 13 months between Greek PM Mitsotakis and the British Museum's George Osborne. Might it had been more prudent to have kept the priceless dialogue behind closed doors, a bit longer? January has seen a relentless media frenzy in both UK and in Greece.
Huge elation felt when PM Mitsotakis announced at the LSE last November, and reported by Yannis Andritsopoulos in Ta Nea, that dialogue was at last happening, was short lived as on Wednesday 11 January, hopes were shattered. In a news bulletin, a report on the BBC, the UK's Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan speaking with Katie Razzell, the BBC's Culture and Media Editor, dismissed any possibility for the reunification of the sculptures. The 'slippery slope' and 'can of worms' excuses, antiquated in 2023, made a forceful come back.
The report with UK's Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan that made the main BBC News on Wednesday 11 January, can be viewed here.
Tragically, there seems to be no epiphany for those still in charge of keeping the sculptures divided, and so Sisyphus carries on.
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