The Prime Minister has appointed Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE, Tom Holland, Dr. Tiffany Jenkins, Martha Kearney and Claudia Winkleman as trustees of the British Museum; their four year terms started on 19 March 2025.

Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE

Daniel is a columnist on The Times newspaper and a member of the House of Lords. He is also the author of a family memoir and history of the Second World War, ‘Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad’.

He joined the Times in 2001 having previously worked as an adviser to John Major when Sir John was serving as Prime Minister and William Hague when he was leader of the Opposition.

He is a patron of the Wiener Holocaust Library, a director of Chelsea FC, and the Chair of the Chelsea FC Foundation. In 1997 he was awarded an OBE as Director of Research for the Conservative Central Office.

Tom Holland

Tom is an award-winning historian, translator and broadcaster. He has written books about the Graeco-Persian wars; Roman history from the fall of the Republic to the age of Hadrian; empire and religion in late antiquity; Anglo-Saxon England; 11th century Latin Christendom; and the evolution and impact on the world of Christianity. He has translated Herodotus and Suetonius for Penguin Classics. 

He is co-presenter of the history podcast, The Rest is History. He has written and presented numerous TV documentaries, on subjects ranging from the Islamic State to dinosaurs. He is a Board Member of the British Library and an honorary fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge.

Dr. Tiffany Jenkins

Tiffany is a writer and academic. Her latest book, ‘Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life’, is set to be published in May 2025. Previous publications include ‘Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended up in Museums and Why They Should Keep Them’ (2016) and ‘Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority’ (2010).

She has served as an honorary fellow in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and as a visiting fellow in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics. Her broadcasting contributions include presenting the series ‘A History of Secrecy, Contracts of Silence’, and ‘Beauty and the Brain: What Science Can and Cannot Tell Us About Art’ for BBC Radio 4. Additionally, she frequently appears as a critic on Radio 4’s Front Row, and her opinion pieces have been published in The Observer, Financial Times, The Spectator, and The Scotsman, where she previously served as a weekly opinion columnist.

Martha Kearney

Martha Kearney is a BBC presenter. She has presented the Today programme, The World at One, Woman’s Hour and Newsnight Review. As well as being Political Editor of Newsnight, she reported from Northern Ireland for many years and has had many overseas assignments including several trips to Afghanistan. 

Martha was educated in Edinburgh and at Oxford University where she studied classics. Archaeology remains a lifelong passion. After leaving Today in 2024 Martha has launched a new interview series for BBC Radio Four called This Natural Life.

Claudia Winkleman

As a child, Claudia went to the National Gallery and British Museum almost every Saturday morning with her father, igniting a passion which eventually led her to study History of Art at Cambridge University in 1993. 

After graduation, Claudia went on to work in television and radio and has done so for the past 30 years. She has hosted shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Traitors, The Piano and The Great British Sewing Bee. Claudia hosted the Radio 2 Arts Show for six years before hosting her eponymous show every Saturday morning at 10. In 2023 she won the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance.

Claudia has written weekly columns for The Independent and The Sunday Times and continues to write for The Times. She is a Trustee for Comic Relief, a patron for Child Bereavement UK, and an Ambassador for The King’s Trust. 

The Greek Red List was presented by ICOM’s Greek office in collaboration with the Greek Culture Ministry, with support from the ICOM Secretariat. A roundtable discussion was held to mark the 25th anniversary of the Red List initiative, attended by representatives from UNESCO, INTERPOL, UNIDROIT, and legal advisors, with Greece represented by Dr. Artemis Papathanassiou, Head of the Special Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

From left to right: Sophie Delepierre (Head of Heritage Protection Department ICOM Secretariat), Sunna Altnoder (Chair of Unit, Illicit trafficking and return and restitution, Cultural Sector, UNESCO), Artemis Papathanassiou (Head of the Special Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Marina Schneider, Tiziano Coiro (Coordinator Works of Art Unit, INTERPOL)

Greece has been included in the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Red Lists of countries, an initiative aimed at preventing the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts.

“Greece’s commitment to cultural heritage protection is anything but new. For decades Greek authorities and dedicated professionals, such as ICOM Greece, have joined forces to develop a strong legal framework and operational tools to protect their immense cultural heritage. With the new ICOM Red List for Greek Cultural Objects at Risk, another stone is added to this edifice of cultural heritage protection.” Sophie Delepierre, Head of ICOM Heritage Protection Department.

ICOM (International Council of Museums) and ICOM Greece, in cooperation with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, launched of the ICOM Red List of Greek Cultural Objects at Risk, a significant tool designed to help fight the illicit trafficking of Greek cultural heritage.

The Red Lists categorize cultural objects most at risk of theft and illegal trade, providing a valuable tool for law enforcement and customs officials to identify and protect vulnerable items.

“The illicit trafficking of antiquities and cultural goods remains a significant threat, both in times of peace and war,” said Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni at an event that took place at the Acropolis Museum. “This is not just illegal activity but a highly organized international crime network linked to terrorism.”

Minister Mendoni highlighted the need for international cooperation, sharing information, and using both human and material resources to combat this crime.

The newly established Greek Red List is designed to help identify cultural objects most vulnerable to trafficking. Unlike lists of stolen items, it features artefacts commonly targeted by traffickers, many of which are now in Greek museum collections or recognized institutions. Some of these objects were repatriated or voluntarily returned by foreign institutions.

ICOM has been publishing Red Lists since 2000, collaborating with national and international experts to cover regions most at risk of cultural trafficking - areas with rich ancient civilizations. 

Professor Stampolidis, Director General of the Acropolis Museum will be giving a talk in Geneva on Thursday 20th March to honour Professor Sidjanski, the recently retired President of the Swiss Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, Comité Suisse pour le Retour des Marbres du Parthénon (CSRMP).

Professor Sidjanski wrote to Prof. Stampolidis saying that it would be a most fitting reward for the years he has committed (2008-2025) to the worthy campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and for his love of Greece, to have him address this conference. 

More than 60 teams applied to the International Architectural Competition, which ran for nine months before five architect-led teams were shortlisted for the bold transformation of the British Museum's Western Galleries.

The initial ideas by the five short listed teams were displayed in the British Museum's Reading Room from December 2024.

The British Museum director Dr Nicholas Cullinan posted on Instagram that Lina Ghotmeh Architecture's initial ideas “unanimously impressed the jury with their beauty, sensitivity and ingenuity and for her deep interest in archaeology”. 

"Her initial ideas for us (slides 1-4) unanimously impressed the jury with their beauty, sensitivity and ingenuity and for her deep interest in archaeology. These including using Portland stone spolia, 40% of which otherwise goes to waste and the striated surface of the process of chiselling would instead be employed here, along with As part of their submission rubble from the building process being reused to line the walls of the Lycian wing to ravishing effect."

Read more on Lina Ghotmeh Architecture (LGA) appointment in The Art Newspaper.

Ghotmeh designed the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London and has also been commissioned to design a contemporary art museum in the AlUl, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient Arabian oasis city located in Medina Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. An online biography, which describes her as a “humanist architect”, says that in 2005 she won the international competition for the design of the Estonian National Museum while working in London, collaborating with Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Foster & Partners.

As part of their submission, Lina Ghotmeh Architecture's were asked to create a short video describing the team’s vision and approach, watch that too. "We reimagine a rich canvas of enchanting experiences sparking curiosity, cultural exchange, and healing", was posted on the practice's Instagram.

Lina Ghotmeh will be consulting with artist Ali Cherri, a Lebanese Paris-based artist whose works explore geopolitical and cultural histories. 

The Western Range covers a third of the museum’s overall gallery space, as well as back-of-house areas, totalling 15,650 square metres. The Western Range refurbishment is part of the wider museum masterplan which also includes a new museum Energy Centre designed to phase out the use of fossil fuels, replacing them with low-carbon technologies. This project—partly funded with government support—should save 1,700 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide, making the institution more sustainable. 

Last year Ghotmeh told the Robb Report publication: “The field of archaeology is always telling you stories about how we used to build and interact with our environment, constantly putting in perspective what has been done already… It’s not just an obsession with ecology, it’s also a quest for more sustainable materials. Any act of building has to have a positive impact on its environment.”

La Gazette Drouot published an article by Léopold Vassy entitled: 'Catharine Titi and Jonathan Sumption: for or against the restitution of the Parthenon marbles? Two visions clash...'

Not difficult to appreciate that there are different points of view but as ever those prepared to argue that the Parthenon Marbles should remain divided are few and far between.

BCRPM wishes to thank Catharine Titi for her support and both Professor Paul Cartledge and Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill have written reviews for Catharine's book 'The Parthenon Marbles and International Law', published 25 May 2023 by Springer.

BCRPM's Chair, Janet Suzman responded to Lord Sumption's Times article and just last December BCRPM member, Dr Nigel Spivey spoke on a debate organised by the Pharos Foundation, entitled "Should The Elgin Marbles Be Repatriated?. Nigel was supported by Catharine Titi at that event alongside Alexander Herman. At that debate Lord Sumption arguing to keep the Parthenon Marbles divided was supported by Dominic Selwood and Mario Trabucco della Torretta.

To read the article in French published in La Gazette Drouot follow the link here, or the attached pdf.