BCRPM welcome talks for the reunification

BCRPM welcome talks for the reunification, and urges caution with regards to aligning this with that of the Stern collection.

The Scotsman article (November 18) which tried to suggest that a solution to the plight of the Parthenon Marbles could be to follow the example of the Stern agreement is sadly misguided and premature. The issue of the Parthenon Marbles is far more complicated, and any attempt to reduce the reunification issue, a longstanding and major world issue of cultural heritage and curation, to the issue of the private Stern collection is not at all helpful.

BCRPM were delighted to hear PM Mitsotakis talking at the LSE event marking the 25th Anniversary of the Hellenic Observatory, on 28 November , when he explained that talks between Greece and the British Museum had began last year and were continuing.

BCRPM were shocked by the British Museum presentation at UNESCO’s ICPRCP session earlier in May where the Deputy Director of the British Museum, Jonathan Williams stated that the best part of the sculptures in Room 18 removed from Greece by Lord Elgin at the turn of the 19th century had been collected from the rubble on ground. Professor Anthony Snodgrass explained: “the state of preservation of the vast majority of the BM slabs of the Parthenon frieze in the Duveen Gallery is surely enough to show that they had not fallen from 40 feet above.”

This was followed at the end of July by another statement by Deputy Director, Jonathan Williams, published across a number of UK media, when he stated that the British Museum wanted to ‘change the temperature of the debate’ over the ancient statues and friezes. Mr Williams said: “What we are calling for is an active ‘Parthenon partnership’ with our friends and colleagues in Greece."

In the summer, BCRPM wrote to George Osborne and the British Museum Trustees. With new Trustees having been appointed by George Osborne, the letter was re-sent in November. The concluding paragraph states: “we are now asking you as Trustees to acknowledge the massive sea-change in public opinion over the last few years and seriously to rethink the question of return. Attitudes are shifting so fast now on matters of restitution that there is a danger that the Museum, despite its admirably forward-looking policies in many other areas, will alienate the younger generation. Young people believe passionately in change; they understand how Greeks feel when they stand in the Duveen Gallery in Bloomsbury; and in this case they see the BM trying to defend the indefensible. Here is the chance to take the lead and make a very positive and magnanimous gesture; not under any kind of coercion, but acting freely and generously, and setting the tone for all museums with an eye on future generations. This, we believe, would not only represent just conduct towards Greece, but be good for the reunification of a globally significant peerless collection of sculptures. With its great standing, and its long and distinguished history, the Museum has a singular responsibility to show ethical leadership in tune with the times and the universal values it espouses.”