The Elgin Marbles are a set of ancient Greek sculptures removed from the Parthenon in Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and later housed in the British Museum.

The collection includes 17 figures and large portions of the Parthenon frieze, making them central to the monument’s sculptural program.

Greece has sought their return since gaining independence in 1832, arguing they are looted national heritage and integral to the Parthenon’s unity.

Greek authorities contend that no valid export permits existed, asserting any Ottoman document (firman) allowed drawing and measuring rather than removal.

Some reports claim “scientists have proven that no export documents existed,” further challenging the legality of the removal.

The British Museum and UK position hold that the marbles were acquired legally, with Lord Elgin obtaining permission under Ottoman rule and the sculptures later sold to the British government in 1816.

Historical records note that the Parthenon Marbles were removed in the 19th century and sold to the British government, which transferred them to the British Museum.

The British Museum operates under the British Museum Act 1963, which prohibits it from permanently disposing of items in its collection, creating a legal barrier to repatriation.

UK prime ministers have repeatedly ruled out a permanent return, citing the museum’s legal ownership and the constraints of the British Museum Act.

Current international law generally does not impose obligations to return artifacts taken before modern agreements, which complicates claims for repatriation of colonial-era objects like the Elgin Marbles.

UNESCO has recognized the inter-governmental nature of the issue, urged the UK to revisit its stance, and has been involved in facilitating dialogue between Greece and the UK.

UNESCO has criticized conditions at the British Museum regarding the Parthenon Marbles and has supported broader efforts to enable the return of cultural property.

The UNESCO-affiliated committee ICPRCP has ruled in favor of returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, bolstering the moral and diplomatic case for reunification.

Public opinion in Britain leans toward return, with a survey showing 54% support for sending the sculptures back to Greece.

The Acropolis Museum is prepared to display the Parthenon Marbles upon return and is designed to present them in their architectural context.

Concerns about conservation and security at the British Museum—including poor record-keeping, water leaks, and general condition—have been raised in discussions of the marbles’ future care.

Italy’s return of a Parthenon fragment to Greece on a multi-year loan, accompanied by cultural exchanges, has increased pressure on the UK to find a solution.

The Vatican’s return of three Parthenon fragments likewise adds momentum to repatriation efforts and demonstrates growing international precedent.

Greece has offered to lend significant artifacts to the British Museum in exchange for the Parthenon sculptures’ return, signaling willingness for cultural exchange.

Negotiations have intensified since 2021, including secret talks between British Museum chair George Osborne and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, exploring a cultural partnership.

The British Museum has proposed sharing or loaning the sculptures as part of a “Parthenon partnership,” though the museum is legally barred from permanently relinquishing ownership.

UK leaders have floated loan or sharing arrangements, with some political openness to a loan deal, even as the government maintains it will not change the law.

Greece rejects any loan that requires recognizing British Museum ownership, insisting on permanent reunification rather than temporary loans.

A new Greek law allows long-term export of antiquities as temporary loans, potentially offering mechanisms for cultural partnerships without conceding ownership.

Logistics of transport, conservation, and display would be central to any loan or return, and the British Museum has explored arrangements for potential travel of the sculptures.

Augmented reality has been proposed as a supplementary tool to offer virtual reunification and shared experiences, although it cannot resolve the legal and diplomatic dispute.

AR-enabled exhibitions could support broader access and interpretation in both Athens and London while negotiations continue.

Despite ongoing talks and public pressure, the dispute remains unresolved, with legal barriers and ownership claims still the key obstacles.

Nonetheless, a long-term cultural partnership or structured loan exchange, modeled on recent international examples, remains the most plausible near-term pathway toward reunification in Athens while preserving collaboration with London.

The Elgin Marbles are a set of ancient Greek sculptures removed from the Parthenon in Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and later housed in the British Museum.

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Content: Greece is trying to bring back the sculptures of the ancient Parthenon from London
In Greece, the campaign for the return of the ancient Parthenon sculptures taken from Athens from Great Britain has intensified again.
Against this background, the British called on Greece to actively “partnership on the Parthenon ”, but to negotiate the return of cultural values refused.
Greece considers the export of the Parthenon sculptures to the UK illegal and insists on their return.
The British Museum does not discuss this issue, and states that a prerequisite for any negotiations on the Parthenon sculptures is recognition of Britain as their rightful owner.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British envoy to Constantinople, Lord Elgin, took out a huge number of works of ancient Greek art, which was bought by the British Museum.
The collection includes, among other things, pediment statues and metopes of the Athenian Parthenon, Caryatid of Erechtheion, and a statue of Dionysus.
The British Museum claims that Elgin had permission to export - the so-called firman vizier.
The Greeks claim that there were no permits for the export of the sculptures, and Firman assumed only the possibility to make drawings of the statues.
In February 2019, scientists from the Acropolis Museum proved that there were no documents for the export of artifacts.
After that, Greece resumed efforts to return the statues of the Parthenon.

The collection includes 17 figures and large portions of the Parthenon frieze, making them central to the monument’s sculptural program.

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Greek leader, in London, seeks return of ancient sculptures

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis amid a renewed push by Athens for the return of marble statues that once stood in the Parthenon. Johnson said he “understood the strength of feeling of the Greek people” about the sculptures after Mitsotakis raised the issue during talks. But the British leader stressed that decisions about the issue rest with the British Museum, where the marbles are held. The 17 figures and part of a frieze were taken by the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. Britain maintains Lord Elgin acquired the sculptures legally. Greek government says they were stolen and wants them returned for display in the Acropolis Museum.

Associated Press

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Greece has sought their return since gaining independence in 1832, arguing they are looted national heritage and integral to the Parthenon’s unity.

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Content: Greece asks Britain to return Parthenon statue British Museum: a popular heritage
▲ Part of the Greek Parthenon, now in the British Museum.
(Photo / Reuters)
Journalist Lin Yen-chen / Comprehensive Report
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech in Paris on the 12th that the Parthenon statue in the British Museum should be returned as soon as possible, and that the British side should enter into negotiations as soon as possible to achieve this goal.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in March that Britain was the rightful owner of the Parthenon and refused to return the 2,500-year-old statue to Greece.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stressed that the United Kingdom legally owns the Parthenon.
(Photo / Reuters)
Speaking at UNESCO ’ s 75th anniversary event, Mitsotakis said UNESCO took a key step in September when it recognised the inter-governmental nature of the problem and therefore the obligation to return the Parthenon was entirely in the UK.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis believes Britain has a duty to return the Parthenon.
(Photo / Dazhi Imaging / Associated Press)
Since independence in 1832, Greece has been demanding the return of the statues to Britain, where they are known as Elgin Marbles because it was the British diplomat Lord Elgin who removed them from Greece, which was then ruled by the Ottoman Empire, in the early 19th century.
The British Museum refused to return and claimed that the stone carvings were acquired by a legal contract between the Earl of Elgin and the Ottoman Empire, and that the statues were the common heritage of everyone.
Mitsotakis stressed that the existing Parthenon statue in London must be reunited with most of the other statues in Athens as soon as possible.
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Greek authorities contend that no valid export permits existed, asserting any Ottoman document (firman) allowed drawing and measuring rather than removal.

Some reports claim “scientists have proven that no export documents existed,” further challenging the legality of the removal.

The British Museum and UK position hold that the marbles were acquired legally, with Lord Elgin obtaining permission under Ottoman rule and the sculptures later sold to the British government in 1816.

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Press Eye / Refusal of the Parthenon Stone Sculpture
“Greek artefacts taken by the British 200 years ago set off a diplomatic storm, ” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was scheduled to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on November 29, but was temporarily canceled on the evening of the 28th.
In view of the long-standing dispute between the two sides over the ownership of the Parthenon marble statue in the British Museum, Greece originally promised not to use the meeting to openly discuss the issue of the ownership of the marble statue, but Mitsotakis described Parthenon as "like cutting the Mona Lisa in half" during his visit to the United Kingdom. Some of the marble statues of the temple are still in London, which displeased Sunak and angered Greece at the cancellation of the meeting.
This diplomatic storm caused the differences between Britain and Greece on the ownership of the marble statue to float on the table again.
The marble statue of the Parthenon temple at the heart of the English dispute, also known in England as "The Elgin Marbles" (The Elgin Marbles), mainly from the Parthenon temple in the Acropolis of Athens, built in the 5th century BC, has a history of more than 2500 years, including some from the Treasury of atreus on Mount Mycenae. More than 3,000 years.
This collection of more than 30 marble statues depicts scenes of Greek history and mythology, originally decorated in temples, including a 75 meter long relief showing the goddess Athena's birthday parade.
In 1801, the statue was shipped to England.
The marble was shipped to England in 1801 by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin of Scotland, from the Acropolis of Athens; regarding the ownership of the stone, the Earl of Elgin insisted that he obtained permission from the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which ruled Greece at the time, to bring the stone to England, but the original of the permission letter he said had been lost, and the British Parliament at that time also gave him permission. The British poet Lord Byron accused the Earl of Elgin of robbery, but the council decided not to prosecute the Earl, and in 1816 the British government bought the statues from the Earl of Elgin and put them on display in the British Museum.
Today, the stone has been one of the most famous exhibits of the British Museum, Greece has been asking the United Kingdom to return the Parthenon marble statue since 1983, and UNESCO has also been involved in coordination with the British and Greek sides on the return of the stone statue at the request of Greece, but to no avail; in 2022, the Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni publicly accused the Earl of Elgin in The removal of the statue of Parthenon by illegal means without "real legal permission" was "a blatant continuous theft".
During Mitsotakis ’ visit to Britain, the two sides are scheduled to discuss diplomatic aspects, including the situation in Gaza, the Russian-Ukrainian war, illegal immigration, and so on; former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who left in mid-November, said during a visit to the Greek island of Samos that Britain has “a lot to learn from Greece ” in dealing with immigration.
The summit has been cancelled due to return issues.
However, the lunch meeting, scheduled for 29 November, was abruptly canceled on the evening of 28 November, and Mitsotakis said that he had hoped to discuss the issue of the Parthenon marble statues in the talks, and that the Greek view of the statues was well known; he also reminded that Greece and Britain had a traditional friendship, which he had hoped to take advantage of. "People who believe they are right and righteous will never be afraid of dissent," he said in a statement.
After the British government confirmed the cancellation of the talks, Mitsotakis proposed to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, but this was rejected.
The office at 10 Downing Street said that Greece had originally promised not to use the meeting as a platform to openly discuss the return of the Parthenon marble statue, but the Greek side broke its promise and therefore believed that the two sides would not have much benefit.
The so-called "breach of promise" refers to Mitsotakis in an interview with the BBC about the Parthenon marble statue, because some of the statues are currently in the Parthenon Temple, and the other part is in the British Museum, Mitsotakis said that the United Kingdom should return the stone statue, and use "like the Mona Lisa cut in half" to describe the situation.
However, the Greek government has denied making such a promise.
The British Labour Party and the Government are in opposition.
The cancellation of the meeting caused concern in the British political and media, the Labour Party said that the decision to cancel the meeting was "deplorable", indicating that the Sunak government was "narrow minded"; the position of the Labour Party on the attribution of the Parthenon marble statue is far from being as strong as the Conservative Party, and the position of Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is that the position of the British Museum and Athens agreed that the statue could be temporarily loaned to Greece, but the Conservatives objected, fearing that if the statue was lent to Greece, it would never be returned to the United Kingdom — the British Museum was banned from disposing of its collections in 1963, so the ownership of the statue was no longer a matter for the British Museum alone, and Sunak had previously made clear that he would never support amending the law.
It is worth noting that Mitsotakis has already met with Scheer, and the Guardian quoted Greek sources as saying that Athens' assessment of the matter may also be one of the reasons why 10 Downing Street is dissatisfied with Mitsotakis, and because the Labour Party is far ahead of the Conservative Party in the polls, there is a great chance of winning the 2024 election again. It will become more and more frequent.
Prior to his meeting with Mitsotakis, Scheer expressed his support for a loan agreement to exchange the Parthenon marble statue with Athens for other ancient Greek artifacts that had not been to Britain for display at the British Museum.
However, Scheer did not intend to discuss the matter publicly, fearing that it would cause voters to resent the Labour Party, and stressed that he was opposed to amending the 1963 law that prevented the British Museum from returning the statue.
In fact, the agreement did not solve the biggest dispute between Greece and Britain over the return of the statue, which is "who exactly belongs to the marble statue of the Parthenon"; Greece naturally wanted to return the title to itself, but even if the agreement could be reached, Britain still considered the statue to be "lent" and the title to the British Museum.
Mitsotakis ’ s trip to Britain ended in haste, returning to Greece early, and both countries are still waiting to see how the dispute should end, but for the British government, which wants to establish stable relations with its European allies after Brexit, the result is clearly contrary to the goal, and in Britain, it is more about the policy differences between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
A Labour spokesman said: “If the Prime Minister is unable to meet with European allies who have vital economic links with the UK, it is further evidence that he cannot provide the economic leadership our country needs. ”
And the Labour Party, led by Schkeel, is ready. "
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Historical records note that the Parthenon Marbles were removed in the 19th century and sold to the British government, which transferred them to the British Museum.

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Content: Nobel Foundation Returns Gold Ring Stolen During World War II to Greece
Friday 20 May 2022 - 03: 27 GMT
The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Friday that the Nobel Foundation in Sweden has returned to Greece an old gold ring that was stolen from the island of Rhodes during World War II.
World - Miscellaneous
The announcement came just days after a UNESCO body unveiled an agreement between Greece and Britain to hold formal talks on the Parthenon Marbles currently on display at the British Museum in London.
The ministry said the Messini ring, which bears the symbol of the winged Sphinx, was officially returned at a ceremony in Stockholm on Thursday.
The ring was found on the island of Rhodes during an archaeological excavation in 1927 at a Mycenaean cemetery by the Italian School of Archaeology during the period of Italian control of the island.
The ministry said in a statement that the ring was stolen during World War II from the local archaeological museum along with other artifacts that have not yet been recovered.
The piece eventually appeared in the United States and was bought by Hungarian biophysicist Nobel laureate Georg von Beckessy, whose collection was posthumously acquired by the Nobel Foundation in 1972.
The ring was kept at the Stockholm Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Archaeology.
His identity was confirmed in 1975 by the museum ’ s then director, archaeologist and Mycenaean expert Carl Gustav Sterenius.
The ministry said the ring would return to the Rhodes Archaeological Museum.
The Mycenaean period was the last stage of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, extending from about 1600 BC to 1100 BC.
Earlier this week, the UNESCO Commission for the Return of Cultural Property said Britain had invited Greece in April for talks on the fate of the Parthenon Marbles.
The UNESCO committee said Greece had agreed to "a meeting between the parties which is about to be arranged in due course".
The Parthenon Temple was built in the 5th century BC in the Acropolis to honor the goddess Athena, patron of the Greek capital.
In the early 19th century, workers removed whole friezes from the landmark on the orders of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin.
Elgin sold the marbles to the British government, which in 1817 transferred them to the British Museum, where they still exist as one of the most valuable exhibits.
Athens says the sculptures were stolen and is demanding that Britain return them.

The British Museum operates under the British Museum Act 1963, which prohibits it from permanently disposing of items in its collection, creating a legal barrier to repatriation.

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Greek PM reiterates demand for British Museum to return Parthenon statue, British PM cancels meeting, sparking diplomatic row
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in an interview with the BBC on Sunday, reiterated that the authorities want the British Museum to return some of the statues that were “stolen ” from the Parthenon Temple.
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Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis, in an interview with the BBC on Sunday (26), described the Parthenon shrine as part of the statue group in Greece, part in the United Kingdom, like the "Mona Lisa smile" torn in half and asked Britain to return it.
British Prime Minister David Sunak then called the meeting a "temporary cancellation" hours before the meeting, prompting discontent from Mitsotakis, Greek officials and the public, calling it a "diplomatic crisis."
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that the British Museum wants to return some of the “stolen ” statues from the Parthenon Temple. Subsequently, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, hours before the meeting with Mitsotakis, a temporary resolution to cancel, sparking a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
BBC, British authorities claim that Sunak cancelled the meeting because Mitsotakis broke his promise to "not talk about the statue".
Mitsotakis, however, said it was Greece ’ s consistent and public stance to demand the British Museum return of the statue, saying in a statement: “I would like to express my dissatisfaction with the temporary cancellation by the United Kingdom just hours before the meeting. ”
The Greeks worked for hundreds of years to return the statue of the Parthenon.
The controversial statue is one of a group of marble statues used to decorate the Parthenon Temple in the ancient Greek city of Athens, also known as the Elgin Marbles.
In the 19th century, the British diplomat to the Ottoman Empire, the 7th Earl of Elgin, secretly removed the stone carvings and brought them back to Britain for collection in the British Museum.
At that time, Elgin claimed that he had taken the stone carvings with the permission of the Ottoman Empire and therefore had legitimacy.
However, the Greek authorities do not think so.
Since 1983, the Greek government has been trying to coordinate with the UK to ask them to return the stone carvings. In 2022, UNESCO also intervened to facilitate talks, but to no avail.
Therefore, the issue of the return of the stone carvings has become the core issue and exchange condition of many negotiations between Greece and Britain, including of course the meeting originally planned by Sunak and Mitsotakis.
Statues of the Parthenon Temple are mainly located in Athens and the British Museum.
In an interview with the BBC on the 26th, Mitsotakis described: "The scattered statue is like tearing the famous painting" Mona Lisa's Smile "in two parts and giving it to two museums." He called on the British authorities and the British Museum to return the "stolen" stone carvings and work together so that people can enjoy the statue "in its place".
Because of these remarks, Sunak temporarily announced on Monday night that he would cancel his meeting with Mitsotakis on Tuesday.
According to the Guardian, the British government said that the content of Mitsotakis ’ interview with the BBC violates the commitment of the two countries to “not talk about the return of stone carvings ” agreed in 2021.
The Greek authorities immediately denied the claim, and Mitsotakiston said that Greece ’ s position on asking Britain to return the statue was well known and reiterated during his tenure as prime minister.
The conversation should have been about the climate crisis, the Israeli-Kazakh conflict, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the British and Greek immigration plans, and the Parthenon statue.
After Sunak cancelled the talks, the British offered to have Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden attend, but Mitsotakis refused, and the two sides did not meet.
UK has no plans to amend the British Museum Act
The New York Times reported that in the past two years, the Greek government and the British Museum have repeatedly held "delicate negotiations" over the return of the statue, but the two sides have yet to reach a consensus.
According to the report, the Greek authorities want the British Museum to return all the Parthenon stone carvings, in exchange for which the Greek Museum will regularly select artefacts for display in the British Museum.
For its part, the British Museum agreed to "borrow" some of the Parthenon stone carvings and other exhibits from the Greek government for a short period of time. If Greece "returns" on schedule, the British Museum will "lend" more stone carvings.
Mitsotakis also mentioned in an interview with the BBC that the outcome of the negotiations at this stage is not as good as he expected, but he considers himself a man of perseverance and said: "Greece has waited for hundreds of years, we can wait more."
“I ’ m going to stand firm and be willing to continue negotiations.
A British government spokesman told The Guardian they were concerned that the return of stone carvings to Greece could create a “slippery slope ” that could trigger a wave of returns of disputed artifacts from other collections.
In addition, the British Museum Act 1963 states that the British Museum may not return its collections to its homeland.
According to the BBC, the British government has no plans to amend the decree, which means that the British authorities are unwilling to violate the decree and return the stone carvings to Greece.
The return of the stone sculpture is a matter of British election and diplomatic relations.
Evangelos Kyriakidis, head of the Greek Agency for Monuments and Estates, told Euronews that the Greek government attaches importance to the statues of the Parthenon temple because they are not only important monuments, but also a symbol of Greek national strength.
Kiriadis uses the metaphor of "the jewel of the crown of the king of England in Greece" to argue that the issue of the statue group is a matter of sovereignty.
The New York Times pointed out that the news of the cancellation of the meeting in Sunak immediately triggered the dissatisfaction of politicians of the Greek political party and caused a wave of criticism on social media, with many accounts condemning it as a diplomatic incident and a mini-diplomatic crisis between Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Guardian also quoted a Greek government spokesman, accusing Sunak of using the issue of the return of stone carvings with Greece to divert attention from Britain's internal affairs.
The spokesman said more bluntly that Sunak ’ s decision has the potential to damage Britain ’ s reputation in Europe, which is divided after Brexit.
A senior EU official also told The Guardian that cancelling the prime minister ’ s meeting and then sending the deputy prime minister to meet with the Greek prime minister would violate normal diplomatic procedures and damage Britain ’ s credibility.
He also said: "The United Kingdom, which wants to go global, cannot stop talking to friends about a problem that has existed for 200 years."
Another observer also pointed out that the British government is ahead of the serious refugee problem, and Greece is a member of the European Union that links Europe and the Mediterranean, which has important geopolitical significance.
Not only is there a diplomatic crisis, but the return of the stone carvings to the dispute may also bring about a domestic crisis for Sunak and the ruling party.
The New York Times reported that Britain will hold elections next year, and the ruling party is currently facing a long period of economic stagnation in the United Kingdom and divergent views on immigration policy. At this time, it has a conflict with Greece, which may make the question of the ownership of the statue an election point between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
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UK prime ministers have repeatedly ruled out a permanent return, citing the museum’s legal ownership and the constraints of the British Museum Act.

Current international law generally does not impose obligations to return artifacts taken before modern agreements, which complicates claims for repatriation of colonial-era objects like the Elgin Marbles.

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Content: She is Dead Now, You Can Tear the Crown Apart

The Argument for Cultural Restitution Through the Kohinoor Diamond

When the British took the Kohinoor diamond from Punjab, more than half of it was cut without hesitation, to fit within Queen Elizabeth’s crown.

Stolen, fragmented and appropriated by British legacy—a fitting analogy of their role in the subcontinent.

B-but the diamond has become a part of British culture! You’re absolutely right, a culture that is still proud of its imperialist past, and nothing beyond this in relation to the stone.

In Paul Young’s The Kohinoor, the Crystal Palace, and the Mission to Make Sense of British India, the diamond was placed on display in Britain in the 19th century to symbolize the nation’s “strength, economic prowess and imperial dominance” and its ability to impose it onto others. According to Young, the Kohinoor was famously known for its size and martial history as it depicted the “incalculable wealth, mystery, monarchical power, and strength of the British Empire.”

For Britain, their conquests and exploits were believed to have brought unprecedented economic and lifestyle improvements wherever they held influence, in this particular case, the territory known as the British Raj. This narrative was what the British advanced and by remodeling the history of South Asia as one supposedly saved by the British Empire, the historical and cultural value of the Kohinoor and many other cultural artifacts, were diminished and revamped to fit this account.

What is interesting about the gemstone is that although it is shrouded in a complex history of varying origins, ownerships, wars and bloodshed, the Kohinoor’s existence refutes many arguments against the repatriation of cultural artifacts.

The term Koh-I-Noor was originally coined 300 years ago translating to the Persian “Mountain of Light” after Emperor Nader Shah had been mesmerized by its size and beauty. Often cited in popular culture as the 5,000 year old “Symantaka” jewel from Hindu mythology, it was said to have been found in the Kollur Mine. Earliest records date back to ownership by King Porus in 325 BC and continue with Persian dynasties in the 13th century, Babur’s Mughal Empire in the 16th century and finally with the Sikh Empire in 1813.

Over hundreds of years, the diamond passed through the hands of a multitude of Afghan, Indian, Mughal and Persian families, remaining in Punjab until the “Treaty of Lahore” of 1849. As British troops surrounded the 10 year old Maharajah Duleep Singh, the young king was forced to cede it to the British as part of the annexation of the Punjab region, marking the end of the Anglo-Sikh Wars.

With the conquest of the land, Britain’s attitude towards the territory was that without its own economic presence, the Indian subcontinent would remain culturally backward. For them, European policies had to be forced onto uncivilized peoples and that it was the English duty to make them productive. This resulted in a mercantilist ideal for the colony that sought to maximize its economic potential. The Kohinoor became a symbol of glorified economic exploitation only to be later removed from the Crystal Palace, as it was deemed an item of “mere curiosity and rarity” by British institutions. This perverse and shallow cultural significance the jewel held to Britain cannot be compared to the nations of South Asia—the subject of religious texts, fables, myths and long-held allegories in South Asian culture to this day.

Despite its forceful acquisition and cultural appropriation, mainstream legal bodies uphold the British claim under contradictory premises that quite conveniently encourage repatriation yet systematically prevent any form of it. The British under current international law have no legal obligation to return the stone to the subcontinent because its attainment had occurred before modern international agreements. In the case of the Kohinoor, and every other cultural artifact stolen during the colonial period, prior conquest is a perfectly legal means of justifying the acquisition of property.

To challenge this purposefully biased structure, legal scholars such as Saby Ghoshray have argued that a new framework must be created to redefine cultural property to facilitate their rightful return. This can be done by raising the fact that the Kohinoor diamond’s history demonstrates that it is cultural heritage for South Asians and not simply a symbolic object that was transferred from one bloody hand to the next, as Britain. By reassessing the object as cultural heritage, the international community would recognize its value that transcends both time and its status as merely an object. Heritage also entails collective ownership rather than individual ownership.

Therefore, declaring the Kohinoor as an artifact of cultural heritage to the peoples of South Asia would invalidate the individual ability to cede it, making its succession to the British after the Treaty of Lahore in 1849, illegitimate. The diamond, under the banner of cultural heritage, cannot be placed under temporal limits as its cultural value rooted in thousands of years of history cannot be quantified or measured in time. Re-labeling and reworking the current framework regarding cultural property as cultural heritage allows for the just repatriation of artifacts that were wrongfully taken during colonial eras through violent and coercive means, that are, to this day, being patronized as imperial accomplishments.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, inaction or action against restitution of cultural heritage propagates and tolerates the consequences of Britain’s colonial past and their effects on former colonies. If Britain dismisses its oppressing history and chooses to celebrate its progress in the wake of the Queen’s death, it must acknowledge its implications as well, including restoring cultural objects to reverse the acts of imperialism while respecting the self-determination of countries. Refusing to address the impact of colonial claims on cultural artifacts constitute social and cultural injuries on the welfare of formerly colonized nations. Until such cultural justice is initiated, conversations surrounding Britain’s moral advancements are performative, hypocritical and further injurious.

This article originally appeared in Volume 43, Issue 2, published September 13, 2022.

UNESCO has recognized the inter-governmental nature of the issue, urged the UK to revisit its stance, and has been involved in facilitating dialogue between Greece and the UK.

UNESCO has criticized conditions at the British Museum regarding the Parthenon Marbles and has supported broader efforts to enable the return of cultural property.

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Content: Pressure grows on other restitution cases ahead of first Benin bronze return - Museums Association

Pressure grows on other restitution cases ahead of first Benin bronze return

Several breakthroughs this year have put long-running disputes under the microscope
Geraldine Kendall Adams
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Later this month the University of Cambridge will become the first institution in the UK to officially repatriate a Benin bronze to Nigeria.

Delegates from the country's Benin City, where the sculptures were looted by British forces in the punitive expedition of 1897, will be present for a handover ceremony at Jesus College on 27 October, where they will receive a bronze cockerel that was acquired by the university in 1905.

The milestone is the latest in a year of significant breakthroughs in the dispute over the sculptures; in March, the Ethnological Museum in Berlin's Humboldt Forum announced that it would enter talks with Nigeria to fully repatriate its Benin bronze holdings, and shortly after the University of Aberdeen said it would unconditionally return a Benin sculpture from its collections.

With the issue of restitution under the spotlight like never before, pressure has grown on UK institutions to resolve other long-running disputes over objects acquired in the colonial era.

Last month, a Unesco committee issued a resolution urging the UK Government to revisit its stance on the Parthenon Marbles, which have been the subject of a longstanding repatriation claim by the Greek government. Unesco's International Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property criticised the conditions in which the sculptures are held at the British Museum.

Following the committee session, Greece’s culture minister Lina Mendoni said: “Together with the recommendation that was issued – referring to the poor conditions of exposure that the sculptures are kept in at the British Museum – Greece also achieved a decision from the Intergovernmental Committee that pertains specifically to the return of the Parthenon sculptures.”

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She added: “The committee urgently calls on the United Kingdom to review its position and enter into a discussion with Greece, recognising that the issue is of an intergovernmental nature – in contrast to claims from the British side that it is a matter for the British Museum – and mainly that Greece has a valid and legal claim to demand the return of the sculptures to their place of birth.”

Museums Journal understands that the resolution was met with anger at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), where relations with Unesco have been strained by the international heritage body's decision earlier this year to strip Liverpool’s waterfront of world heritage status, as well as its criticism of the planned Stonehenge tunnel.

A statement from the DCMS said: “We disagree with the committee’s decision adopted in the closing minutes of the session and are raising issues relating to fact and procedure with Unesco. Our position is clear – the Parthenon Sculptures were acquired legally in accordance with the law at the time. The British Museum operates independently of the government and free from political interference. All decisions relating to collections are taken by the museum's trustees.”

British Museum trustees have also made clear that they believe Unesco involvement “isn't the best way forward”. A statement from the institution said: “The British Museum has a long history of collaboration with Unesco and admires and supports its work. The trustees of the British Museum have a legal and moral responsibility to preserve and maintain all the collections in their care and to make them accessible to world audiences.

“The trustees want to strengthen existing good relations with colleagues and institutions in Greece, and to explore collaborative ventures directly between institutions, not on a government-to-government basis. This is why we believe that working in partnership across the world represents the best way forward. Museums holding Greek works, whether in Greece, the UK or elsewhere in the world, are naturally united to show the importance of the legacy of ancient Greece. The British Museum is committed to playing its full part in sharing the value of that legacy.”

Campaigners have also called on the British Museum to return a collection of sacred altar tablets – which have never been displayed or studied due to their sanctity – to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The items were taken during the British military assault on Maqdala in 1868.

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A letter to British Museum trustees this month, signed by high-profile figures including writer Lemn Sissay and former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, said: “We believe that today the British Museum has a unique opportunity to build a lasting and meaningful bridge of friendship between Britain and Ethiopia by handing the tabots back to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.”

The museum’s longstanding position is that the British Museum Act of 1963 legally prevents it from restituting objects, but a new legal opinion, which was sought by campaigners, claims that the tabots could be lawfully returned under a provision in the act allowing for the disposal of objects “unfit to be retained” that can be disposed “without detriment to the interests of students”.

The British Museum is also facing questions about its Benin bronze holdings. A group of contemporary Nigerian artists made headlines worldwide last month when they offered to exchange the historic sculptures for their own works.

“We never stopped making the bronzes even after those ones were stolen,” Osarobo Zeickner-Okoro, a founding member of the Ahiamwen Guild, told Reuters news agency at the time. “I think we make them even better now.”

The British Museum says it is engaged in “sustained and open dialogues” with Nigeria concerning the Benin collections. It is part of the Benin Dialogue Group assisting with the development of the new Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City, and is also involved in an archaeology project in the city. The British Museum has committed to long-term loans but has not changed its stance on restitution.

Regarding its Maqdala collections, the institution says: “Discussions with Ethiopian partners concerning the Maqdala collections are continuing and the museum is actively invested in these.”

Some heritage professionals have hit back at simplistic media coverage of the issue. In a letter to the Guardian this week, Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology magazine, wrote: “The futures of museum collections and public statues are often portrayed by lobbyists and media as a fight between retainers and disposers. The real work is happening behind the scenes: people building new communities on the back of new engagements and research.”

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The UNESCO-affiliated committee ICPRCP has ruled in favor of returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, bolstering the moral and diplomatic case for reunification.

Title:

Content: Opinion

Bring them home

At the end of August, it was reported that around 2,000 artefacts, including gold jewellery and gems, had been stolen from the British Museum over a long period of time.

Chairman of the trustees, George Osborne acknowledged that the museum’s reputation has suffered as a result of its mishandling of the thefts, which sparked outrage after it was revealed that most of the stolen antiquities may never be recovered due to the museum’s poor record keeping, raising questions about security and leadership.

For decades, the British Museum has argued that the Parthenon Marbles should not be returned to Greece since the country lacks a suitable location for their display.

The Acropolis Museum, on the other hand, has solidified its place among the world’s top ten best museums and is the go-to museum in Athens where one can readily understand why Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization. So, why not return the Parthenon marbles to their rightful home, and how did they end up in the British Museum in the first place?

In the early 1800s, when British aristocrat Lord Elgin sailed home from Greece, he also shipped to England some of the greatest treasures of antiquity, which included a collection of Greek statues and carved frieze panels that once decorated the Parthenon in Athens.

The so-called Elgin Marbles were later sold to the British government with the approval of the Ottomans who ruled Greece at the time and became the most storied artefacts in the British Museum’s collection. They also became the subject of perhaps the world’s most notorious cultural dispute.

The British maintain that the marbles were legally acquired and they belong in a universal museum alongside other artefacts, excluding the 2,000 that were now reportedly stolen. The Greeks, on the other hand, view them as looted treasures that form the cornerstone of their national heritage.

For decades, the issue of the Parthenon Marbles has been on the agenda of the Unesco Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP). In fact, it was Melina Mercouri, the Greek Minister of Culture at the time, who raised the matter of their return during the 1982 Unesco World Conference.

Although the forum ruled in favour of the cause, stating that restitution of works illegally removed from their countries of origin is a fundamental principle of people-to-people cultural relations, Mercouri’s British counterpart responded that the UK Government “could not intervene in the affairs of a private establishment like the British Museum.”

While efforts are underway to retrieve the stolen antiquities, the British Museum’s collections may never be recovered because the museum’s records only identify the collection as a whole and fail to list the individual pieces.

This is not the first time the museum’s image as a safe keeper of global treasures has been called into doubt. The poor condition of the British Museum’s western block has been recorded numerous times. Images of water leaking into the Parthenon gallery were broadcast on Greek television in 2018, resulting from a cracked glass ceiling pane. Although the glass was replaced with new fixings and no sculptures were destroyed, a leaking roof in 2021 resulted in water seeping through, once again, delaying the reopening of the Greek galleries following the pandemic.

The British Museum claimed that none of the statues had been damaged and the issue was addressed. However, for Greece, these events demonstrate that the British Museum is failing to care for the Parthenon Marbles, reinforcing the country’s legitimate claim that the sculptures be permanently returned to Athens.

Earlier this year, the British Museum moved closer to a landmark agreement with Athens that could result in the return of the marbles. Although existing legislation makes it illegal to give away treasures, Osborne is reportedly seeking to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles as part of a cultural exchange that would see other Greek antiques displayed at the British Museum. Over half of the British people support their repatriation to Greece.

Hundreds of statues from the Archaic and Classical periods can be found at the ultramodern Acropolis Museum. The top level is the museum’s showcase, which provides a visual link to the Acropolis and allows visitors to view both the monument and its sculptures. The majority of the Parthenon Marbles will be displayed there upon their anticipated return.

The Parthenon Sculptures were made in Greece by Greeks to honour the glory of Greece. They represent millions of people’s cultural identities. Greece is their true home. It is where they belong.

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Public opinion in Britain leans toward return, with a survey showing 54% support for sending the sculptures back to Greece.

Title:

Content: Parthenon Sculptures: Agreement to Return Parthenon Marbles to Greece Arrives at Advanced Stage - Reports
• Kitty Razel
• Cultural Affairs Editor
Greece and Britain are close to reaching an agreement to return Parthenon sculptures (also known in Britain as the Elgin Marbles) to Greece, according to a Greek newspaper.
The Nea newspaper reported that the director of the British Museum, George Osborne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, held secret talks with the Greek prime minister.
Greece has been demanding the return of the statues for decades.
The British Museum said it was "ready to talk to anyone, including the Greek government" in order to reach a partnership on the subject.
The Parthenon sculptures are considered by many to be among the most important works of art that are being debated for return to their countries of origin.
Carved from the Parthenon Temple in Athens in the 19th century by British diplomat and military officer Lord Elgin, the sculptures were brought to Britain by the British government and placed in the British Museum in 1816.
The marble statues were among those decorated in the 2,500-year-old temple, which was carved by the sculptor Phidias.
The exhibition of the Parthenon Gallery at the Acropolis Museum in Greece was built more than a decade ago to display sculptures there.
In addition to the original marble sculptures that remain in Greece, the exhibition includes plaster copies of those other original marble sculptures that are currently housed in the British Museum and other foreign museums.
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Ta Nea reported that meetings were held with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the first time in London in 2021.
Osborne held preliminary talks with Mitsotakis about the fate of the Greek sculptures at the Greek ambassador's home in Mayfair, and also met with the Greek foreign minister.
He later met with the Greek foreign minister and the Greek minister of state, the paper said.
Mitsotakis met Osborne again this week at the Berkeley Hotel in London.
A Greek source familiar with the matter told the paper that an agreement was almost complete, but important details were still under discussion, that agreement on it was difficult but not impossible, and that tangible progress had been made.
Osborne told LBC that an agreement on Parthenon sculptures was under consideration and could be accomplished if neither party had preconditions or red lines.
A spokesman for the British Museum said the museum had previously called for a partnership on Parthenon sculptures with Greece, adding: “We are seeking a long-term and positive partnership with countries and communities around the world, and that includes Greece of course. ”
"We are acting legally and we will not dismantle our great collection of sculptures, they tell a unique story of human history," the museum said, which may be the most important obstacle to reaching an agreement with Greece.
The Horniman Museum and Gardens in London has signed a partnership agreement on 72 of its holdings, the Bronzes of Benin, with Nigeria over ownership of the artefacts.
The pieces were looted by British troops from the city of Benin, in what is now Nigeria, in 1897.
The museum ’ s director, Nick Merriman, said: “We are in the final stages of getting museums to recognize the era of colonial history. ”
Horniman has been able to act as a charity, and is governed by laws different from those governing national institutions.
British law prohibits the British Museum from relinquishing parts of its holdings, including 900 Benin bronzes, as well as Parthenon sculptures.
I had prepared a report in October on the efforts of the then Minister of Culture, Lord Vizin, to explore the possibility of changing the law.
The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport said: “The British Museum is prohibited by law from transporting items except in a few exceptional circumstances, and the government is not considering changing this law. ”
Lord Vizi is currently the director of the Parthenon Project, an organization founded by Greek businessman John Levas.
Last summer, the association conducted a survey of 2,000 people about the return of the sculptures to Greece, which found that 54 percent of those surveyed said the sculptures should be returned, while 16 percent disagreed.
The claimants' view was that it originally belonged to Greece.
The Parthenon project is campaigning for a mutually satisfactory solution, and news from the talks suggests that a solution is close.
The project aims to reach an agreement in the interest of both parties, centered on a cultural partnership between the two countries.
According to the Te Nea report, the partnership is at the center of talks between the two sides, and the talk is about the return of the sculptures to Greece while the British Museum hosts archaeological treasures from Greece that have not been exhibited abroad before.
British officials have proposed that London and Athens share the sculptures and have explored the possibility of returning part of them to Greece.
The Greek government is not expected to settle for any solution that does not include the permanent return of the sculptures to Greece.

The Acropolis Museum is prepared to display the Parthenon Marbles upon return and is designed to present them in their architectural context.

Concerns about conservation and security at the British Museum—including poor record-keeping, water leaks, and general condition—have been raised in discussions of the marbles’ future care.

Italy’s return of a Parthenon fragment to Greece on a multi-year loan, accompanied by cultural exchanges, has increased pressure on the UK to find a solution.

Title:

Content: Skip to main contentSkip to navigation

Italy returns Parthenon fragment to Greece amid UK row over marbles

Loan deal could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate ancient Parthenon marbles to Athens

Italy is returning a fragment belonging to the Parthenon’s eastern frieze to Greece in a breakthrough deal that could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate the 2,500-year-old Parthenon marbles removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.

The marble fragment, which depicts the foot of a goddess, either Peitho or Artemis, peeking out from beneath an elaborate tunic, is currently held at the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Sicily. It was originally bought by the University of Palermo from the widow of Robert Fagan, the British consul for Sicily and Malta, after his death in 1816.

The artefact is being returned on a four-year loan as part of a cultural exchange agreement between Sicily and Greece, with the intention for the loan period to be extended by a further four years. However, the move back to Greece could eventually become permanent.

In return, the Acropolis Museum in Athens will loan the Palermo museum a 5th-century BC headless statue of the goddess Athena, as well as an 8th-century BC amphora.

The deal, which includes an exchange of cultural initiatives between the two museums, comes after several years of negotiations between Sicilian and Greek authorities.

“Sending back to the context of its origins a small, but significant, fragment belonging to the Parthenon has a very strong symbolic value,” said Sicily’s councillor for culture, Alberto Samonà. “It is also a response to the international debate [about the Parthenon artefacts]. But I don’t want to get into that debate. For us, this is a gesture of friendship – Greece and Sicily are two areas of the Mediterranean that share a common story.”

The fragment was loaned to Greece in 2002 and in 2008. Samonà said the latest transfer could become permanent, but that it would be up to the Italian culture ministry to take the measures needed to make that happen.

It is not known how Fagan, an amateur archaeologist, acquired the fragment, although one theory suggests it might have been given to him by Elgin, the British aristocrat who excavated the bulk of the ancient Parthenon marbles between 1801 and 1804 before selling them to the British Museum in 1816, where the artefacts are currently on display.

Greece has long fought for the marbles to be repatriated from the UK. In November, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, demanded that Britain return the marbles to Greece, while at the same time offering to loan some Greek historical treasures to the British Museum. In response, Downing Street said returning the marbles was a matter for the British Museum. The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, had previously said the marbles would remain in Britain, arguing that they were legally acquired.

The Vatican’s return of three Parthenon fragments likewise adds momentum to repatriation efforts and demonstrates growing international precedent.

Title:

Content: Beyond Politics
Check out all the latest trending news and stories from across the globe and the Internet! Lifestyle, cultural stories, social media hits, latest science and technology news, photos, videos, and much more!

Looted Ancient Relics Return to Greek Soil After Lengthy Legal Tussle

© AFP 2023 / LOUISA GOULIAMAKIThis photograph taken in Athens on February 8, 2022 shows a rainbow appearing over the Ancient Acropolis.
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Greece's recent recovery of ancient artefacts comes against the protracted legal ownership tug-of-war between the UK’s British Museum and the Greek government regarding the fate of the "Elgin Marbles" - Parthenon carvings, which were removed from the Acropolis over 200 years ago.
A batch of ancient artefacts spanning historical periods from the Neolithic to Byzantine era are being repatriated to Greece after a 17-year-long legal battle, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni announced on Friday.
The 351 antiquities in question include a white stone Neolithic-era statuette dating to the 4th millennium BC, an Early Cycladic figurine from between 3200 and 2700 BC, a bronze statue of Alexander the Great from the second half of the 2nd century AD.
Without going into any specific details, Mendoni hailed the joint efforts by Culture Ministry officials, the legal department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country’s judiciary, and archaeologists to wrest the vast collection from the company of a UK antiquities dealer - Robin Symes Limited - which is undergoing liquidation at the moment.
Symes is said to have put together the collection with the help of a sweeping network of illegal traders.
The current repatriation comes after back in 2006 an investigation was launched into the company owned by the now-disgraced British antiquities' dealer. Acting in close cooperation, Italian and Swiss police in 2016 recovered archaeological artefacts, from Symes’ possession, found to have been stolen from Italy. Symes, once a famous London dealer in artefacts, was suspected of being in cahoots at the time with Italian tomb raiders. There has not been any clarification from Mendoni whether the batch of items coming home to Greece now is somehow linked to that discovery at the Geneva Freeport warehouse complex.
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Removal of Greek Parthenon Marbles Likened to Stripping Salisbury of Stonehenge by UK's Stephen Fry
Greece has been on a crusade to return looted artefacts across the globe. The most high-profile artworks in this case are the Parthenon Sculptures. Originally part of the temple of the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, they were removed by British diplomat Lord Elgin during the Turkish occupation in 1802. They were brought to Britain and are now on display in the British Museum in London. The UK has long argued that Elgin was given permission to take them by local Ottoman rulers. Greece has consistently demanded the return of the sculptures on display in the British Museum, claiming they are "the product of theft." The campaign to return the artworks continue. Meanwhile, at a reunification ceremony in Athens, three fragments of the Parthenon were brought to the Greek capital and its Acropolis Museum from the Vatican.
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Vatican Returns Three Fragments of Parthenon to Greece
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Greece has offered to lend significant artifacts to the British Museum in exchange for the Parthenon sculptures’ return, signaling willingness for cultural exchange.

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Content: Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Greek prime minister tries to broker deal for return of Parthenon marbles

Kyriakos Mitsotakis offers to loan Greek treasures to British Museum if ‘stolen’ sculptures are returned to Acropolis

The Greek prime minister has demanded that the 2,500-year-old Parthenon marbles, which he accuses Britain of stealing, be returned to Greece, and even offered to loan some of his country’s treasures to the British Museum in an attempt to broker a deal.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Daily Telegraph that the sculptures, also known as the Elgin marbles, belong in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

However, Boris Johnson has previously ruled out returning them on the grounds that they were acquired legally.

Mitsotakis said: “Our position is very clear. The marbles were stolen in the 19th century; they belong in the Acropolis Museum and we need to discuss this issue in earnest.

“I am sure that if there was a willingness on the part of the government to move we could find an arrangement with the British Museum in terms of us sending abroad cultural treasures on loan, which have never left the country.”

The marbles were removed from the Acropolis more than 200 years ago by Lord Elgin in circumstances that have spurred one of the world’s most famous cultural rows and have long been the subject of dispute.

Mitsotakis said he would raise the issue with Johnson when the two meet next week for talks that could shape future relations between the two countries.

“Refusing to discuss the topic seems to me, given the context of everything that has been happening in terms of the return of cultural treasures, to be rather an anachronistic approach,” he added.

“It would be a fantastic statement by what Boris calls Global Britain if they were to move on this and look at it through a completely different lens.”

But Johnson dismissed the appeal for their return to Greece earlier this year, telling the Greek newspaper Ta Nea: “I understand the strong feelings of the Greek people – and indeed prime minister Mitsotakis – on the issue.

“But the UK government has a firm, longstanding position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s trustees since their acquisition.”

Greece has long called for the reunification of the sculptures, displayed in museums across Europe but mostly in London, and says it is integral to understanding the artworks in the context of the Acropolis.

Negotiations have intensified since 2021, including secret talks between British Museum chair George Osborne and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, exploring a cultural partnership.

The British Museum has proposed sharing or loaning the sculptures as part of a “Parthenon partnership,” though the museum is legally barred from permanently relinquishing ownership.

UK leaders have floated loan or sharing arrangements, with some political openness to a loan deal, even as the government maintains it will not change the law.

Title:

Content: Greek premier to meet Starmer and Sunak in renewed push to return Elgin marbles

Kyriakos Mitsotakis due to meet Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer in London next week

Matt Mathers
Saturday 25 November 2023 23:43
Comments
Elgin Marbles: British Museum lends statue

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to raise the issue of the Parthenon sculptures with the UK next week.

He is reportedly due to hold talks with Labour leader Keir Starmer on Monday and prime minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday and will raise the subject with both.

The Financial Times reported that Mr Starmer was open to a potential loan deal that would see parts of the ancient sculptures returned. Labour declined to comment.

The 2,500-year-old sculptures, also known as the Eglin Marbles, were taken from Athens to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Eglin, in the early 19th century and never returned. Greece says they were stolen, sparking a bitter and long-running dispute with the UK.

Housed in their own dedicated room, the sculptures of Olympian gods and goddesses, centaurs and warriors are among the greatest at the British Museum.

A 1963 Act of Parliament stops the British Museum from permanently handing them back.

George Osborne, the museum’s chair and the former Conservative Party MP and chancellor, has backed a loan deal.

“I hope we’ll find a way to partner with Greece so that a portion of the Marbles spend part of their time in Athens . . . and we see more of their treasures in return,” he wrote in The Spectator last week. Mr Osborne conceded that “we may well not succeed” but that it was “surely worth the effort”.

The proposed deal, which Mr Osborne and Mr Mitsotakis have held secret talks over, would allow the sculptures to return to Athens in exchange for Greek treasures being displayed in London.

Many of the artworks in question are in storage in museum vaults and have never before been seen.

Mr Mitsotakis, who has said it is his “passion” to get the sculptures back, is scheduled to meet both party leaders next week. He intends to raise the issue in both meetings, a person close to him told the FT.

Mr Sunak is said to be not opposed to the idea of a loan deal but sceptical that the sculptures would ever be returned if they were loaned to Greece, according to the paper.

No 10 has been contacted for comment.

A UK government spokesperson told the FT: “The UK has cared for the Elgin Marbles for generations.

“Our galleries and museums are funded by taxpayers because they are a huge asset to this country. “

We share their treasures with the world, and the world comes to the UK to see them. The collection of the British Museum is protected by law, and we have no plans to change it.”

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Greece rejects any loan that requires recognizing British Museum ownership, insisting on permanent reunification rather than temporary loans.

Title:

Content: People 's Network > > International
These artefacts set off a "war of words" between Greece and Britain
November 30, 2023 09: 14 | Source: Xinhua Network
Small number
Xinhua News Agency, BEIJING, November 29 (Xinhua) -- A war of words between Greece and Britain over the stone carvings of the Parthenon temple of the Acropolis was escalated on the 28th.
The two countries pointed to each other's actions, which led to the leaders' scheduled meeting on the same day.
Greece, Britain blame each other for meeting cancellation
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday.
However, his remarks in an interview with the British media gave Sunak a last-minute break.
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Mitsotakis said that the stone carvings of the Parthenon on display at the British Museum "belong to Greece, and it was stolen."
In his view, this is not a dispute over ownership, but a matter of “reunification. ”
Mitsotakis also asked: If the world famous painting Mona Lisa is cut in half and placed in a museum in a different country, will people still appreciate its beauty?
This is a Parthenon marble sculpture taken at the British Museum in London, England, on September 7.
Photo by Xinhua reporter Li Ying
Mitsotakis's remarks caused dissatisfaction with the British side.
Reuters reported on the 28th, citing news from Sunak's office, that the Greek side had previously promised that it would not use Mitsotakis's visit to "re-raise the issue that has been resolved for a long time", that is, the question of the ownership of the stone carvings of the Parthenon Temple.
Sunak's spokesman told reporters that the British side decided to cancel the meeting because the Greek side had "not kept its promise."
Richie Sunak speaks in front of the Prime Minister ’ s House at 10 Downing Street, London, UK, on October 25, 2022.
Photo by Xinhua reporter Li Ying
The BBC quoted a Greek source as saying the Greek side had not made the British commitment.
AFP quoted a Greek government source as saying that the issue of the Parthenon stone carvings was "routinely included in the agenda of the meeting along with other bilateral and international issues" and that "10 Downing Street is aware of this".
Mitsotakis expressed "displeasure" at the British side's temporary cancellation of the meeting and ended his visit to Britain ahead of schedule.
A man visits a Parthenon marble carving at the British Museum in London, UK, on September 7, 2023.
Photo by Xinhua reporter Li Ying
The decision to cancel the meeting has raised questions in the UK.
Former Minister of State for Culture and Digital Economy Ed Weezy, a consultant to the Parthenon Project, told Sky News that the British side's previous position was that the issue of the Parthenon stone carvings should be resolved by the British Museum itself, and that Sunak "did not need" to intervene in this way, which would be detrimental to the relationship between Britain and Greece.
The stalemate between the two sides is difficult to resolve.
Greek Labour and Social Welfare Minister Azzonis Georgiades told the BBC that Mitsotakis's comments about the Parthenon stone carvings were not only personal, but also "the unanimous view of 11 million Greeks", as well as many people around the world.
In the early 19th century, the British diplomat Thomas Bruce, Count of Elgin, obtained "permission" from the authorities in Turkey's Ottoman Greece to cut large numbers of stone carvings from the Parthenon and bring them back to Britain.
The British government later acquired the stone carvings and exhibited them as a collection of the British Museum.
Greece has long demanded that the British Museum permanently return the stone carvings it has collected since 1816, but the British side refused.
Currently, the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum in Greece display different parts of the Parthenon stone sculpture, while the British Museum on display sculpture is called the "Elgin Marble", is the essence of the stone sculpture.
According to AFP, many museums in Western countries, including the British Museum, are under increasing pressure to return cultural relics plundered from other countries.
British law stipulates that the British Museum may not remove the collection from the collection except in certain circumstances, but the law does not prohibit lending.
The British Museum has previously negotiated long-term "loan" of stone sculptures and other plans with Greece.
However, the Greek side does not seem to be able to accept the "loan" proposal.
A spokesman for Mr Sunak said the loan was conditional on Greece accepting the British Museum as the rightful owner. (Reporter: Wang Yijun; video: Tan Ran; editors: Chen Dan, Qiao Ying, Liang Shanggang, Wang Fengfeng)
(Edited by: Cui Ziguo, Cui Yue)
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A new Greek law allows long-term export of antiquities as temporary loans, potentially offering mechanisms for cultural partnerships without conceding ownership.

Title:

Content: Without removing jurisdiction
Museum protests in Athens
The government of Greece has initiated the adoption of a law that removes the five main museums of antiquities in the country from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
These include the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of Byzantine Culture and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion in Crete.
Archaeologists have been protesting against the law for several weeks, and in recent days they have been joined by museum staff.
The law on changing the management system of the main Greek museums was adopted on February 13.
This was preceded by long debates and protests by the Association of Archaeologists of Greece, but the centre-right government led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ignored the opinion of the professional community.
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, supported the law, which, in fact, fixes the loss of her Ministry of control over museums.
Party discipline has proved to be stronger than departmental interests: Mendoni said the move is aimed at modernizing museums, citing “the need to change the way in which specific state museums are managed, as well as to expand their activities and actions. ”
In response, all five interested museums closed.
The strike continues.
What is the essence of this conflict?
Instead of a museum director appointed by the Ministry of Culture, Greek museums will receive councils whose members will be appointed by the government.
That is, instead of professional archaeologists, who traditionally held the posts of directors of these museums, they will be headed by “effective managers ”, whose appointment can strongly correlate with the policy of one or another of the winning parties.
On the one hand, there is a purely managerial desire to remove from the state responsibility for the full provision of museums (under the new law, museums will be able to independently attract additional funding, which, if successful, will greatly facilitate their existence - both in the matter of reconstruction and in the case of various exhibition projects).
On the other hand, the new law could change the situation with Greek antiquities once removed from the country by colonial authorities, black archaeologists, private individuals or Greek refugees.
That is, we are talking about those issues of restitution of artistic values, which until now have been the most painful for the Greek cultural authorities.
It is on this occasion that the different political forces of Greece clashed.
Alexis Tsipras, head of the left-wing Syriza party and former prime minister of the country, immediately stated that “culture and people of culture are being persecuted again. ”
Syriza members abstained from voting on the law.
Tsipras was referring to the part of the new law that regulates the long-term “export ” of certain antiquities.
The law allows “export ” as a“ temporary ” practice of extended credit agreements that will allow looted antiquities to remain abroad for years to come.
In early November 2022, the Metropolitan Museum announced the signing of an agreement, known as a memorandum of understanding, between the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Greece, the private Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens (MCA) and the Metropolitan, according to which 161 Cycladic artifacts from the collection of billionaire businessman Leonard N. Stern will be on display at the New York Museum for 25 years. and only then will these controversial things return to their homeland.
To postpone the solution of a problem for a quarter of a century is almost the same as not solving it at all.
So far, Prime Minister Mitsotakis ’ position on the need to return antiquities to Greece has been very consistent.
First of all, he was interested in the “Marbles of Elgin ”, sculptures of the Athenian Parthenon, exhibited in the British Museum (“ Kommersant ” wrote about this on January 12).
In December last year, he held secret talks with George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum ’ s Board of Trustees, to discuss possible solutions to the issue.
However, the new law seems to be specifically written to make a deal with the British Museum to “lease ” 2500-year-old Parthenon marbles instead of continuing to fight for their full return and not giving up ownership.
According to journalists from various Greek media, the British Museum has proposed an agreement under which some of the marbles can be sent to Greece, and the rest will remain hostage in London.
Greece, in return, will have to borrow other exhibits to fill the vacant space in the museum.
The Greek Minister of Culture Mendoni categorically denies this information: “I repeat once again: the position of the Greek government with regard to the sculptures of the Parthenon is that it does not recognize the jurisdiction, possession and ownership of the British Museum. ”
Given that the elections in Greece will be held this spring, no one here takes his word for it.
The archaeological community, however, is not jokingly alarmed: more than a thousand people went to the protest rally, and the doors of striking antiquities museums are increasingly closed than open.
Kira Dolinina
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Logistics of transport, conservation, and display would be central to any loan or return, and the British Museum has explored arrangements for potential travel of the sculptures.

Title:

Content: UK museums strike loan deal to return Asante Gold to Ghana that was looted over 100 years ago

25 January 2024, 07:25 | Updated: 25 January 2024, 07:27

By Jenny Medlicott

The UK is returning a selection of Asante Gold looted from Ghana over 100 years ago in a historic loan deal.

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The British Museum has struck a deal to return 15 pieces of the gold to Ghana and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) 17 pieces, under a new three-year loan deal.

Loan deals are used as a way to enable collections to return to their countries of origin.

The Ghanian loan deal, which can be extended by an additional three years, was agreed with Otumfo Osei Tutu II, the current Asante king known as the Asantehene.

Some national museums in the UK, including the V&A and British Museum, are prohibited from permanently returning such items to their countries of origin.

The items will reportedly go on display at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region, to celebrate the Asantehene's silver jubilee.

Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said the gold items taken from the court of the Asante King are the equivalent of "our Crown Jewels".

Mr Hunt also said when museums "hold objects with origins in war and looting in military campaigns, we have a responsibility to the countries of origin to think about how we can share those more fairly today.

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"It doesn't seem to me that all of our museums will fall down if we build up these kind of partnerships and exchanges,” he told the BBC.

It is hoped the historic deal will pave the way for handling other repatriation disputes - potentially including the long-running dispute over the Elgin Marbles.

Ghana’s chief operation said he hoped the deal would bring a “a new sense of cultural co-operation” following years of anger.

However, some have expressed concern that accepting the items on loan could be seen as acceptance of the UK’s ownership of the contested items.

Most of the items were taken during 19th-century wars between the British and the Asante.

A sword of state and gold badges worn by officials charged with cleansing the soul of the king are among the items to be returned.

The artefacts are seen as a symbol of the Asante royal government and are believed to hold the spirits of former Asante kings.

As for other contested artefacts held by British museums, in the case of the Elgin Marbles, a senior British Museum has source said the museum was “still exploring if there is an arrangement that would allow some of the Parthenon sculptures to travel to Greece”.

It is hoped deals such as these could help provide a solution to former colonial nations requesting the return of their cultural treasures.

Augmented reality has been proposed as a supplementary tool to offer virtual reunification and shared experiences, although it cannot resolve the legal and diplomatic dispute.

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Content: Categories
News Snapchat YouTube

Exploring the Intersection of Technology and Art: Augmented Reality Enhances Museum Experiences

Snapchat, a social media platform primarily known for its fun filters, is expanding its reach beyond entertainment and into the world of culture and the arts. With its augmented reality (AR) capabilities, Snapchat is transforming the way visitors experience museums and galleries around the globe.

Through the use of AR, Snapchat has collaborated with prestigious institutions such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Art Basel fair in Miami, the Design Museum in London, and most recently, the Louvre in Paris. At the Louvre, the department of Egyptian antiquities has been rejuvenated with 3D reconstructions of long-lost artwork and historic monuments, accessible to visitors through QR codes or the Snapchat camera.

Snapchat’s foray into the art world raises an intriguing question: could this technology provide a solution to diplomatic disputes surrounding cultural artifacts, such as the Elgin Marbles?

Donatien Bozon, the director of Snap’s AR studio in Paris, reveals that the company has initiated discussions on the matter. Snap’s AR team, consisting of 14 experts, was established with the goal of integrating AR into art, culture, and education. Bozon emphasizes that Snapchat’s technology offers more than just entertainment value, as it has the potential to enhance museum experiences, attract new audiences, and optimize existing physical spaces.

By leveraging the capabilities of the front camera on users’ phones, Snapchat’s AR empowers cultural institutions to offer interactive and immersive encounters with history and art. This innovative approach not only adds depth to museum displays but also enables visitors to engage with artifacts in unprecedented ways.

While the Elgin Marbles controversy remains a complex diplomatic issue, AR technology presents a promising avenue for bridging cultural divides and fostering understanding. Through AR-enhanced exhibitions, audiences around the world can virtually explore and appreciate the historical significance of these artifacts — a significant step toward a more inclusive approach to preserving and celebrating our shared cultural heritage.

FAQ

What is augmented reality (AR)?

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that overlays digital information, such as virtual objects or data, onto the real world. It enhances the user’s perception and interaction with their environment, blending virtual elements with the physical world.

How does Snapchat’s AR work?

Snapchat’s AR technology operates through the use of the smartphone’s camera. It recognizes the user’s surroundings and can place virtual objects, effects, or filters onto the real-world view displayed on the screen. This allows users to interact with virtual content and explore creative possibilities in their everyday surroundings.

Can AR technology resolve diplomatic disputes over cultural artifacts?

While AR technology cannot solve diplomatic disputes directly, it has the potential to facilitate a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural artifacts. By virtually showcasing these treasures and making them accessible to a wider audience, AR technology promotes cultural exchange and encourages dialogue between countries involved in such disputes.

AR-enabled exhibitions could support broader access and interpretation in both Athens and London while negotiations continue.

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Content: News, Views and More

Could Snapchat have a solution to the Elgin Marbles dispute? | Science and technology news

The developers of the popular app that most people associate with wearing silly filters specialize in culture and art, offering museum visitors new ways to experience history in some of the world's most famous museums and galleries.

From Tom Acres, technology reporter

Saturday 2 December 2023, 2:50am, UK

Rishi Sunak is known for loving technology. So could it offer him a way out of his unpleasant diplomatic dispute with Greece over the Elgin Marbles?

Augmented Reality (AR) is exciting Snap think it could.

The developers of the app that most people associate with wearing silly filters specialize in culture and art, offering visitors new ways to experience history in some of the world's most famous museums and galleries.

Snaps AR has been used to reinvent exhibitions Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Miami's trendy Art Basel fair, London's Design Museum and most recently the legendary Louvre in Paris.

The museum's Egyptian Antiquities Department now offers 3D reconstructions of long-lost works of art and other historical monuments, viewable via QR codes or the Snapchat camera on mobile phones.

If it's good enough for the Louvre, could it be good enough for the British Museum and enable the return of the Elgin Marbles? Greece?

Read more:
What are the Elgin Marbles and why are they in the British Museum?

What is the Elgin Marbles dispute about?

History in your hands

“We started conversations,” jokes Donatien Bozon, head of Snap’s AR studio in Paris.

Its 14-person team was founded last year with a mission to bring AR to arts, culture and education and prove that Snapchat's technology can go far beyond giving your friends virtual dog-ears.

Cultural institutions expressed interest in tapping into the app's 750 million user audience and offering new experiences to regular visitors – all without requiring additional physical space.

“We felt confident that we could leverage not just the front camera of the phone,” he says, pointing to Snapchat’s common use case as a selfie-driven messaging app, “but also the back camera.”

“You can expand the world,” he adds. “And it opens up so many possibilities.”

Also in the Louvre is a digital twin of the 222-ton granite Luxor Obelisks. Built during the reign of Ramses II for the Egyptian Luxor Temple, one was later moved to the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

However, a spot in the Louvre's courtyard was originally considered. And so, in its own attempt to rewrite history, the museum worked with Snap to “remove the constraints of physics” and have one installed virtually.

Point your phone's camera at the spot where it might have been standing and this is how it appears.

Picture:
A Luxor obelisk stands in the Louvre and uses augmented reality technology. Image: Snap

Where tradition meets technology

Not that AR could ever really replace the original.

“It’s in the name,” says Bozon. “It enhances the experience, not replaces it.”

Probably not a truly satisfactory solution to the Elgin-Marbles dispute.

But the British Museum has dabbled in AR. Aimed primarily at children, it allows guests using Samsung tablets to take AR-controlled tours of the Roman Empire and Parthenon.

The British Library has also used the technology for your own exhibitionsas some of the world's oldest institutions are proud of their traditions and try to keep up with the times.

Qi Pan, director of computer vision at Snap, says AR allows them to “do things that weren’t possible before.”

Its London team is responsible for how the company's technology actually works, both on phones and in a hypothetical future where millions of us walk around wearing futuristic glasses.

“Nowadays, a lot of AR happens on mobile devices, where we are limited by the view of a small rectangle,” he says.

“With AR glasses you can see it directly in the world around you.”

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Accessible artwork

Despite previous attempts with such lenses from people like Google And Snap yourself Pan is confident that AR is on the cusp of a “hardware paradigm shift” as it has failed to achieve mainstream breakthrough.

Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset might prove him right, although at a price of £2,800 probably not.

The appeal of AR artworks, for now, lies in their accessibility — not just to users who only need a phone to experience them, but also to the creators behind what they see.

By teaching himself how to create AR art at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, British artist Doddz managed to earn a six-figure salary after struggling at school.

Traditionalists may cry foul, but his success seems to be evidence of a new interpretation of artwork that people can view and take with them wherever they go.

Bozon says, “Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have bet that being a YouTuber was a real job.”

“In ten years, building in AR will be a real job for thousands of people.”

Let's hope the series of marbles is over by then.

Despite ongoing talks and public pressure, the dispute remains unresolved, with legal barriers and ownership claims still the key obstacles.

Nonetheless, a long-term cultural partnership or structured loan exchange, modeled on recent international examples, remains the most plausible near-term pathway toward reunification in Athens while preserving collaboration with London.