The Elgin Marbles were removed from Athens' Parthenon by Lord Elgin, sparking a long-standing dispute between Greece and the UK over their return.

Greece has long demanded the return of the Parthenon sculptures, or Elgin Marbles, from the British Museum, considering their export to the UK illegal.

The British Museum claims Lord Elgin had permission to export the sculptures, but the Greeks dispute this, citing that the firman only allowed drawings, not export.

The Elgin Marbles dispute is a cultural and diplomatic issue between the UK and Greece, with UNESCO intervening in 2022.

The British Museum operates independently and its trustees oppose UNESCO involvement in the dispute.

The UK government refuses to return the Elgin Marbles permanently, but may consider a loan to Greece.

The British Museum has proposed sharing the sculptures with Greece, but Greece wants them back permanently.

The UK and Greece are discussing a cultural partnership that may facilitate the return of the Parthenon sculptures.

The British Museum Act 1963 prohibits the museum from relinquishing its collection, including the Elgin Marbles.

The UK has no plans to return the Elgin Marbles, citing concerns of a "slippery slope" for other artifacts.

Greece claims the Elgin Marbles were stolen, while the UK says they were legally obtained.

The UK and Greece held secret talks, potentially leading to a loan agreement that could return the relics to Greece.

The return of the Elgin Marbles could impact the British Museum's relationships and collection.

The Elgin Marbles decision could set a precedent for returning other plundered cultural relics.

The return of cultural artifacts like the Elgin Marbles and Benin Bronzes is a complex issue.

UK museums cannot permanently return items, but loan deals can facilitate their return to countries of origin.

The return of cultural artifacts like the Elgin Marbles and Benin Bronzes is a sensitive issue with significant implications for global cultural heritage.

The Elgin Marbles were removed from Athens' Parthenon by Lord Elgin, sparking a long-standing dispute between Greece and the UK over their return.

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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.

Greece has long demanded the return of the Parthenon sculptures, or Elgin Marbles, from the British Museum, considering their export to the UK illegal.

The British Museum claims Lord Elgin had permission to export the sculptures, but the Greeks dispute this, citing that the firman only allowed drawings, not export.

The Elgin Marbles dispute is a cultural and diplomatic issue between the UK and Greece, with UNESCO intervening in 2022.

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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.
What we want you to know is
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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The British Museum operates independently and its trustees oppose UNESCO involvement in the dispute.

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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 UK government refuses to return the Elgin Marbles permanently, but may consider a loan to Greece.

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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 British Museum has proposed sharing the sculptures with Greece, but Greece wants them back permanently.

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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 UK and Greece are discussing a cultural partnership that may facilitate the return of the Parthenon sculptures.

The British Museum Act 1963 prohibits the museum from relinquishing its collection, including the Elgin Marbles.

The UK has no plans to return the Elgin Marbles, citing concerns of a "slippery slope" for other artifacts.

Greece claims the Elgin Marbles were stolen, while the UK says they were legally obtained.

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Content: UK refuses to return Parthenon marble to Greece
Daily Morning and Agencies
Istanbul, Turkey
Posted at 16.01.2023 11: 13
Last update at 16.01.2023 11: 14
Elgin marble sculpture at the British Museum in London (French)
Britain ’ s culture minister has ruled out a permanent return of Parthenon marble to Greece amid reports that a “cultural exchange ” has almost been agreed with Athens.
Minister Michelle Donilan told BBC Radio that the deal, reportedly negotiated by British Museum chief George Osborne, was not about the permanent return of ancient sculptures to Greece.
Donilan said this was "not final or permanent", referring to the deal by Osborne, former finance minister under former prime minister David Cameron.
Such a move would “open the door to the question of the full contents of our museums. ”
The sculpture, also known as Elgin marble, was taken from the Parthenon Temple in the Acropolis of Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, nicknamed the 8th Earl of Elgin.
Secret talks between Osborne and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were reportedly held for a year.
The Daily Telegraph earlier this month, citing media sources, said the reported deal, effectively a loan agreement for the sculpture, could result in the 2,500-year-old relics returning “sooner rather than later. ”
Such an arrangement could circumvent the legal ban on the museum dismantling its huge collection.
Donilan said separately: “Museums are not able to return artifacts legally permanently, which I fully agree with. ”
“A lot of people talked about lending the sculpture for 100 years, which I don ’ t think is in line with the spirit of legislation at all, ” she said, adding that this was not what Osborne was planning to do.
She added that the UK does not want to give up things that have become "national property...
It was seen by people from all over the world, "which the state took great care to preserve.
Elgin VIII took the sculpture when he was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and Greece today insists that the marble artifact was stolen, so Athens has waged a long campaign for its return while the UK asserts it was legally obtained.
The return of the marble sculpture remains a highly sensitive topic as the British Museum ’ s huge collection includes many items that other countries now consider looted after being taken over by the builders of the British Empire while the government is wary of setting such a precedent.

The UK and Greece held secret talks, potentially leading to a loan agreement that could return the relics to Greece.

The return of the Elgin Marbles could impact the British Museum's relationships and collection.

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Content:
Send Them Home

The Elgin Marbles, actually the Parthenon Marbles, have been Greek for over two thousand years and still are in every way except location. They were taken, realistically stolen, by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s and most people believe should be returned but that is actually illegal under British Museum Act 1963 and offers to ‘lend’ them are insulting.

One of the most obvious concerns that many museums have is that they would be emptied of items that were acquired, a weasel word for stolen, during times when the attitudes were different. Different attitudes do not condone theft.

Let’s return the thefts of the past to their rightful owners and put the past attitudes in the rubbish bin of time.

Dennis Fitzgerald,
Melbourne, Australia

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The Elgin Marbles decision could set a precedent for returning other plundered cultural relics.

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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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The return of cultural artifacts like the Elgin Marbles and Benin Bronzes is a complex issue.

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Content: Explainer

Beyond the Elgin Marbles: Which other famous artefacts has the UK been urged to give back?

British museums are bulging with items taken from other countries with - or in many cases without - permission. Greece has made high-profile demands for the return of the Elgin Marbles. Sky News looks at some of the other countries calling for the UK to hand back precious items.

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Greece has long called for Britain to hand back the Elgin Marbles - 17 sculptures controversially removed from the ancient Parthenon temple 200 years ago.

UK officials have discussed legal ways they could block any export of the sculptures, Sky News understands, as Downing Street cancelled a meeting between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart.

But Greece is not alone in demanding the return of artefacts held by British museums.

Here, Sky News looks at some of the other countries calling for the UK to hand back precious items.

Benin Bronzes - Nigeria

Nigeria has called for the return of the Benin Bronzes - and renewed its demand after it emerged earlier this year that 2,000 artefacts had been stolen from the British Museum.

The artefacts, which date back as far as the 16th century, were taken from Benin City after British forces invaded the Kingdom in modern day Nigeria in 1897.

"They are the subject of loot. They were illegally taken out of the country," said Abba Isa Tijani, director of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, speaking to Sky News in August.

"It is irrespective whether they are safe there. That is not an issue. The issue is that these are stolen artefacts, and they should be returned to Nigeria to the communities that they belong to."

Mold gold cape and Moel Hebog shield - Wales

Thefts at the British Museum also prompted demands for Welsh artefacts to be returned to Wales.

The Mold gold cape, which is around 4,000 years old, and the Moel Hebog shield, thought to be from between the 12th and 10th centuries BC, were among the items in the museum's collection with a Welsh connection.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said the argument that items were safer in London "no longer holds water".

She added: "These items belong to everyone but they belong especially to us in Wales and we have the means for them to play a part in the way we interpret our history."

The Rosetta Stone - Egypt

Egypt petitioned for the return of the Rosetta Stone, saying the "key to the decipherment of hieroglyphs is an icon of our Egyptian identity".

The demand for the British Museum to hand back the artefact, which was taken by the British in 1801 after being uncovered by the French, gained more than 200,000 signatures.

The Maqdala collection - Ethiopia

Crosses, religious texts and a shield were among the items of the Maqdala collection returned to Ethiopia in 2021.

But more artefacts looted by British soldiers during the Battle of Maqdala in 1868 remain in British museums.

Receiving the items, Ethiopia's ambassador to the UK ambassador, Teferi Melesse Desta said: "To honour the memory of Maqdala, I once again renew the calls made by countless Ethiopians before me for museums, collectors and holders of Maqdala heritage to return [these items].

"It is my hope that in the Maqdala returns to come, the relations between our two nations and people can deepen and grow from strength to strength."

Hoa Hakananai'a sculpture - Easter Island/Rapa Nui

In 2018, a delegation from Easter Island asked the British Museum to return a seven-foot tall basalt sculpture known as Hoa Hakananai'a, which means "the stolen or hidden friend" in the Rapa Nui language.

It is believed to date from around 1200 AD. It was removed from the island in 1868 and given as a gift to Queen Victoria.

"This is no rock," Carlos Edmunds, president of the Council of Elders, told the Guardian. "It embodies the spirit of an ancestor, almost like a grandfather. This is what we want returned to our island - not just a statue."

Items from Omdurman battlefield - Sudan

Sudan has demanded the return of artefacts and body parts taken by British soldiers at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

Two skulls, a banner and a suit of armour were among the items Sudan want returned.

Cultural relics - China

China joined demands for the return of artefacts after the British Museum theft scandal with an editorial in state-run newspaper The Global Times.

It said there were 23,000 Chinese cultural items in the museum's collection, including statues, bronzes, scrolls "and other extremely valuable national treasures".

"It's difficult to trace how exactly China lost them to the British Museum, but most Chinese collections were certainly looted or stolen by Britain when it created and later took advantage of China's crisis, or even directly robbed China," the editorial said.

"As long as Britain cannot prove which collection was acquired legally and honestly, then the mother country of these collections has the right to seek their repatriation."

Read more:
What are the Elgin Marbles?
British Museum reveals types of items believed to have been stolen

Neanderthal skulls - Gibraltar

In 2018, Gibraltar asked for the return of two Neanderthal skulls display at the Natural History Museum.

The skulls, belonging to an adult woman and a child, are the "best-studied human fossils in the world", according to the Natural History Museum.

"It is only right that such significant items come back home where they will be cherished and well looked after," Gibraltar's minister for heritage said at the time.

UK museums cannot permanently return items, but loan deals can facilitate their return to countries of origin.

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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.

The return of cultural artifacts like the Elgin Marbles and Benin Bronzes is a sensitive issue with significant implications for global cultural heritage.

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Content: Nineteenth-century looting of the Benin Bronze Museum to return to Nigeria
London (AFP) - London's Horniman Museum said today it will return dozens of artifacts that were looted by British soldiers in Nigeria in the early years, including 12 famous Benin Bronzes.
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"Ownership of 72 objects forcibly removed from Benin City by the British during the February 1897 military invasion will be handed over to the Nigerian government," the museum said in a statement.
The statement said: “The collection consists of 12 brass plaques belonging to the well-known Benin Bronze.
Other objects include brass rooster altars, ivory and brass ceremonial objects, brass bells, fans and baskets, and keys to the King ’ s Palace. ”
Thousands of so-called Benin bronzes from Nigeria were looted from the palaces of the ancient Kingdom of Benin and eventually flowed into museums in the United States and Europe. The Benin bronzes are metal plaques and carvings from the 16th to 18th centuries.
Nigeria has been negotiating for the return of the artefacts and plans to build a museum in Benin in the southern Edo state, where it hopes to house the bronzes, part of one of the most highly regarded works of African art.
Abba Tijani, head of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, welcomed the decision and said he looked forward to "constructive discussions on loan agreements and cooperation".
In addition to the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have also received notices from some African countries requesting the return of their lost treasures.
Experts estimate that between 85% and 90% of African artifacts have been taken from the continent.
On July 1 this year, Germany signed an agreement to begin sending hundreds of Benin bronzes back to Nigeria, the largest effort so far by European countries to return looted art.
Germany has about 1,100 related cultural relics, distributed in about 20 museums.