International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

David Hill, the chair of the International Association, spoke recently alongside Anthony Snodgrass of the British Committee, at a successful debate at the Cambridge Union.

Cambridge debates Elgin Marbles

By Europe correspondent Jane Hutcheon

Posted Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:32pm AEDT

Cambridge University has debated the contentious issue of returning the Parthenon Sculptures, otherwise known as the Elgin Marbles, to Greece.

The statues were removed in the early 1800s by Britain's ambassador to Athens, Lord Elgin.

Until now, Britain has declined to return the relics, despite public opinion supporting the move.

Chairing the debate at Cambridge was the president of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, David Hill.

He says the Association won the debate 114 to 46.

"Which was a really delightful result, but not altogether that surprising because despite the conservative nature of the university," he said.

"That sort of outcome's pretty consistent with all of the evidence of public opinion in Britain about the return of the Parthenon Sculptures."

The British Museum says keeping the marbles in the UK has afforded them significant protection over the years, but Mr Hill rejects that claim.

"It's an offensive argument that the British Museum have pushed - that Elgin saved the marbles," he said.

"It's utter nonsense. Elgin only took half the collection; the other half remained on the Parthenon. Particularly, the famous west frieze of the Parthenon.

"And if you now compare the condition of the west frieze, which remained in Athens, with the British Museum's collection that they got from Elgin, the material in Greece is in better condition."

'Colonial booty'

Mr Hill says the issue of repatriating the marbles affects relations between the UK and Greece.

"The Greeks are very fractious people," he said.

"[But] they all agree on this; that the marbles should go back. But at the same time, they have a traditional friendship with Britain and they don't want to prejudice that friendship."

He says Australia can understand how the Greeks feel.

"It's interesting that the level of awareness about the Parthenon Sculptures is probably higher in Australia than any other country in the world except Britain and Greece," he said.

"The British keeping hold of their colonial booty really offends the Australian sense of fairness."

Mr Hill says Australia has led the way in campaigning for the return of national artefacts. He says he thinks the British Museum will only return the marbles when the British Government tells the Museum to send them back.

"Something similar has happened involving Australia," he said.

"Eight years ago, [former Australian prime minister] John Howard and [former British prime minister] Tony Blair issued a statement about the desirability of the British Museum's returning sacred Aboriginal human remains.

"Now the British Museum was totally opposed to that, but because of the public commitment of the British Government, after several years of bureaucratic process, in 2006 the British Museum returned the first of the human remains to Tasmania."

You can read the original article on the ABC's website 

12 November 2007

 

Rt Hon Gordon Brown
Prime Minister
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
UNITED KINGDOM

Dear Prime Minister

 

I am writing to appraise you of the widespread and growing support around the world for the Parthenon sculptures currently held in the British Museum to be returned to Greece.
There are now committees in 14 countries that have been formed solely for the purpose of promoting the return of the sculptures that were taken by Lord Elgin from Athens in the early 1800’s. In 2005 the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures was formed and now has members from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden, Spain and the United States of America.

 

In recent years a number of world leaders have publicly stated their support for the return of the sculptures, including the then President of the United States of America, the President of Russia and the Premier of China. The Prime Ministers, leaders and parliaments of a number of Commonwealth countries have also registered their support, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as have a number of European countries.
We note that the attitude of the British public is now similar to world opinion on this issue. Over the past ten years a variety of public opinion polls and surveys in Britain have indicated a strong and growing majority of people also support the return of the sculptures.

 

We believe the completion of the magnificent new Acropolis Museum in Athens now provides an excellent opportunity for the Parthenon sculptures to be returned. The museum has been designed to allow all of the surviving sculptures that are currently split between London and Athens to be reunited and presented in their original positions and configuration. This is not possible in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum where the restricted space does not allow the collection to be properly exhibited – and where fewer people actually see the exhibits than now visit the Acropolis in Athens each year.

 

The current British Museum argument that different pieces of the Parthenon sculptures should be seen in a variety of different museums means that the head of a sculptured piece might be seen in one place, while the arms, or legs, or body of the same piece might be seen in another. This strange policy is totally at odds with the advice given to a House of Commons inquiry in June 2000 when the British Museum argued that ideally the Parthenon collection should be rejoined.

 

By not agreeing to return the sculptures the British Museum is increasingly out of step with modern museum practice around the world. No one would argue that all the objects in museums should be repatriated to their country of origin but there is now almost universal acceptance of the principle that items of special significance should be returned. In 1997 a poll of members of the British Museums Association revealed that 97% of their members supported the repatriation of cultural property in certain circumstances.

 

 The British Government should be commended for having recently initiated the return of indigenous human remains to their original communities. We now look to the British Government to take the initiative to ensure the wonderful Parthenon sculptures are returned to Athens where they can be best exhibited for the benefit of all humanity. Such action by the British Government on this issue would send a strong message of moral leadership to the world.

 

The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures would be prepared to provide any assistance in facilitating a positive solution in this matter and I would be happy to meet and discuss this issue with you further.

Yours sincerely

 

David Hill
Chairman

An article in the Sydney University Museum's News, by David Hill, chair of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.

Give us your marbles

By David Hill, Chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the
Parthenon Sculptures

Later this year Athens will see the opening of the magnificent new Acropolis Museum, arguably one of the most significant buildings to be built in the city for the past two thousand years. The Museum, which is located below the south east corner of the Acropolis, will house all the surviving ancient artifacts from the Acropolis - including the sculptures of the Parthenon.

It has been designed to house the sculptures on the top floor and these sculptures will be presented in exactly the same configuration and position as they sat on the Parthenon. The Temple itself can be seen from the Museum, through vast glass windows, across the Acropolis.

About half the surviving 200-odd pieces of marble sculptures from the Parthenon are in the British Museum, having been stripped from the temple by the staff of Lord Elgin, who was the British Ambassador to the region around 1800. Elgin had intended the sculptures to adorn his family estate in Scotland but in 1816, when facing severe financial problems, he sold the collection to the British Government. The Government passed them on to the British Museum.

Most of the other surviving sculptures are still in Athens, although a few smaller pieces and fragments are held in a variety of European museums, including those in Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna, Palermo, Munich, Strasburg and the Vatican. A small fragment from the Parthenon frieze was returned to Athens by the Heidelberg Museum last year.

Elgin took the sculptures that were in the best condition, leaving those that had been ravaged by time and events. He also left the entire sculptured west frieze, because the Temple’s heavy marble superstructure was still intact at this end of the building and too difficult to move. To remove much of the marble frieze, Elgin used special saws to cut them from the building and in doing so permanently destroyed much of the building’s structure.

In some cases Elgin took part of a statue piece, leaving the other half in Athens. The shoulders and breast of the magnificent, twice-life-size statue of the god Poseidon from the west pediment of the Parthenon is in the British Museum; the lower part of the torso remains in Athens.

The Parthenon sculptures are among the world’s finest surviving ancient art works. Built in the middle of the 5th century BC, the Parthenon is unique in a number of respects and represents a pinnacle of human achievement. It is also symbolic of the great cultural achievements of the time; in art, architecture, science, mathematics, theatre, philosophy and democracy.

It was the most decorated of all ancient Greek temples. Around the outside and on all four sides there were a total of 92 sculptured panels, or metopes, depicting a number of scenes reflecting the struggle of good over evil. It was the only ancient Greek temple with sculptured metopes on all four sides of the building. On the architrave inside the building sat the magnificent frieze that ran for 160 metres around all four walls, depicting a procession that culminates with the twelve Olympian gods seated on the sacred east end of the building.

In the triangular pediments at each end of the building were about 40 statues-in-the- round. At the centre of the east end was depicted the birth of Athena springing from the head of Zeus. At the western end the centre depicted a struggle between Athena and Poseidon for control of Attica.

The Greek Government and many supporters around the world have been calling for Britain to return the Elgin Collection so that the entire surviving work can be reunited in its original setting to allow the original narrative to be appreciated.

By not agreeing to return the sculptures Britain is increasingly out of step with modern museum practice around the world. No one would argue that all the objects in museums should be returned to their country of origin but there is now almost universal acceptance of the principle that items of special significance should be repatriated. In 1997 a survey of the British Museums Association revealed that 97 per cent of their members supported the principle of repatriating cultural property in certain circumstances.

The British Museum has no reasonable grounds for retaining the collection. On their website they say that the British Museum is a ‘universal’ museum and that in London more people are able to see the collection. However, less than one million people a year now visit the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum to see the Parthenon sculptures, less than half the number that visit the Acropolis in Athens. With the opening of the new Acropolis museum we can expect the number of visitors to further increase.

Throughout Britain and around the world there has been growing support for the return of the Parthenon sculptures. Surveys of public opinion in Britain in recent times have consistently demonstrated overwhelming support for their return and the parliaments and political leaders of many nations, including USA, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Turkey and a number of European countries have joined the call for Britain to return the marbles.

The British Government should be commended for having initiated the return of the Nazi’s stolen artwork to their original owners, and more recently the return of aboriginal human remains to their original communities. We now look to the British to right one of history’s great wrongs and return the wonderful Parthenon sculptures to their home.

You can read the original article & other coverage of the subject here.