The abrupt cancellation of the much hoped-for meet between British Premier Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in London recently led to the fuelling of the long divide between the two countries over the Parthenon sculptures which were originally from Athens but are being presently under display at the British Museum..the controversy touching the emotions of Athens remains under a guard of vehement resentment by the British Government..awaiting a possible end to this schism quite amicably..
Pressure has been growing on the British Museum – and others institutions around the UK – in recent years to address the contested items in their collections.
One of the most high-profile examples is the Parthenon sculptures, the fate of which is the subject of much discussion.
The treasures, also known in the UK as the Elgin Marbles, have been on display in the museum since the 19th Century. The chair of trustees, George Osborne, has been conducting behind-the-scenes discussions with the Greek government.
The British Museum has reiterated that talks with Greece about the fate of the sculptures are “ongoing and constructive”.
The Parthenon Project, which campaigns for a cultural partnership agreement, advocates the British Museum send the sculptures to the Parthenon Collection in the Acropolis Museum in Athens in return for what it calls “blockbuster artefacts that have never been seen outside Greece before”.
This could include the 3,600 year old Mask of Agamemnon and the Kritios Boy.
More than four million people visited the British Museum in 2022. The Trustees believe that the Parthenon sculptures are “a significant part” of the story told by the museum “of cultural achievement throughout the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago, until the present day”.
The classical marble statues were made between 447BC and 432BC to decorate the temple of Athena (the Parthenon) on the Acropolis in Athens. In the 19th Century, the British Ambassador Lord Elgin was granted permission by the Ottoman Empire, the governing authority in Athens, to remove some of the sculptures.
His collection was transported to the UK and, after a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1816 deemed his actions legal, the Parthenon sculptures were transferred to the Museum by an Act of Parliament. But, the British Museum is prevented by the British Museum Act from permanently returning the items to Greece – which is not the only country to contest ownership of items held in museum collections.
The Governments must place Art above the petty politics and must come together to do the kind of justice which would not only make the scenario amicable to both the parties but must bear in mind that in a civilized society..the emphasis should be more on restoring the cultural heritage of any Nation by enriching it with its own cultural contributions than by retaining them elsewhere which is nothing short of a blasphemy..
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