Greece to Britain: We want our marbles!
The New Acropolis Museum is opening in Athens, Greece. But the marble structures it wants to showcase are stuck in England. Christopher Werth reports on the controversy over the so-called "Elgin Marbles."
A tourist train outside the Acropolis hill passes a banner that reads "Give back the looted Parthenon marbles, no more excuses, stop Britain's possession of the Parthenon marbles" in Athens, Greece. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
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A frieze which forms part of the controversial "Elgin Marbles" on display at the British Museum in London, England.
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Athens, Greece, is set for a major cultural happening this weekend. A brand new museum is going to be opening at the foot of the Acropolis tomorrow. At the top of that hill you can find a number of historical monuments, including the Parthenon Temple. What you can't find there though is something the Greeks would very much like to have in their new museum -- the other half of a set of marble sculptures from the Parthenon.
The sculptures -- the reason the new museum was built -- are now sitting in the British Museum in London, which is where Christopher Werth begins our story on the continuing controversy over what are called the "Elgin Marbles."
Christopher Werth: The British Museum draws an average 6 million visitors every year. They marvel at Egyptian mummies, giant statues of the pharaohs and from the Greek empire, the marble sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin cut from the Parthenon 200 years ago.
Here's curator Ian Jenkins.
Ian Jenkins: The Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 B.C. at a time when Athens was the most powerful Greek city in the Mediterranean and the head of an empire.
By the early 19th century, Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire centered in Istanbul. Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to Turkey, got permission to cut down the sculptures. He wanted them to spruce up his family seat in Scotland. But he went bankrupt with the costs of shipping and sold the lot to the British government. Greece has been trying to get them back ever since. But the British Museum says "no."
Christopher Price is a former member of Britain's Parliament who wants the "Elgin Marbles" returned.
Christopher Price: The argument changes every 10 years or so. First, they were, "It's impossible to move, too heavy to move," that sort of thing. Then, "The Greeks couldn't look after them, they couldn't look after anything." And then, this project for a new museum next to the Acropolis took shape, and now it's complete.
The new air-conditioned museum at the Acropolis recreates what the Parthenon looked like as a whole. It uses what was left behind in Athens and fills in the missing parts with plaster casts of the sculptures in London.
Price: The differentiation shouts at you, it really hurls at you. And everybody from the world will on leaving the museum say, "Where are the rest of them?" and they'll say, "Well, they're in the British Museum."
Price says that should put pressure on the British Museum. But Hannah Boulton, a museum spokesperson, says she doesn't envision them ever leaving.
Hannah Boulton: We feel very strongly that actually there's a huge advantage to having the sculptures in two different places, because here in London they can tell this worldwide story. In Athens, they can tell a different but complimentary and important story about ancient Athens and its place in Ancient Greece.
Spryos Diamantis, a spokesman for the Greek government, isn't convinced. He says it took just one visit to the British Museum to make up his mind.
Spyros Diamantis: It was a cloudy day. It was miserable to tell you the truth. These sculptures were created for the light of Athens, and that's why this is the best way to show them, under that light.
The new Athens museum expects 2.5 million visitors this year. Diamantis says that number could double if the sculptures were returned. And bring in welcome tourist dollars, at a time when Greece is hurting economically.
But directors of the British Museum fear a return could set a precedent. If these sculptures go back to Greece, when would the Egyptians or denizens of other ancient empires come knocking on the door?
In London, this is Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Oak Park, IL, 06/19/2009
I feel strongly that the "Parthenon Marbles" should be returned to Athens and be installed in the Acropolis Museum, unlikely as that is to happen. Art has been stolen from the cultures and nations that produced it from the beginning of history. Though she certainly could have been more articulate in her argument Hannah Boulton raises an interesting point... How valuable are works of art in helping us understand different cultures. Is there anything to be gained from studying important art historical objects outside the cultures or places that produced them?
From Rockville, MD, 06/19/2009
Well, I agree with the title: "Greece to Britain: WE WANT OUR MARBLES"!!!!
The Parthenon Marbles belong in GREECE; and certainly not in the British Museum!!! It is/was/has been considered utterly appauling by many in the World that a British Ambassador named Elgin "decided" to ... cut up (sic) the best pieces from crowning glory of Athens, THE PARTHENON (...THE MONUMENT that is a world-renowned Architectural MASTERPIECE, especially because of its SCULPTURES...) and he may have even managed, as a common thief, to cunningly remove parts of The Parthenon Marbles 200 years ago, which is why I cannot believe the spokespeople of the British Museum having always had such unconvincingly weak arguments to avoid returning them where they belong; instead they are desperately trying to keep The Parthenon Marbles in ... London!!! Well, their weak arguments simply do not ... cut it (sic), in 2009!!!
The 4th century b.c. Parthenon Marbles have an amazingly wonderful home, in 2009, and that is the New Acropolis Museum in ATHENS, GREECE!!!
The Parthenon Marbles should have never been removed/looted/stolen from THE ACROPOLIS in ATHENS, which is the most historically significant UNESCO World Heritage Site!!!
The Parthenon Marbles must, finally, be returned home and U.N.I.T.E.D. with the remaining sculptures!!!
"Greece to BRITAN: WE WANT OUR MARBLES BACK -- N.O.W.!!!"
From Takoma Park, MD, 06/19/2009
I think that the Elgin Marbles, first of all, should not be called that anymore. They existed for a thousand years before Elgin, and they've existed long after him too. Then they should be returned to Greece, where they were always meant to be. And to me, that applies to everything the Europeans took from Greece, Italy and Egypt. The British had no right to take those things, and they should certainly be returned.
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