BM refuses to return Parthenon fragments

The British Museum has refused a request by the director of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Mr. Demetrios Pantermalis, to return fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon to Greece. 

Fragment of a foot belong to the metope XII held by the British Museum [Credit: To Vima]

Demetrios Pantermalis said he had made a proposal on the issue at a UNESCO meeting in June and that talks would be held in Athens in the coming weeks. 

“I proposed an arrangement to colleagues from the British Museum, involving pieces, hands, heads, legs that belong to bodies from the Parthenon sculptures and can be reattached,” Pantermalis told Skai Radio. “The proposal has been accepted in principle, we will have a discussion in the autumn,” he said. 

Greece has long campaigned for the return of the priceless friezes, illegally removed in 1806 by Lord Elgin when Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Turks and later sold to the British Museum. 

The British Museum said it was «open to discussions regarding a short-term loan of some of the objects but not a permanent return. 

"The trustees of the British Museum will consider -- subject to the usual considerations of condition and fitness to travel -- any request for any part of the collection to be borrowed and then returned,» it said. 

Metope XII from the Parthenon [Credit: Acropolis Museum]

The British Museum has turned down successive Greek calls for their return, arguing that the sculptures are part of world heritage and are more accessible to visitors in London. 

Inaugurated in June 2009, the new Acropolis Museum includes a section reserved for the disputed collection. 

Pantermalis said the Marbles issue remained “taboo” and that the new proposal involving smaller pieces could be a way to “unravel the thread.”  

The British Museum on Friday said it had agreed to «explore» a research partnership on the detached fragments of the Parthenon sculptures in Athens, London and elsewhere. 

Parts of the Marbles are also located in Copenhagen, Munich, Paris, the Vatican and Vienna. 

Source: AFP [August 24, 2012]