We keep hearing that negotiations are underway for some kind of agreement or “arrangement” aiming at the return of certain Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum to Athens. We are told this again and again – it’s becoming tiresome.
Soon, it will be three years since we were all excited by the fact that the chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne, was taking part in discussions on the matter. Three years…?! Since then, massive political changes have taken place all over the world: the rise of populism, the election of Trump, and the tragic and ongoing international conflicts. What exactly have they been discussing all this time? In China, they can build an entire city in just one year!
I was very pleased to read in “TA NEA” the interview of another George. Mr. Clooney. I adore him and admire him. As we all do, after all. He is one of the very few Hollywood superstars about whom nothing negative has ever been said. Every one of his films is excellent. I think of him every morning as I enjoy my Nespresso. If we also consider his charitable work, then he approaches sainthood! I wonder, however, whether the patience he shows regarding the return of the Sculptures – which he has supported for a long time – is justified. How much longer must we be patient?
A number of reasons come to mind as to why now is the ideal moment.
1. Today we have a Labor government (which traditionally holds a more favorable stance on reunification), and Keir Starmer is more open to the idea than Boris Johnson was, for example, who flatly rejected it in an interview with the very newspaper you’re reading (and with the same journalist who spoke to George Clooney).
2. A huge scandal broke out at the British Museum less than two years ago, the shadow of which still looms over the institution: the systematic theft of thousands of objects by the head of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities shattered the Museum’s claim that it is the best guardian of Greek treasures.
3. There is a one-billion-pound plan for the renovation of part of the Museum, which includes the so-called “reconfiguration” of the entire Western Wing, where the Sculptures are currently housed. An optimist might conclude that this is the ideal moment for them to be moved elsewhere (to Athens, of course).
4. British public opinion has never supported the return more than it does now. If we add the entire population of Greece to the majority of Britons (more than 50% believe the Sculptures should be returned), the result is many millions of people. The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and the Parthenon Project work tirelessly toward this goal and keep it alive. Among their members are some of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers, academics, actors, and writers.
5. The recently deceased Pope did what was right: he returned a fragment of the Sculptures from the Vatican Museum. If the Pope did it, then it surely must be the right thing, mustn’t it?
6. It was recently confirmed by Turkish officials that the firman Elgin claimed was granted to him by the Sultan to uproot the Sculptures from the Parthenon does not exist in their archives. This is also confirmed in the recent publication by Nikos Stampolidis, director of the Acropolis Museum. Elgin had no firman. Quite simply, he lied.
7. In 2021, the relevant UNESCO committee decided that Greece’s claim is “legitimate and just.”
So many words have been written, we have given speeches, we’ve taken part in discussions, even in protests in front of the Marbles themselves. Despite all this, the will, the desire – call it what you will – must come from the British Museum. Sometimes I wonder if they are using a 1963 law that forbids museums from returning items from their collections just as a stalling tactic. We all know that laws can be repealed or revised. They are nothing more than pieces of paper.
I looked it up. George and I are different star signs. I’m a Gemini (George isn’t). I have an optimistic and a pessimistic side. The latter tells me that if this matter drags on and is not resolved soon, conditions could change – and dramatically so. Things are shifting both internationally and in Britain. Less than a year ago, the Labour government achieved an electoral triumph. Within a few months, the prime minister’s popularity plummeted, while the official opposition, the Conservative Party, is collapsing. Recent polls show a massive rise in Nigel Farage’s party, Reform UK. Many even say that Farage might become prime minister.
So, while I admire George’s patience, and I agree with him that “we will keep trying until we succeed,” I recall a famous phrase by the well-known British poet, Chaucer, that is painfully true: “Time and tide wait for no man.” If we don’t find a solution soon, we’ll find ourselves back at square one.
My optimistic self hopes for a major announcement next week. If that happens, we’ll celebrate with a big party in Athens. Clooney said: “The Marbles will return. I know it well.” I agree. But please, let it happen soon. Whenever it happens, though, I hope George comes to the party. We’ll dance together in the streets and I’ll invite him for coffee the next morning…
Victoria Hislop is an author. Her latest book, The Figurine, is published by Psychogios.
Source: Tovima.com
