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Talks have been taking place recently between Greece and the UK, in regards to the long fought over issue of the Parthenon Marbles and where they should be housed and shown.
Currently, a number of marbles, thought to be around 2500 years old, are housed in the British Museum, after being removed from the Acropolis site by Lord Elgin when he was in Greece.
Over the last six months George Osborne, a former UK MP, has been meeting with representatives from Greece to try and find a way forward in regards to the future of the marbles. This is nothing new, the issue has been discussed for a long time, and news often resurfaces about the current situation.
Currently, it’s rumoured that a cultural exchange may take place, called a constructive agreement, that would allow the Parthenon Marbles to travel from the British Museum to Greece, to be shown in the country. This would allow Greeks to finally see the marbles in their own country, on Greek soil. As yet however nothing is confirmed.
Other agreements to repatriate or swap artefacts have taken place recently including items being repatriated from the Vatican and the USA back to their countries of origin. The MET Museum in the USA has now also agreed to a swap contract with Greece to rotate artefacts every five years to allow both Greeks and Americans to review specific antiquities.
Many are still asking for full repatriation. The UK Government say that the situation of full repatriation is legally difficult however, due to an Act of Parliament from 1963, that saw the marbles pass into legal ownership of the British Museum. For full repatriation of the marbles to take place, there would need to be a legal agreement between the UK Parliament, Greece and the British Museum.
Whilst the news isn’t of full repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles, a cultural exchange is a step forward and shows that some discussions on this subject are being taken seriously. We will see if the cultural exchange takes place, and what may follow afterwards.
If you would like to read more about the history of the Parthenon Marbles you can find out the full history in one of our previous posts.
