British Museum suggests a ‘sharing plan' of Parthenon sculptures
Speaking to London-based phone-in and talk radio station LBC, Osborne said he would support an arrangement where the pieces were shared between London and Athens.
The set of sculptures, a major part of the decoration of the 5th Century Parthenon, have been a source of friction between Greek governments and the museum, where they are shown.
Osborne’s statements to LBC were the first to hint at an opening to a compromise.
Calling them “an amazing testament to human civilization,” the Osborne was asked whether that meant you could “move some of them to Greece at last for a while, and then back to London.”
“That kind of arrangement. Sensible people should come up with something where you can see them in their splendor in Athens and see them among the wonders of other civilizations in London,” he responded. [AMNA]
In more recent news, protesters inside London’s British Museum called for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece Saturday.
The protesters unfurled banners and Greek flags, while one of them, English author and honorary Greek citizen Victoria Hislop presented a cake with candles representing the 13 years since the inauguration of the Acropolis Museum in Athens and blew them.
6 British MPs called for the marbles’ return to Greece, newspaper Ta Nea reported.
One of them, Labour MP Shami Chakrabarti, told Ta Nea that there couldn’t be a better moment for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. Another, SNP MP Dave Doogan said that the British Museum should do the right thing and return them to their lawful place and that not returning them is an insult to Greece.
“We must explain that the return of the marbles is exceptional and would not constitute a precedent for…the return of other works of art,” he said.
