Hellenic Ministry of Culture responds to the British Museum

Antonis Samaras of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture has responded to a radio interview given by Hannah Boulton, a press officer at the British Museum on Skaï (press release, June 11, 2009; story on Skaï; see also "Greece rejects Parthenon Marbles loan offer: ministry", Agence France Presse, June 11, 2009).

Boulton apparently said that the Trustees of the British Museum would be willing to consider a three month loan on condition that the Hellenic Government accepted British ownership of the sculptures (αν η ελληνική κυβέρνηση αναγνώριζε ότι ανήκουν στο Βρετανικό Μουσείο).

Samaras felt that this indicated that the British Museum was willing to enter a dialogue with the Greek authorities. The British offer was rejected (Η Κυβέρνηση, ωστόσο, όπως θα έκανε και κάθε άλλη ελληνική κυβέρνηση στη θέση της, είναι υποχρεωμένη να απαντήσει αρνητικά στη συγκεκριμένη πρόταση του Βρετανικού Μουσείου). Samaras would consider offering the British Museum material to fill the space (the Duveen Gallery) left by the Parthenon sculptures.

Image
The New Akropolis Museum © David Gill.

New Returns to Greece

The Hellenic Minister of Culture, Antonis Samaras, was present at the National Museum in Athens today (May 19, 2009) to receive the return of antiquities from Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom (see press release in Greek). The finds from Germany, some 96 pots and bronzes, were seized in a lorry at Nuremburg; they apparently came from a cemetery in Thessaly. The iconostasis from the UK appears to have come from a Byzantine church somewhere in the region of the Plaka.

Samaras spoke about the international co-operation to return cultural property to Greece - and thanked all those who were involved.

Image from Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

Farewell to Liapis as Hellenic Minister of Culture

Mihalis Liapis stepped down as the Hellenic Minister of Culture on January 8, 2009 after 16 months in office (press release). The incoming minister is Antonis Samaras.

The speeches for the ceremony have been released. Liapis spoke about the financial challenges to the Ministry and he painted a bleak picture for his successor: "The road is difficult, upwards and ... lonely, but the Ministry deserves a better fate" (Ο δρόμος είναι δύσκολος, ανηφορικός και ... μοναχικός, αλλά αυτό το Υπουργείο αξίζει καλύτερης μοίρας.). (See also press reports in Greece.)

Liapis placed Greece's cultural claims firmly on the international stage through the hosting (in March 2008) of the UNESCO conference in the New Acropolis Museum. He has strengthened links with Italy that led to the Nostoi exhibition in Athens. This coincided with the return of fragments of the Parthenon from Palermo and the Vatican. But he has also initiated claims on more recently looted material; recent returns include an Attic marble funerary lekythos from a Swiss dealer, and two pieces from the Shelby White collection.

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Mihalis Liapis at the return of an Attic funerary stele from the Shelby White collection. (From the Hellenic Ministry of Culture)

Greece and Italy: co-operation over cultural property

In July 2008 Greece and Italy signed up to co-operate over cultural property (see original story). One of the most visible outcomes was the display of the Nostoi exhibition at the New Acropolis Museum.

I noticed an interesting story on ANSA ("Greece returns looted frescoes", March 23, 2009).

Greece on Monday returned to Italy two medieval frescoes looted from a tomb near Naples in 1982. ...

They originally adorned the walls of one of the famous tufa chambers called Fornelle at Calvi south of Monte Cassino ...

The particularly ornate chamber - many of whose frescoes are still missing - is believed to have been the tomb of 11th-century Count Pandolfo and his wife Countess Gualferada.

Handing over the frescoes, Greek Culture Minister Antoni Samaras said the event marked "another important stage in collaboration with our Italian friends and partners in the fight against art theft".

Where were these pieces found?

The frescoes of two saints were recovered by Greek antiquities police in a raid on Greek art traffickers on the Aegean island of Schinoussa in 2006.

I am aware of a raid on that island in 2006 (see earlier comments and short report in the New York Times). What else will be emerging?