London, Thanasis Gavos

Optimism for her reaching an agreement with Greece for the Parthenon Sculptures expressed once again the president of his Commissioners George Osborne British Museum.

However, he spoke again ca “distribution” of the artifices of Pheidias and noted that does not want items permanently removed from the London institution’s collection which he leads.

In the latest episode of his co-host ‘Political Currency’ podcast, Mr Osborne was asked to answer a question by well-known British actor and Sculptors’ reunification campaigner Stephen Fry about a possible change in the law on objects in the British Museum’s collection.

Mr Fry pointed out that the law prohibiting the removal of exhibits from the British Museum was easily and quickly changed in the case of the Australian constitution document. “It’s true, isn’t it, that these things can be passed with a nod,” commented the British actor.

Mr Osborne responded, initially saying that Stephen Fry’s words showed there was room for a deal. And he continued:

“I hope we can reach an agreement between the British Museum and the Greek government and the Acropolis Museum, (…) an agreement that will allow us to share the view of the Marbles, the great Sculptures that surrounded the Acropolis (sic) in ancient Greece, but not in a way that challenges the fundamental claims of each.

Greece will always say that they are rightfully hers. The law is very clear that they constitute an acquisition of the British Museum and we have heard from this Conservative government that this will not change, and from a potential Starmer Labor government that it will not.

So what can we do? I think we could come to an agreement with which a section of the Sculptures will be exhibited at any time in Athens in what Stephen (Fry) rightly calls a brilliant museum. I was there just a few months ago. And at the same time some wonderful Greek treasures that have never left Greece will come and be exhibited in the British Museum, like the Mask of Agamemnon for example.”

George Osborne added that with such a deal millions of people in both cities would be able to see these “wonderful” objects.

However, he emphasized that it is an issue that has remained open for 200 years. “So it’s not an easy deal to reach. If there was a simple solution it would have been found. But I’m relatively optimistic.”

He also said that the commissioners of the British Museum are very positive in favor of an agreement and he estimated that the Greek government is the same. “And even if the British government doesn’t speak to the Greek prime minister, the British Museum does,” he observed.

Asked by co-presenter Ed Bowles about a possible change to the 1963 British Museum Exhibits Act, Mr Osborne replied:

“So the law as it is currently written says that the British Museum cannot return objects. And by the way, we don’t want to permanently return important parts of our collection, because we believe in what the museum offers, which is the opportunity to see all these great cultures together.

But, as a matter of fact, in the last few weeks both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have confirmed that they will not change the law. So we must act within the law. And within the law we can come to this really ambitious proposal to share the Marbles to ensure that a part of them will always be exhibited in Greece”.

The Osborne placements they come after the interview of the Minister of Culture of Greece, Linas Mendonis, to the Guardian, in which she says that Greece would periodically send other ancient Greek treasures to cover the “vacuum” that would be left in the British Museum by the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum.

The full podcast can be found at the following link: https://linktr.ee/politicalcurrency