These loans would be all the more inappropriate as Greece has been trying for years to recover the Parthenon friezes, which are still on display at the British Museum, despite numerous requests for restitution. TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni explains that des “long-term exposures” of Greek antiquities in Britain would allow the “feedback” friezes from the Parthenon.
Greece’s parliament on Monday passed a law making it easier to exhibit rare antiquities in museums abroad, but archaeologists worry the reform could pave the way for a «exportation» term of rare objects. The move comes as the Greek government is in talks with the British Museum over a possible return of the Parthenon friezes to Athens.
The London daily Financial Times reported last week that the Santorini frescoes “were mentioned in Athens” as being subject to a loan exchange.
The Association of Greek Archaeologists said it would seek to block this law by taking legal action. “Important antiquities could be sent abroad for fifty, a hundred years or more”denounces the association in a press release.
The Greek Ministry of Culture has been trying for years to negotiate agreements for the repatriation of antiquities without resorting to legal action. Its main objective remains the restitution of the friezes of the Parthenon, held by the British Museum since the 19th century. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said on Monday that Athens was offering “long-term exposures” of Greek antiquities in Great Britain to allow the “return and reunification” friezes from the Parthenon.
TO HAVE ALSO – The United Kingdom rules out a return to Greece of the Parthenon friezes
Trafficking in illegal objects
London claims the sculptures were “legally acquired” in 1802 by the British diplomat Lord Elgin who sold them to the British Museum. But Greece maintains that they were the object of a «pillage» while the country was under Ottoman occupation. Last year, Greece’s culture ministry brokered a deal to acquire 161 Bronze Age antiquities that were part of the collection of American billionaire and philanthropist Leonard Stern. He plans for the collection to be gradually returned to Greece over the next 25 years after their display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
This agreement has been criticized by the association of Greek archaeologists, who believe that Leonard Stern is a “proven beneficiary of smuggled archaeological finds” and that a bad precedent would thus be created by allowing wealthy collectors to escape justice. According to the association, the billionaire once owned a Bronze Age marble idol from Sardinia, then seized in 2018 from the collection of billionaire Michael Steinhardt for trafficking in illegal objects.
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