Describe the characteristics of the Greek requests for return in Elgin Marbles's Return controversy.
In 1835, the government of the newly independent Greece asked the British Museum to return the Elgin Marbles, and in 1890 the Greek minister in London asked for the return of the architectural fragments. In 1983 the Greek government formally asked the UK government to return the sculptures to Greece and, in 1984, listed the dispute with UNESCO. The Greek government is only requesting the return of the sculptures Elgin took from the Parthenon. In 2000, a select committee of the UK parliament held an inquiry into the illegal trade in cultural property which considered the dispute over the marbles. The committee heard evidence from the then Greek foreign minister, George Papandreou, who argued that the question of legal ownership was secondary to the ethical and cultural arguments for returning the sculptures. The committee, however, made no recommendations on the future of the marbles.In 2000, the Greek government commissioned the construction of a new Acropolis Museum which opened in 2009. The museum was, in part, designed to arrange the surviving Parthenon sculptures (including those in the Elgin collection) as they originally stood on the Parthenon itself, and to counter arguments that the Elgin Marbles would be better preserved and displayed in the British Museum. The Acropolis Museum displays a portion of the remaining frieze (about 20% has been lost or destroyed), aligned in orientation and within sight of the Parthenon, with the position of the elements held in London clearly marked and space left should they be returned to Athens.In 2013, the Greek government asked UNESCO to mediate between the Greek and UK authorities on the return of the marbles, but the UK government and the British Museum declined UNESCO's offer to mediate. In 2021, UNESCO concluded that the UK government had an obligation to return the marbles and called upon the UK government to open negotiations with Greece.In late 2022, British and Greek authorities resumed negotiations on the future of the marbles. Asked about the possible return of the Marbles, the British Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan replied: "I can sympathise with some of the arguments but I do think that is a very dangerous and slippy road to embark down", expressing the worry that other cultural items now held in Britain might also have to be returned to the places they were acquired from.
In November 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over public comments Mitsotakis made regarding the marbles.
Acropolis George Papandreou British Museum frieze marble Michelle Donelan Greek government Parthenon Acropolis Museum UNESCO architectural Kyriakos Mitsotakis Rishi Sunak Athens London Marble Culture Secretary Greece