Based on the articles I’ve read, I believe it is wrong that the British Museum is holding the Parthenon Marbles all to themselves. I don’t really care that it’s in Britain; my main argument is the British Museum has no right to withhold all the Parthenon Marbles exclusively to their Museum. Lord Elgin toke most of the Parthenon Marbles through legal means by asking the Ottoman Empire in 1799 for permission to take some sketches of the sculptures and some plaster casts of the Parthenon Marbles and some reliefs. A little time after that the Ottoman sultan granted him complete access to the Parthenon and over the years Lord Elgin’s people hacked away most of the Parthenon Marbles. Lord Elgin’s actions may have been legal, but his act of taking away the Parthenon Marbles away from its own birth place is an act of vandalism.
Although I, and I am certain many people will agree with me that Lord Elgin’s actions were an act of vandalism, it is not a major reason as to why the Parthenon Marbles should be exclusive to the British Museum. Lord Elgin’s actions were in the past, so Greece cannot really penalize Britain for keeping the Parthenon Marbles because Lord Elgin stole them. The British Museum does have a good argument that the smog polluted city of Greece would’ve destroyed the Parthenon Marbles, but now that the Acropolis Museum has been built in Greece to preserve and exhibit the Parthenon Marbles; Greece should have the right and privilege to show the Parthenon Marbles in the Acropolis Museum. Not only do I agree that the Parthenon Marbles should be showed in the Acropolis Museum, but I believe art as culturally significant as the Parthenon Marbles should be shown in Museums around the world. The location of the Parthenon Marbles may have been in Greece, but it doesn’t mean Greece gets to keep the Parthenon Marbles to themselves as well. The Parthenon Marbles were a significant achievement in sculpting and of the human form. The Greek civilization was such a cultural significance globally because of its art, society, culture and government. These aspects of Ancient Greece spread all across the globe, so in a sense, the Parthenon Marbles belongs to no one group or state, it belongs to all human civilization.
Although I believe that the Parthenon Marbles are exquisite and beautiful to look at, I do think that the British Museum exhibiting the Parthenon Marbles for mainly aesthetic reasons is wrong. Keeping such an important achievement in art for that reason is not justifiable enough to not share the Parthenon Marbles with other Museums. The British Museum, in my opinion, can only keep the Parthenon Marbles for its historical context and to preserve history. So I don’t think the British Museum should keep the Parthenon exclusive to them even if it legally belongs to them. The Parthenon Marbles should be exhibited everywhere around the world, so that many people can have access to view the Marbles and see what a cultural importance they are, especially to Western civilizations.
I tend to agree with the idea that what Lord Elgin did to gain ownership of the marbles was perfectly legal; the British could indeed share a little. I like the idea that you presented with having the marbles travel and be available for the world to see. I would be interested to see if the Greeks would be able to come to a financial agreement with the British to hold the marbles as a permanent exhibit at the Acropolis Museum, that way they would be able to be in the correct context of display. Although I think this would be unlikely, based on the disagreements of ownership that seems to continue.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good point you make in saying that all the world benefits from the Greek's way of life, so the Parthenon Marbles should not be restricted to any one museum. I also agree that Britain should not be penalized, since history cannot be changed and the actions of Lord Elgin cannot be undone, but it is indeed wrong for them to keep the marbles to themselves. Especially if their justification for housing them is purely aesthetic reasons, then you would think they would want to spread them over the globe so that these pleasures can be shared.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you in that the British government is being selfish with the marbles by keeping them exclusive to their museum only. I do however feel that they belong to the people of Greece and should be exclusive to the museum in Athens because that would be the best place to keep them in the context they were once in.
ReplyDeleteWhile the legal side of the issue seems to be fair, I found it interesting that Britain is trying to claim that their museum is going to become a world center for art and culture. Certainly that might be a contributing factor to keep the marbles, but I can't help but feel that there is a conflict of interest here. The unfortunate thing is that the British are holding most of the cards, so they can do what they want.
ReplyDelete-Brian Popielarczyk