Foreign Correspondent on Australia’s ABC channel had a report on the new Acropolis Museum in Athens tonight. A new museum designed to house of the archaeological marvels of the Acropolis, including the marble friezes off the Parthenon.
The report correctly noted that Lord Elgin while in Greece during the Ottoman occupation, managed to convince the Ottoman rulers of the time to allow him to take parts of the Parthenon frieze for his dream home back in England. However due to financial issues, Elgin subsequently sold the Marbles to the British Museum, where they have been housed since.
We were also told tonight that the British Museum has contended that they have held onto the Marbles because they believed that the Greeks were not “fit” to house them or look after them. There was also a claim by the British Museum person being interviewed by Helen Vatsikopoulos that he does not believe that the Marbles will ever be returned to Greece. Not even as a loan because they do not trust the Greeks when it comes to returning the relics.
Now, Athens has spent millions building a state of the art museum and also has some of the world’s best archaeological experts; both are factors demonstrating that Greece is “fit” enough to look after the Marbles as their rightful owners.
The report then took a strange twist in my opinion. Almost a tangent in the argument.
Greece apparently not only has to demonstrate its capability to properly store and care for the Marbles but also its mechanism for how it manages its heritage listing is also under scrutiny. Greece reportedly cannot be ready to look after the Marbles if they cannot be consistent with their rulings on what is to be preserved.
The contention then is shown to be 2 buildings under the Acropolis on the walkway of Areopagitou Dionisiou. One in particular is a of great significance in Athen’s modern history, as it is a classic art deco monument. The other building is a great example of neo-classical late 1800′s architecture.
If you ever take a stroll on this beautiful walkway, you cannot miss these 2 buildings. I personally thought that they are truly beautiful.
The Greek government has reportedly managed to overturn a long standing heritage listing of the buildings. This has been done according to some so that the view from the new museum to the Acropolis is unobstructed by demolishing the 2 buildings in question.
Click here for more information in relation to the demolition of 17 Areopagitou Dionisiou.
The Foreign Correspondent report leaves us with the message that if Greece cannot manage to preserve these 2 historical buildings of “importance” then it may be viewed as being “unfit” to look after the Marbles.
Since Helen Vatsikopoulos was able to interview a representative of the Greek Ministry of Culture, why wasn’t this contentious issue put forward to the representative so that viewers could hear what the ministry’s position is on it. Instead, we only heard from the museum’s representative, who of course has a personal opinion on the matter. However it cannot be taken as an official position.
We even seem to be given an “uncensored” discussion in Greek between Helen and the museum representative, as he spoke to her in Greek about what an eye-sore the buildings are, how the roof of one of the buildings was illegal.
We must question whether Foreign Correspondent provided a fair report overall.
Personally it comes across as another hurdle being put up, so that the Greek request for the return of the Marbles is ignored. Resolving the heritage listing of those 2 magnificent buildings cannot be linked to the Marbles debate. They are two separate issues that should not be tied together in any way. We can only see it is a smoking mirror ploy and nothing more.
Is it any wonder that there are Greek youths unofficially spreading the “No Marbles – No Flame in 2012″ message. There is even a Facebook group with the same name and it already has 9200 members.
prof@skylproductions.com
