It remains to be seen whether the British Museum will look back with unqualified pleasure at its first annual benefit gala. During the gala, the guests present dined in the famous Duveen hall, where the so-called Elgin Marbles from the Greek temple Parthenon. That was exactly what really hurt Greece, which accused the museum of “provocative insensitivity”.
The British Museum seemed to have everything in order for the ball. The guest list included names of actress Kristin Scott Thomas, former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, rock star Mick Jagger and supermodel Naomi Cambell. They – and almost nine hundred people in total – had paid £2,000 for the charity evening with a reception, dinner and silent auction. At the end of the evening it turned out approximately £2.5 million (approximately 2.8 million euros) has been collected for the British museum. The ball came soon compared with the famous Met Gala – the biggest fashion event of the year that raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
But the day after the event, a storm of criticism broke out. “The museum’s main concern should be the safety, integrity and ethics of the monuments,” Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a press statement, reported by Greek media quoted. Mendoni criticizes the organization of dinners, receptions and fashion shows in museums. “Such actions are insulting to cultural heritage and endangering the objects on display themselves. The British Museum did exactly that last Saturday, once again using the Parthenon sculptures as decorative elements for the dinner it hosted.”
The British Museum has not responded publicly or in the media to the outcry.
With or without permission
For years the British Museum has refused to return the famous Parthenon friezes. Although there are reportedly behind-the-scenes discussions between the UK and Greece about possible restitution, the British Museum is unwilling to budge. The fifth-century BC marble statues and panels were demolished from the Greek temple on the Acropolis in Athens around 1800 and shipped to the United Kingdom. The British claim permission, the Greeks speak of robbery and want the images back.
Their calls have become more vocal after the reopening of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, in 2009. The Parthenon Gallery is designed so that the sculptures can be exhibited here.
While many museums have returned looted art to the relevant countries of origin in recent years, the famous British museum does not do this. It invariably refers to a 1963 law that makes it virtually impossible for museums to return works of art. Another important argument has always been that the pieces are in safe hands at the British Museum.
The Greeks think this is nonsense. When it emerged in 2022 that at least 1,500 objects from the British Museum’s collection had been stolen, Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni there delicately on. “The argument that the Parthenon sculptures are safer in London than in the Acropolis Museum is no longer valid.”
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As if the British Museum itself takes such good care of its belongings
The museum also takes a conservative position in other files on works of art taken during the colonial period. For example, the British Museum has the largest number of so-called Benin bronzes, approximately 950. The Benin bronzes are works of art that British soldiers stole in 1897 from the royal palace in Benin (which is now in Nigeria). They sold those bronzes to all kinds of Western museums and governments. In recent years, pieces have been returned by various museums, but the process has been slow. Earlier this year, the Netherlands returned 119 art objects to Nigeria.
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