By Dimitrios
& Katerina Angelatos
THE REUNIFICATION OF THE
PARTHENON MARBLES-A WORLD CULTURAL ISSUE
The Consul of Greece in
Vancouver, George Aravositas presented an illustrated lecture by Ms. Elena
Korka from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Archaeologist Ms. Korka is
the Head of the Department of Greek and Foreign Archaeological Institutes
and is involved in the discussions of the possibility of returning some of
the Parthenon sculptures that were taken from Greece by Lord Elgin in the
early 1800’s. The lecture took place at 6pm on Tuesday the 21st
of February at SFU Harbour Centre, downtown Vancouver.
Before the Consul introduced the
guest speaker he made a point of thanking all those who helped make this
event a possibility, the Hellenic Repubic -Ministry of Culture, Hellenic
Studies at Simon Fraser University and Metropolitan Fine Printers.
The Consul during his
introduction stated that he had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Korka in 2002
and that they had collaborated on cultural issues since then. The Consul
also promised a surprise guest to follow Ms. Korka’s presentation.
Ms. Korka stated that the
Parthenon remained relatively intact until 1687. Over the years the
Parthenon had been used for many purposes but at that time the Turks who
were occupying Greece were using the Parthenon for munitions storage. The
Venetians had besieged the Turks and some of their mortar shells set off
an explosion, causing damage to the building. However that damage was
miniscule compared to the damage that was inflicted by Lord Elgin and his
workmen over a century later.
Lord Elgin showered gifts and
money on the occupying Turks in 1799 to get special permission for access
to the Parthenon, to draw sketches and make casts of the sculptures.
Documents show that no harm should result to the monuments but did allow
for some of the small pieces found loose on the ground to be removed.
However through bribery Lord Elgin soon was having his workmen remove
anything they possibly could with the intent of using the items to
decorate his home in England. Friezes were removed, some shattered during
removal because they were dropped due to the immense weight. Big pieces
were cut into smaller pieces so they could be moved. Other pieces were
sawed off into slabs with the saw marks still visible to this day on the
portions that remained behind.
Lord Elgin left Greece in 1803
but his workmen remained until 1804. It took 17 shiploads and many years
to transport all the marbles to England. One heavily overloaded ship sunk
during its departure and it took two years to remove the marbles from the
harbour. Upon their arrival in England the marbles were moved around, some
stored in sheds, others just left lying around outside. The expense of
getting the marbles transported to England as well as their storage placed
a tremendous financial strain on Lord Elgin. By 1816 he was bankrupt,
divorced and in poor health and ended up selling the marbles to the
British museum in London.
Over the yeas repeated requests
have been made by Greece to have the sculptures returned to their homeland
but these have been basically ignored. Melina Mercury, the Minister of Culture made an official
request for the restoration of the marbles in 1981. UNESCO adopted the
Parthenon, an eternal symbol of democracy as its logo and strongly came
out in favour of supporting such a request. Since then there has been a
world wide campaign, with committees all over the world, including Canada
supporting the reunification.
The British Museum in London has
in its possession over 55% of the sculptural material of the Parthenon
while the Athens museum houses about 40%. Approximately 5% is scattered in
eight other museums around the world. Those pieces however are very small
and were only picked up from the ground, not forcibly removed from the
Parthenon structure. It is not Greece’s intent to empty the British
museum of all the Parthenon material but rather to reunify pieces of
sculpture from the British museum with pieces that are in the Athens
museum. For examples the torso of a rider and horse (British) with the
head of a rider and horse (Athens), the foot of a Lapith woman (British)
with the torsos of a Lapian woman and a Centaur (Athens).
Greece has nearly completed a
new Acropolis Museum where it will be housing the Parthenon sculptures in
a large glassed hall overlooking the Parthenon, the original setting of
those sculptures and therefore the only proper environment to display and
understand the sculptures. Greece has suggested to Great Britain that the
reunification of the marbles be carried out in the form of a long-term
loan, thereby sidestepping the issue of ownership of the marbles, a sticky
issue for both countries. Greece and Great Britain can share in the
restoration and the revival of the Parthenon, by exhibiting the marbles in
unity in an environment that would enable us to enhance our understanding
of this unique monument.
RETURN OF ARTIFACTS TO FIRST
NATIONS GIVES HOPE FOR REUNIFICATION OF PARTHENON MARBLES
The Consul of Greece, George
Arovositas has promised a surprise guest to follow the presentation by Ms.
Korka.. That guest turned out to be Ms. Andrea Sanborn of the U’mista
Cultural Society of Alert Bay. Alert
Bay on Cormorant Island is about 3 kilometers off the northeast coast of
Vancouver Island and is approximately 180 miles by water from the city of
Vancouver.
The word “u’mista” in the Kwakiutl
language could be translated as “ returning or restoring”. In 1974 the
U’mista Cultural Society was formed to ensure the survival of all
aspects of cultural heritage of the Kwakwaka’wakw people. One of the
aims of the society was to locate and work toward the return of potlatch
ceremonial artefacts confiscated from the Kwakwaka people in 1921 and to
house them in cultural centres at Alert Bay and at Cape Mudge,
In 1884 the Indian Act outlawed
“potlatch”, the First Nations’ festivals but this just caused the
“potlatch” to go “underground”. The law was vague and not strictly
adhered to until 1921. At that time a large number of Kwakwaka were
imprisoned for holding a potlatch and their potlatch paraphernalia was
confiscated. Most of the items of this collection were shipped to museums
across the country while some found their way into private collection.
Some were subsequently sold to museums in other countries, such as the
National Museum of the American Indian, now merged with the Smithsonian
Institute.
The
“potlatch” law was
repealed in 1951 and ever since then efforts have been made to reunite the
potlatch collection with its people. Many of the artefacts have been
returned to the Kwakwaka people from these various museums but the one
that raises hope for the eventual reunification of the Parthenon Marbles
is the recent return of a ceremonial mask by the British Museum on a long
term loan agreement.
It
is ironic that the only way to return the mask to its rightful owners was
to “borrow” it. That is most likely also the route that Greece will
have to travel to have its own “u’mista” of the Parthenon Marbles.
After
the presentations by Ms. Elena Korka and Ms. Andrea Sanborn the Consul of
Greece hosted a reception for all those in attendance. Wine, cheese, cold
cuts, fruit, spanakopita and coconut chicken kebobs were in plentiful
supply. As well as the two guest speakers special guests included Tasoula
Berggren the Honorary Consul, Republic of Cyprus, Peter Vladikovic the
Honorary Consul, Consulate of Serbia & Montenegro, and Minerva Jean A.
Falcon Consul General and Robespierre Bolivar Consul, both from the
Philippine Consulate General.
