Greece to Britain: Give Us Back Our Ancient Sculptures

Greece's leader is pressing Andy Burnham to match past words with present action on the Elgin Marbles. In a Guardian op-ed, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged Burnham to find the "political will" to secure the Parthenon sculptures' permanent return to Athens, saying that would be a "decisive step" that would turn a long-running dispute into an act of "cultural friendship," reports the BBC. Mitsotakis rejected suggestions that a loan deal modeled on the Bayeux Tapestry could work, arguing Greece cannot "borrow" pieces of its own monument or recognize the British Museum's ownership.

"Nobody would seriously contemplate cutting what survives of the tapestry in two and displaying half in London and half in Bayeux, and claiming this was an adequate way to understand it," Mitsotakis wrote. "Yet that is exactly what happened to the Parthenon sculptures." The pieces "should be viewed together, at the same time, within sight of the monument for which they were created," Mitsotakis added. "The Acropolis Museum was designed specifically to make this possible."

Burnham backed a law change in 2023 to send the marbles back "no strings attached," but he has more recently said the matter rests with the museum, which maintains that UK law blocks any permanent handover. The Art Newspaper notes that the Elgin marbles have been housed in the British Museum since 1817.