Members of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) held their annual protest inside the British Museum in London on Saturday for the return of the iconic sculptures to Greece.
Leading the protest, which was held on the occasion of the opening of the Acropolis Museum 15 years ago and took place in Room 18 housing the famous sculptures and a slew of other Ancient Greek artifacts, was British author Victoria Hislop who is known for her best-selling book entitled “The Island”.
The protesters unfurled a huge banner reading “Reunite the Marbles!” in front of the statues of the eastern pediment and delivered a letter addressed to the new director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan, requesting an “urgent meeting” to present their demand for the return of the marbles.
The protest comes in the wake of the recent revelation by UNESCO’s Turkish delegation during a session flatly denying the existence of a “firman” (an official Ottoman legal document) purportedly granting Lord Elgin in 1801-1805 permission to extract the Parthenon Marbles. This development effectively undermined Britain’s main claim to keep the artifacts.
“We have never been closer to the reunification of this magnificent work of art. We hope that Dr. Cullinan, along with the Museum’s Chairman George Osborne, will be recorded in the history books as the people who helped make this a reality,” stated Hislop.
The Parthenon was constructed in the 5th century BC, reflecting the power and dominance of the then city-state of Athens.
