Friends of the British Committee

FRIENDS OF THE BRITISH COMMITTEE

On September 18 1999 on a bright day on the beautiful island of Paros, the association of the Friends of the British Committee was launched in the presence of the Greek Minister of Culture, the Mayor of Paros and many well-known personalities from Britain and Greece. The aim of the association will be to give crucial and vital support to the 15 year old campaign of the British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. It will attempt to achieve this by campaigning

to attract supports from outside the UK, in fact from all over the world. For some years now non-British nationals -- Americans, Canadians, Germans, Scandinavians, Italians and, of course, Greeks -- have been writing to or contacting the British Committee to pledge their support and offer their help. The formation of the Friends will be able to accommodate all the non-British supporters.
to organise fund-raising events in the UK and in Greece and to achieve this by enlisting the help of people who, though in favour of the return of the sculptures, have not been active participants before.
to devise new and original events which wll create good will towards the aims of the British Committee; to find a number of individual sponsors who would like to support specific events such as exhibitions, international conferences, video documentaries presenting the truth about the removal of the Marbles and the case for the return and generally to raise the profile of the campaign.

The launching of the Friends of the British Committee was hosted by Mr John Polyzoides who is an eminent Orthopaedic Surgeon from Britain who has devoted a great deal of his life to raising money for medical charities. For many years now, he and his wife have supported the restitution of the Marbles and they have now decided to become actively involved in the campaign through this association of which Mr Polyzoides is the Chairman. The former MEP and singer Nana Mouskouri has agreed to become the Honorary President of the Association of the Friends of the British Committee. Nana Mouskouri has been an active supporter of the restitution of the Parthenon Marbles from the very first appeal by Melina Mercouri and she has financed the Touring Photographic Exhibition entitled "Stones of No Value -- Monuments of the Gods".

What they said:

Elissavet Papazoe, Greek Minister of Culture , opened the event by reaffirming her total support and commitment to the restitution of the Parthenon marbles. She also announced that many of the problems which had plagued the new Acropolis Museum have now been solved. (see the New Acropolis Museum page for details).

Graham Binns, chairman of the British Committee , said that the obstacle to restitution is the Establishment -- those who are dedicated to preserving the status quo . This Establishment includes senior staff at the British Museum, the Civil Service staff briefed by them and the Minister for the Arts who is briefed by the Civil Service staff. Then there are the Museum Trustees, selected on the Minister's recommendation, after he has been advised by those listed above. This danse macabre has to be interrupted. We also have to pursuade those who mistakenly believe Britain would be losing something by returning the Marbles rather than gaining, as they would, much respect and affection. Our work needs the help and support of Friends in specific ventures, such as that given by Nana Mouskouri in funding the successful travelling exhibition. It is in such ways that the enthusiasm and initiative of the Association of Friends can bring vigour and creativity to the campaign and keep it to the fore in Britain.

Paul Cartledge, Professor of Ancient Greek and History at Cambridge University , spoke on behalf of all the British academics who strongly support restitution of the Marbles. He said that their arguments were two-fold: those based on natural justice and those based on academic principles. the circumstances in which the marbles were obtained and deposited in the British Museum would not stand up in a court of law today. And the retention of the Marbles in London contradicts the basic principle of respect for the artefacts of another country. There is also the elementary academic principle that all the sculptures should be viewed together and as closely as possible to the ubilding of which they were an integral part .

Michael Kustow, producer and writer , who has made a number of documentaries on ancient Greek themes, spoke of the cultural significance of the Marbles. In the Athens of 2500 years ago, topped by the architecture of the Parthenon, there was for a brief but hugely resonant period an unequalled and dynamic wholeness. He thought that the integrity and vitality of the Parthenon Marbles comes not only from their beauty as art but because they embody and nourish the great quality for which Pericles praised the Athenians: "they love to argue". He considered that the Marbles, properly presented in a new museum, would mean more in Athens than in the British Museum, and that great works, although they may speak to the entire world, have their roots and origins in a specific place and time. This connection is abundantly true of the Parthenon Marbles, anchored in the city of Athens at the birth of democracy. In their true context they would be a reminder of how rich and distinct and diverse a city can be at a time when our world is becoming standardised and globalised.

Sir Kenneth Alexander, former Chancellor fo the University of Aberdeen , chose to speak as a Scot, pointing out that "two Scots play a historical role in our current concern and another three Scots may have a rold to play today: Lord Elgin who brought the Marbles to Britain in 1816 and Lord Byron who campaigned and died so "that Greece might still be free". The other three Scots are Robert Anderson, present Director of the British Museum, Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary who would probably be involved in any negotiations and Tony Blair, the ultimate arbiter."

Sir Kenneth said that many Scots felt an affinity with the Greeks. "The intention to establish a Friends will meet with a warm response in Scotland. The timing is right. The immediate task is to decide on the character and the approaches to be made to attract Friends and convince the British Government of the case for the return of the Marbles.

Eddie O'Hara MP , veteran supporter of the return of the Parthenon Marbles, siad that the argument of public and educated opinion is won. The task now is to persuade Parliament and the Government to take the necessary decision to return the Marbles." My task in this is to use all the parliamentary opportunities at my disposal. The most spectacular of these was to show the Travelling Exhibition of the British Committee, sponsored by the Nana Mouskouri Foundation in the House of Commons." But there was a lot of day to day work that had to be done inside the Commons as well. " We shall win, because we must win, if the cause is just as the British public agree," Eddie concluded.

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