Rishi Sunak faces a political battle for his and his government’s survival, and in war even art and history can be weaponized. Downing Street decided months ago to halt British Museum President George Osborne’s well-intentioned attempts to negotiate with the Greek government a creative legal solution that would allow – although he also clearly sought personal glory – return of the ” Parthenon Marbles” to the Athenian Acropolis. Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis, who visited London this week and had several meetings on his agenda, including one with Sunak, has left the British capital full of frustration and diplomatic disagreements after Downing Street canceled at the last minute using trivial excuses. the meeting between both leaders.
Mitsotakis, who personally oversaw discussions and exchanges of proposals with Osborne (the former business minister in David Cameron’s Conservative government) for more than a year, expressed his disappointment on the BBC on Sunday at the way London was pushed back Nipped in the bud an agreement that would have saved face for both parties and given a happy ending to a dispute that has inflamed fierce passions between Britons and Greeks for nearly two centuries. “It’s as if I told you to cut the Mona Lisa in half, leave one in the Louvre Museum and send the other to the British Museum. Do you think his viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting in this way?” the Greek Prime Minister provocatively asked journalist Laura Kuenssberg. Athens has defended for years that the sculptures on the pediments, the frieze and the metopes, which Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Turkish-Ottoman Empire, were virtually demolished with a saw between 1801 and 1812 and brought to London must have they will return to their place of origin and be exhibited in the new Acropolis Museum, which is being built next to the Parthenon.
As soon as they heard Mitsotakis’ statements, Sunak’s team decided to suddenly cancel the lunch meeting scheduled for this Tuesday, which lasted about 50 minutes. The only task the Prime Minister had on his agenda that day was chairing the meeting of his Council of Ministers. Downing Street has offered a meeting with Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, as an alternative. But in Britain’s political chart this position is more symbolic than anything else, and Dowden is a low-ranking politician.
Marble relief from the Parthenon detailing the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. BRITISH MUSEUM
Before leaving the British capital, Mitsotakis said: “I must express my displeasure that the Prime Minister has decided to cancel our meeting just hours before its scheduled date. “Anyone who is convinced that their position is right and fair is not afraid to address arguments against it.”
Sunak has slammed the door on a NATO partner, an ally and friend of the United Kingdom for years, simply, as his critics point out, to please a hardline wing of the Conservative Party that has insisted on giving one to each Declaring a culture war that seeks to declare the United Kingdom’s colonial and imperial past is on the table. And within this current they are particularly against all demands from the rest of the world that London should return cultural treasures that have been looted over the centuries. From this perspective, the “Parthenon Marbles” or “Elgin Marbles,” as the defenders of the World Bank’s ownership of the statues call them – words are also weapons – are the symbol par excellence of this controversy over the return of art.
“The government has already made its position on the Elgin Marbles very clear. They must continue to be part of the British Museum’s permanent collection,” said Mark Harper, transport minister and one of the few government members to speak out on what was clearly an uncomfortable issue. Almost two in three Brits are aware that the marbles must go back to where they should never have been taken. According to the latest YouGov poll, 59% of citizens support returning, compared to 18% who support remaining in London. 22% do not know how to respond to a topic that has stagnated in time but is still capable of igniting passions in those who follow it day after day.
Mitsotakis, who brought to the agenda such relevant issues as the migration crisis – one of the most serious problems facing Sunak – or the war in Ukraine, was able to meet with the leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, who met him all Polls show him as the winner of the general elections, which must take place within a year. Starmer, who usually swims and puts away his clothes, has avoided a direct confrontation with the government over the marbles issue, but through his team he has communicated to various British media outlets his intention not to oppose any future deal on the return of the marbles. Works of art to Athens that could be reached.
The final attempted solution promoted by Osborne and Mitsotakis involved a creative agreement that protected the interests of both parties by not directly or implicitly recognizing either party’s ownership of the marbles. It was not a return: what is yours will not be returned. It is also not a loan: what you consider to be your property will not be accepted as a loan. It was an exchange: London sent the statues to Athens and received other pieces of artistic value (of which there are plenty in Greece) in return for the exhibition.
Given the sophisticated and intelligent diplomacy of the election campaign. Sunak has preferred to push a nationalist message that is well-suited to his party’s hardline forces, rather than risk giving a fair and happy outcome to the eternal fight over the marbles.
All the culture that goes with it awaits you here.
Subscribe to
Babelia
The literary news analyzed by the best critics in our weekly newsletter
GET IT
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_