The British Museum has dug heels over its decision not to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles, adding insult to injury by a recent proposal to offer Greece an ‘exclusive NFT’ of the sculptures to ‘settle unreasonable questions and unnecessary on the true ownership of the story.” A British Museum spokesperson said Hyperallergic that the “generous compromise” should end the battle over the famous sculptures, which were “legally obtained”.
Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, removed the marble carvings depicting a battle between centaurs and the legendary “Lapith” people of ancient Greece from the Parthenon (the temple of the ancient Greek goddess Athena) and brought them to British colonial territory courtesy of the Ottoman Empire which controlled Greece in the early 1800s. However, the legality of the removal of the sculpture has been questioned on several occasions, with Greece demanding the repatriation of the marbles since 1835. England did not budge on its demand that the Marbles belong to them despite further pressure from the Vatican. recent repatriation fragments of Parthenon marbles from their collection in Greece.
At a press conference this morning, Saturday April 1, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voiced his support for the plan, saying the NFT is “infinitely more valuable” because the physical sculptures – which have survived 2,500 years – ” could never last that long.”
“This way we can be sure there will be no further damage to these prized sculptures,” the British Museum spokesperson said in a statement, citing damage to the marbles in several wars. of Greek history and some cleaning and restoration failures. efforts of museum curators. “An NFT interpretation of the Elgin Marbles [sic] will be minted and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Greek General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage to ensure that there is no further confusion or debate regarding their true ownership.
The Greek Ministry of Culture has not yet responded to Hyperallergicbut late last night Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted simply “JFC”.
“Blockchain really is such an elegant solution to this complex dialogue surrounding the ownership of culture and history,” said Tiffany Jenkins, a British writer who defended the position of the British Museum on the conservation of the balls.
