February 13th, Greek Parliament passed a new law allowing exhibitions of ancient artifacts rare outside the country, despite the concerns of archaeologists regarding the risk of relic will be kept abroad for a long time.
The new law allows Greece’s top five state museums, including the National Archaeological Museum and the Byzantine & Christian Museum in Athens, the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on Crete, establishing satellite branches outside of Greece.
These museums currently keep a number of rare and valuable ancient artifacts.
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Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said that with the law enacted, museums will have more autonomy in planning exhibitions and calling for funding.
However, the Association of Greek Archaeologists said it would appeal the decision in court, because “these important artifacts might be sent abroad for 50, 100 years or more.”
The law was passed amid a long-running dispute between Greece and England over the Parthenon Marbles – 2,500-year-old sculptures.
Since independence in 1832, Greece has repeatedly called on Britain to return these sculptures which in Britain are known as Elgin Marbles. These are sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin dismantled from the Parthenon (ancient Greek temple of Athena, built in the 5th century BC) in Athens in the early 19th century. , when Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (which existed from the medieval period from 1299 to 1923).
Minister Mendoni said Greece is offering to make “intertemporal exhibitions” of Greek artifacts in the UK, in return for the withdrawal of the Parthenon Marbles collection.
Hoang Chau (VNA/Vietnam+)