Parthenon Sculptures Research Articles

‘Legion: life in the Roman Army’ The British Museum exhibition

At a time when the Parthenon Sculptures refuse to go away (in every sense of the phrase) and uncatalogued items were allegedly found to have been sold off by a member of staff, The British Museum needs some good news. There must have been sighs of relief all round when their new exhibition in the (itself often controversial: Puffett 2023) BP Gallery, Legion: life in the Roman Army, opened to almost universal press acclaim (e.g. Clark 2024; Jones 2024); it runs from 1 February to 23 June 2024. However, some (perfectly valid) observations in her blog by a scholar qualified in the field triggered a ‘woke alarm’ in some less-qualified quarters (McGrath 2024). It was always likely to be a crowd pleaser, with something for every “exercitologist” (Bishop 2014: 24), whether amateur or professional. For those visitors who had cut their Roman military teeth on Graham Webster's seminal Roman Imperial Army (Webster 1969, 1979, 1985), it was going to have its work cut out to satisfy.

On Seeing the Price of Keats’s Bread: or John Bull Buying the Elgin Marbles in a Time of Climate Crisis, 1816

This article situates John Keats’s 1817 sonnet ‘On Seeing the Elgin Marbles’ within the context of 1816–1819’s climate catastrophe and subsistence crisis. Countering received readings of Keats’s sonnet as about artistic vocation; I argue that it is more about the opportunity cost of expending public funds on ancient art during a climate-exacerbated economic crisis. This reading emerges by placing the poem in dialogue with a political cartoon by George Cruikshank, ‘ The Elgin Marbles! or John Bull buying stones at the time his numerous family want bread!!’ that critiques the British Government’s purchase of the Parthenon sculptures in these terms. I contend that both sonnet and cartoon stage the purchase of the sculptures not in terms of their artistic merits, but instead in terms of the opportunity cost of public relief and the potential ‘waste’ status of art in the face of a depressed labour market and skyrocketing grain prices.

UNDER THE GOLDEN PAINT. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA IN 1960S ITALIAN POPULAR CINEMA

Mytho-historical epic movies enjoyed a particular popularity in Italian popular cinema of the 1950–1960s, presenting a mix of themes and motifs from antiquity and the Bible. In this article, one such movie, “Io, Semiramide” (dir. P. Zelio, 1963) is singled out for analysis to demonstrate the reception of ancient Mesopotamia in this corpus. The visual language of these movies is based on the principles of European art of the 19th century. Therefore, the first part of the article is devoted to an overview of the formation of this specific system, and the role of the popularization of archaeological knowledge, archaeological illustration, museums, ornamental pattern books. This is followed by the in-depth analysis of “Io, Semiramide”. Its decorations are compared to previous and contemporary movies and their 19th century roots. The film builds up several typical spaces, with their set visual code and semantic aspects (throne room, temple, private quarters, etc.). Particular attention is paid to the role of statues and reliefs, many of which have an archaeological “provenance”, but are modified according to the dramaturgy. The general “Oriental” background of the movie is punctuated with motifs from classical antiquity (e.g. the deliberate comparison of a male body with the Parthenon sculptures or the situation of a conspiracy scene in a sort of “Roman thermae”). Finally, the role of one particular object (the so-called altar of Tukulti-Ninurta I) is examined in detail, as it is used, quite creatively, to accentuate the actions on the screen.

Visual Metaphors: On the Linguistic Structure of Hybrid Creatures in Art

Abstract Metaphors make possible creative and personally expressive ways of describing the world in a way that exceeds blunt literal description. In this article, the author considers (1) the ways metaphors function, (2) the ways that connotation, association, and implication can enrich and inflect the meanings of our words as we use them, and, finally, (3) the significance that these issues concerning verbal or linguistic meaning hold for our comprehension of parallel forms of meaning in the visual arts. The emphasis is on the artistic representation of hybrid creatures in painting, because where metaphors lead us to see one thing in the light of the other, so with hybrid creatures we can see either or any part of the hybrid in the light of the other part or parts. With some of the similarities between metaphorical speech and visual perception and interpretation identified, I turn to works by Caravaggio, Fuseli, the Parthenon sculptures, Botticelli, Picasso, William Blake, and Hieronymus Bosch.

The goddess’ new clothes: the carving and polychromy of the Parthenon Sculptures

White marble sculpture is a cornerstone of Western art history. Archaeological inquiry, however, has demonstrated that Classical sculpture and its associated architecture were once coloured. The authors examine the Parthenon Sculptures at the British Museum to identify traces of colour and carving on their surfaces. Using close examination and archaeometric techniques, the study shows that the sculptors finished surfaces with textures that reflected specific elements (e.g. skin, wool, linen) and these were then enhanced through the application of colour, including a purple colourant and Egyptian blue. The latter was used extensively to paint elaborate figurative designs on the carved textiles. Despite the complexity of the carved drapery, elaborate ornament was applied to the finish. The findings encourage a reconsideration of the appearance of the Parthenon in the fifth century BC.

The formation of a taste judgement: how Benjamin R. Haydon came to value, observe and evaluate the Elgin Marbles

AbstractWhat are taste judgements? Do they have a claim to knowledge? This article addresses these questions by revisiting the long-eighteenth-century debate on taste judgements and examining the case of a judgement that was unusually explicit about its formation. The painter Benjamin R. Haydon (1786–1846) encountered the Parthenon sculptures in 1808, studied them for several years, and recorded how he came to pronounce them ‘the finest things on earth’. I describe the maturation of Haydon's judgement, presenting the process as revealing of the nature of taste judgements. I argue that taste judgements are a distinct form of knowledge that involve expertise in three experiential aspects: valuation (prizing an artwork), observation (discriminating referential features in an artwork), and evaluation (assigning a specific worth to an artwork). From a methodological standpoint, Haydon's judgement draws attention to individual resources for the stabilization of knowledge and invites reflection on the status of the case as a unit of analysis in the history of science.

The past, present: The Parthenon Sculptures dispute as an example of the ICPRCP’s role on claims barred by the non-retroactivity of the 1970 UNESCO Convention

AbstractThis article analyzes the role played by the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin or Its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP) in promoting the settlement of disputes barred by the non-retroactivity of the 1970 UNESCO Convention through an assessment of its impact on the dispute between Greece and the United Kingdom over the Parthenon Sculptures. The analysis first focuses on the ICPRCP’s regular mandate, followed by an evaluation of some “collateral effects” that it might have had on the dispute. Through the examination of all reports, recommendations, and decisions issued by the ICPRCP and the performance of a wider interdisciplinary case study, it is argued that the ICPRCP has had an impact on the dispute, both directly and indirectly. The value of these conclusions is to shed light on the complex factors in interplay in voluntary and non-binding dispute settlement mechanisms such as the ones performed by the ICPRCP and to represent a framework for further studies on the ICPRCP’s work and alternative dispute resolution methods in general.

Distinguishing Cultural Property and Cultural Heritage: Technologies of Sovereignty and Reformation

With empirical touchstones from Europe, North America, and Africa, the paper argued that heritage and property represent different approaches to subject formation, produce distinct bodies of expertise, and belong to different rationalities of government in a global patrimonial field: that cultural property is a technology of sovereignty, part of the order of the modern liberal state, but cultural heritage is a technology of reformation that cultivates responsible subjects and entangles them in networks of expertise and management. Recounting Scottish claims to the Lewis Chessmen and Greek claims to the Parthenon Sculptures, the paper explored different nuances in assertions of sovereign power and affirmations of cultural integrity in the face of foreign invasion and foreign rule, globalized markets, and foreign science under the sign of cultural property. The paper contrasted these to the safeguarding of the Jemaa el Fna marketplace in Marrakech and other cases that attempt to organize cooperation and orchestrate social practices under the sign of cultural heritage.

Il Convegno AICA del 1984. La Presidenza Hăulică e la questione dei Marmi del Partenone

"The 1984 Conference of the International Association of Art Critics. The Presidency of Dan Hăulică and the Issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. In 1984, the Conference of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), chaired by the Romanian Dan Hăulică (1932-2014), was organized for the first time in Greece; the event offered an opportunity for historians and art critics of various nationalities to meet. The theme of the conference, „Contemporary art and the Greek world. The XXth century in the face of the civilizations that have followed one another in the Greek space”, on the one hand honored the host country and on the other, placing the accent on the relationship between XXth century art and the Western artistic tradition, was part of the international discussion on the end of the avant-gardes. The complex relationships between the ancient and the contemporary were discussed in terms of influences, continuity and discontinuity. Particular attention was paid to the concept of myth and the mythical dimension of contemporary art. On the other hand, the generic definition of „Greek world"", intentionally chosen by the Greek section of the AICA, re-proposed the national narrative of an essentially unitary historical-artistic development. The Conference also had a dimension of international political significance connected to the fact that the previous year the AICA, an organization affiliated with UNESCO, had approved a motion for the return to Greece of the Parthenon marbles kept at the British Museum. In Athens, the confirmation of solidarity with the Greek cause was also a matter of electoral campaign for the renewal of the Presidency of the AICA. Keywords: AICA Congress, art discourse, contemporary art, Parthenon marbles, classical heritage, myth "

The Parthenon Sculptures and Cultural Justice

From government and philosophy to art drama and culture, the ancient Athenians, as most everyone knows, gave future generations so much. Yet the pinnacle of their artistic achievement, the Parthenon, remains a damaged and incomplete work of art. 2012 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the last removal of works of art from the Parthenon. That taking was ordered by an English diplomat known to history as Lord Elgin, and it reminds us that cultures create lasting monuments. But not equally. Cultures which remove the artistic achievements of other nations have increasingly been confronted with uncomfortable questions about how these objects were acquired. Nations of origin are increasingly deciding to press claims for repatriation of works taken long ago. They proceed through history mindful of the irresistible genius of their forebears have created and are unwilling to cease their calls for return. The majority of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon in Greece now are currently on display in the British Museum in London. The Greek government and cultural heritage advocates, have been asking for reunification of these sculptures in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens. Greece has offered a number of concessions, but the British Museum and the British Government have repeatedly refused to seriously discuss reunification. Mounting pressure on the British Museum, and the inescapable fact that the Parthenon was an ancient unified work of art both mean that the Parthenon marbles will either eventually be returned to Greece or subject to an endless repatriation debate. Here I offer a series of principles which the Greeks and the British Museum can take to jointly create a just return. Because the way the British Museum and Greece resolve this argument will have much to say for the future of the management of our collective cultural heritage.

3D imaging of the Parthenon sculptures: an assessment of the archaeological value of nineteenth-century plaster casts

Abstract

Discourses of cultural heritage in times of crisis: The case of the Parthenon Marbles

The paper focuses on the commodification and politicisation of cultural heritage using as a case study the ongoing debate on the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the U.K. to Greece, recently reignited by the press release for the movie The Monuments Men in 2014. Greece has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis for over six years with the ever imminent threat of Grexit constantly disputed. In parallel with this ongoing turmoil, discourses of Greek antiquity have been persistently prominent in the media. In this context, we problematise the complex nexus of relationships between the financial crisis, national identity and cultural heritage. We combine the Discourse‐Historical Approach and Interactional Sociolinguistics drawing data from an online forum, and investigate how the users negotiate pro‐/anti‐return positions and make the financial crisis relevant in the argumentation process. The analysis shows that history, identity, value, and debt are recontextualised in relation to the Parthenon sculptures. The analysis identifies an underlying process of value trade off and brings the current political and economic environment to the fore. We close the paper by foregrounding the implications of our study and provide directions for further research.

Review: The Parthenon Enigma: A New Understanding of the West's Most Iconic Building and the People Who Made It, by Joan Breton Connelly

Joan Breton Connelly The Parthenon Enigma: A New Understanding of the West's Most Iconic Building and the People Who Made It New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, 485 pp., 8 color and 132 b/w illus. $35, ISBN 9780307593382 The title of this book suggests that its purpose is to present a comprehensive view of the Parthenon in context, and to this end it constructs throughout summaries of the history and interpretation of the Acropolis, especially of the Parthenon. Six of the volume's ten chapters are general treatments of a variety of issues surrounding the Acropolis and the Parthenon. The prologue introduces the Parthenon and the purpose of the book. Chapters 1–3 present the geography and historical development of the Acropolis and a biography of Perikles. The heart of the book and its major contribution, the final articulation of Joan Breton Connelly's 1996 reinterpretation of the east frieze of the Parthenon, is established in detail in chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7.1 The prologue and chapters 1–7 are my focus in this review. The final two pieces, chapter 8 and the epilogue, are tangential, presenting the legacy of the Parthenon, including Elgin's removal of the Parthenon sculptures from Greece and brief comments on the possibility of their repatriation, on the design of the new Acropolis Museum, and on the modern-day issue of cultural property. The prologue offers a brief presentation of various historical understandings of the Parthenon and introduces the essential questions to be addressed in the book. Perhaps most important, it emphasizes the centrality of the “relationship of dead heroes and heroines to the rites of remembrance at the Panathenaic Festival” (xxiii). Chapter 1, “The Sacred Rock,” introduces the most basic context of the Parthenon, the physical characteristics and natural environment of the Acropolis, and describes how the local mythological tradition that shaped later Athenian consciousness grew out of the surrounding landscape and expressed itself in myths and monuments. The chapter explores how the geography of Attica and the myths and memories that resided in it were …

누가 「파르테논 조각상」을 소유하는가?

최근 국제사회는 과거에 반출된 문화재의 반환을 요구하는 나라와 이를 지키려는 나라 사이에 이른바 제3차 세계대전을 치루고 있다. 문화재가 가진 국가적 정체성과 높은 경제적 가치로 인해 문화재의 반환을 요구하는 원산국의 목소리는 갈수록 높아지고 이러한 요구를 막아내기 위해 보유국으로서는 다양한 논리들을 개발하고 있다. 문화재의 환수문제는 그저 어설픈 민족감정으로만 접근할 수 있는 단순한 문제가 결코 아니며, 해당 문화재와 관련한 역사적 맥락, 윤리적 판단, 법적 분석, 외교적 실익, 사회적 파장등 다양한 요소들의 복합체로 구성된다. 본고는 국제사회에서 문화재의 반환을 둘러싼 제반 문제들을 탐구하고자 하는 필자의 3개년에 걸친 계획에 따라, 그 중 첫 번째로 문화재에 관하여 제기되는 근본적인 문제들을 살펴보기 위해 작성된 것이다. 본고의 제목에서「파르테논 조각상」은 런던의 대영박물관에 소장되어 있는 일명 ‘엘긴마블스’, 즉 1810년 당시 터키 주재 영국 대사였던 엘긴경(卿)에 의해 그리스 파르테논신전에서 떼어져 나온 조각상을 가리킨다. 본고는 ‘파르테논 조각상’으로 상징되는 문화재의 환수와 보유에 대한 학문적 논거에 대해 살펴보고 이에 대한 필자 나름의 견해를 밝혀보았다. 이를 위해 논문의 I.에서는 논문의 작성배경을 소개하고 II.에서는 문화재의 개념적 의미와 특성에 대해 알아보았다. 논문의 III.에서는 문화재에 대해 상반되는 두개의 세계관인 문화국가주의와 문화국제주의의 논거와 내용을 살펴보고, IV.에서는 문화국가주의와 문화국제주의 논쟁의 연장선상에서 문화재의 자유로운 이동에 대한 찬성과 반대의 논리에 대해 고찰해보았다. V.에서는 이러한 고찰을 기반으로 구체적으로 파르테논 조각상의 반환을 둘러싼 반환과 보유의 논리상 대립에 대해 탐구하였다. VI.에서는 이러한 종합적인 논구의 결과에 대해 요약·정리하였다.

Museum of Light: The New Acropolis Museum and the Campaign to Repatriate the Elgin Marbles

It is almost half-a-dozen years since the New Acropolis Museum in Athens was inaugurated in June 2009, following a gestation period of over three decades. Before, during and after the construction of the building, the importance of natural light was frequently emphasised by the Museum’s Swiss-French architect, Bernard Tschumi, as well as many Greek government officials, archaeologists, and other heritage professionals. The manner in which the same bright sunlight illuminates both the Parthenon and the temple’s decorative sculptures which are now on display in the Museum, is also routinely referenced by campaigners advocating a return of those sculptures that were removed from the Athenian Acropolis on the orders of Lord Elgin between 1801–03 and subsequently shipped to London. Following the purchase of the collection by the British government in 1816, the Marbles of the Elgin Collection were presented to the British Museum, where they are presently on display in Room 18, the Duveen Gallery. However, for more than two centuries it has been maintained that the sculptures can only be truly appreciated when viewed in the natural light of Athens. Even before the completion of the New Acropolis Museum there were bitter attacks on the manner in which the Marbles are displayed in the British Museum, and the quality of the illumination afforded to the sculptures in the Duveen Gallery. The aesthetics of the Attic light has therefore taken its place as one of the principal weapons in the armoury of Greek officials and international campaigners seeking the return of the Marbles removed by Lord Elgin. Nonetheless, this paper will argue against the accepted orthodoxy that the New Acropolis Museum replicates the original light conditions many of the sculptures from the temple experienced when on the Parthenon. Indeed, this article will dispute the goal of many architects, politicians, and heritage professionals of the need ensure that, when on public display, all of the Parthenon sculptures are bathed in bright natural light. The ability to display the Marbles in the sun-drenched gallery of the New Acropolis Museum forges a powerful link binding the environment of Classical Athens with the present-day capital of Greece, offering politicians and activists seeking the repatriation of the Elgin Marbles a potent weapon wielded to great effect. However, the politically motivated design parameters laid on the museum, requiring the building admit vast amounts of natural Attic light, has destroyed the architectural context the Marbles were displayed in when originally affixed to the temple in the fifth century BC.

Queer Aging Bareback: A Ride with the Parthenon Sculptures

Lesbian, equestrian, and scholarly desires merge through riding, literally and figuratively, with the mounted Athenian soldiers portrayed in the Parthenon frieze. The aging embodied, affective experience of barebacking on a retired cavalry-trained horse offers a key to understanding the queerness of these naked white men’s riding performance.

Displaying the Ideals of Antiquity: The Petrified Gaze by Johannes Siapkas and Lena Sjögren

390 PHOENIX make up the subject of the book, but also for understanding the importance of the myths displayed so prominently in so many ancient Roman homes and tombs. By approaching the interpretation of the reliefs on the sarcophagi through the eyes of the beholder, Zanker makes it impossible ever again to discuss these images solely as decoration or as a window to the afterlife. The new volume, from the series Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation, is beautifully produced and illustrated with photos, many in color, of the sarcophagi. Despite its expense, it is a necessary addition to every library collection of books on Roman art. The College of New Jersey Lee Ann Riccardi Displaying the Ideals of Antiquity: The Petrified Gaze. By Johannes Siapkas and Lena SjÈ ogren. New York and London: Routledge. 2014. Pp. xii, 242. Museum exhibits of ancient artefacts are one of the most common ways people, whether members of the public or specialists, encounter the physical remains of antiquity . However, current displays in museums are rarely considered when discussing the development of the discipline of classical art history and archaeology. This book breaks new ground by including museum exhibits as an important element in the historiography of ancient sculpture. The book is organized into four sections. Part I introduces the aims of the book: to examine how academic debates about ancient sculpture, first begun in eighteenthand nineteenth-century scholarship and reformulated in current research, are reflected in contemporary museum displays and the popular perception of ancient art. Part II, “Discursive Settings,” begins with a historiographical consideration of the early development of the closely intertwined disciplines of classical archaeology (Chapter One) and art history (Chapter Two). An excellent overview of several centuries of studies in ancient sculpture follows (Chapter Three), highlighting influential issues in scholarship ranging from Winkelmann’s1 foundational work in the eighteenth century to that of key twentyfirst -century scholars. Chapter Four concludes this section by focusing on the re-use and re-evaluation of these historic ideas in current scholarship through an examination of individual cases: the Parthenon sculptures, archaic korai, and the contextualization of Roman art. While the overview of sculptural studies is handled with assurance, combining key developments with sweeping fashions influenced by contemporary social, political, and scholarly issues, the treatment of current scholarship is less comprehensive. One important omission is the influence of the modern afterlife and collection history of ancient sculpture on the discipline.2 The omission is curious, since this approach closely relates to both the early development of the discipline and to the museum displays that form the focus of Part III. 1 J. J. Winkelmann, Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums (Dresden 1764). 2 For example, V. Coltman, Classical Sculpture and the Culture of Collecting in Britain since 1760 (Oxford 2009; included in the bibliography); I. Bignamini and C. Hornsby, Digging and Dealing in Eighteenth-Century Rome (New Haven 2010); and C. Bilsel, Antiquity on Display: Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum (Oxford 2012). BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 391 This final section, Part III, entitled “Museological Frictions,” examines current permanent displays of ancient sculpture in several international museums and considers how they reflect the debates explored in the published scholarship. After a brief introduction to museum concerns, there is an overview of the evolution of museums and of displays of antiquities (Chapter Five, “Genealogies”). This progresses from the earliest stages of private collections of curiosities to the public museums of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and includes discussion of the use of plaster casts. It is contextualized within the development of the disciplines of art history and classical archaeology already introduced in the opening chapters. The next three chapters use individual examples of museum display as illustrations of the three broad approaches to the study of ancient sculpture already identified. Chapter Six, “Masterpieces,” examines how the concerns of Meisterforschungen and Kopienkritik are carried into exhibits by giving key sculptures preferential treatment (through position, lighting, etc.) as expressions of artistic genius, while divorcing them from other narratives about ancient sculpture. The chapter concludes by considering the popularization of ancient sculpture, exemplified by the Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace, which have...

Cultural Tourism in Greece at a Time of Economic Crisis

Cultural Tourism in Greece at a Time of Economic Crisis

O Sing the Marbles: Typos, Losing, and the Portable Cultural Histories of James Merrill

O Sing the Marbles:Typos, Losing, and the Portable Cultural Histories of James Merrill David Ben-Merre (bio) A culture also collapses if its words are interchangeable. We all know militaristic euphemisms for destruction. "Taking out" someone is not quite the same thing as "take-out" Chinese food—but if we can accept a language that says "taking out" does not mean death or annihilation, if we accept that as a conventional public metaphor, something happens to morality and to the ethic contained in the word as well. Derek Walcott, "Interview with Bill Moyers" —IF U CN RD THSu cn gt a gd jb w hi pa!So thinks a sign in the subway.Think twice when letters disappearInto Commodity's black hole—No turning back from that career.This counterspell may save your soul. James Merrill, Collected Poems Where else in the eight-hundred-fifty-plus pages of the Collected Poems of James Merrill would there be a typo but in that epic poem of misplaced episodes, "Losing the Marbles"?! Morning spent looking for my calendar—Ten whole months mislaid, name and address,A groaning board swept clean . . .And what were we taking about at lunch? AnotherMarble gone . . . . (Collected Poems 572)1 [End Page 119] The line, published years earlier in The Inner Room (1988), should read: "And what were we talking about at lunch?" It seems that when the diners met again years later, their lunch plans had been changed. Rather than talking, conversing, sharing, they would now be possessing, in effect "having" words. The typo, which jumps out like a bad pun on a Christmas card—"no el, no el"—ironically literalizes the exchange of words that had originally been the diners' objective. But, as we soon learn in section two of "Losing the Marbles," this is a poem that will always be "exchanging the wrong words." Between the intended "talking" and the unintended "taking" lies the difference between conversation and violence, between what is expected of meaningful language and what is known of social behavior. Merrill's poem is about loss, but it is also about recovery. Just as the older mind can lose itself at lunch, so can a poet lose a poem, or a nation its cultural history. For what it's worth, Merrill holds out hope that the mind and the poet and the country can eventually heal, finding in the nooks of memory or the floorboards of the study or the spaces abroad that lost marble again. For a poem that is all about losing, the typo cannot help but name itself as "taking," and, in turn, it gets us talking about culture, modernity, and those loud and timely trains of thought that run overhead. Merrill's poetic laboratory, which itself scrutinizes of the microbes of language, becomes an excellent space for exploring the typo as a mode of critical study and as a form of rhetoric—that which exploits the relationship between language use and social influence. Merrill, more than almost any other, is interested in the meaningful accident, which is neither a formal property of language nor a historical occurrence but both at once. He writes, Two winters ago in Key West, we were talking at dinner about memory lapses, a topic increasingly relevant to everyone present. John Brinnin quoted Lady Diana Duff Cooper, who stayed young and beautiful for nearly ninety years. It seems that whenever a fact or a name slipped her mind, she would shrug and say cheerfully, 'Oh well—another marble gone!' In a flash the image of the Acropolis in Athens appeared on my inner screen, and with it the history of Lord Elgin in the early nineteenth century, removing and carrying off to London most of the Parthenon sculptures. (Collected Prose 144-45)2 [End Page 120] The poet senses in the idiom that lost memories could be given a materiality, as though they could be preserved in a pouch or museum, as though they could be found and taken by someone else. Relating the capacities of personal memory to the politics of national memory is no accident, but it draws upon an accidentalness in a cultural code, where "losing one...

Make the Stones Shout: Contemporary museums and the challenge of culture

AbstractContemporary museums continue to play a vital role in articulating powerful statements of national and cultural identity for broad and diverse audiences. Focusing on a range of global case studies – from recently instituted displays at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC and from the British Museum in London to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne – the author will consider some of the key challenges facing contemporary museums in their efforts to incorporate new insights and approaches to presenting art and culture in contemporary contexts. A particular focus will be provided on the problem of the repatriation/reunification of ancient sculptures and artworks, of which the Parthenon sculptures is a major case.