The argument for repatriating the Parthenon Marbles or keeping them in the British Museum can be seen as an argument between Cultural Internationalists and Cultural Nationalists. Cultural Internationalists think cultural property should be experienced by everyone in the world and held in museums where they can be best accessed, researched and preserved. Cultural Nationalists believe that cultural property should stay within its country of origin and studied and understood in relation to the identity and personhood of its home.
Some of the rationale for the sculptures staying in London include:
Repatriating the artifacts would mean that the British Museum would open itself to a flurry of lawsuits by countries that would like their taken artifacts to be returned to them
The British Museum receives more visitors per year than the Acropolis Museum so more people would be able to appreciate the marbles if they remained in London
The ability to pursue a claim in court would be severely hindered because the legal principle of limitation, where a grievance can only be prosecuted against for a certain amount of time would apply
Since fragments of the Parthenon can be found in various museums throughout Europe, forcing the British Museum to repatriate their marbles would mean that the other museums would be pressured to as well (and a few are unwilling to do so as detailed in the “Other Fragments” section)
The artifacts can be better appreciated against the backdrop of differing world cultures that Ancient Greece interacted with
Some of the rationale for repatriating the sculptures to Greece include:
Reuniting the artifacts would allow the public to appreciate them as a whole, cohesive unit and the frieze was intended to be consumed as a singular piece of art
The Parthenon Sculptures are a unique case and would not lead to the repatriation of other artifacts because of the murky nature of their departure from Greece (the legality of Elgin’s permit was never proved and the document has never been found in its original form)
The marbles could be appreciated near where they once stood a thousand years ago, at the foot of the Acropolis, in a museum that was built to expand upon their importance
Casts, similar to the ones used in the Acropolis Museum, could be used in the British Museum if the British Museum truly wanted to emphasize the importance of these artifacts and allow them to be contrasted with a variety of different cultures
Safekeeping of the art would be ensured in the state-of-the-art Acropolis Museum, in direct response to earlier British Museum claims that the marbles were safer in London
The expanded position of the Board of Trustees can be found here.
The expanded position of the Acropolis Museum can be found here.