Would Britain return Elgin Marbles?

Returning Elgin Marbles will set a significant precedent, and it is not likely to happen.

KIM SEUNG-JUNGThe author is a professor of art history and archeology at the University of Toronto. Recently, it has been revealed that more than 2,000 articles have been stolen from the British Museum’s collection over a long period of time.

What’s more surprising is that the main suspect is the chief curator who had worked for the museum for 30 years. It is said that the suspect has stolen collections that lack records and constantly sold them through various channels, including the Internet, over the past 20 years.

The slack artifacts maintenance and security system unsuitable for the world-class museum is certainly shocking, but the management style of ignoring suspicions and warnings of thefts and coverups of similar cases is also problematic.

This incident has undermined the credibility of the British Museum. As a result, the controversy over the so-called “Elgin Marbles,” which has caused conflicts between Greece and the United Kingdom over the past 40 years, is resurfacing.

Elgin Marbles refers to the decorative sculptures from the Parthenon, currently in the collection of the British Museum. The Greek government has persistently demanded the return of the sculptures removed by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who served as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. Now, the Greek government is raising its voice again in the wake of the British Museum theft scandal.

Britain argues for “cultural internationalism,” in which historically important archaeological artifacts, such as Parthenon sculptures, are not owned by a country but are a common cultural heritage of mankind. But it is merely an excuse to defend its past of imperial infringement of cultural assets.

Returning Elgin Marbles will set a significant precedent, and it is not likely to happen. As it won’t end with Elgin Marbles alone, leading museums around the world may have to shut down if the British Museum should decide to return them to Greece.

Since the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, illegally acquired collections have been returned to the original countries of excavation one by one. But this is only an extremely symbolic act. Currently, the total value of illegally traded artifacts is no less than the arms trade worldwide.