The British Museum offers Greece “exclusive NFT” of the Parthenon Marbles
The British Museum has dug in its heels in its decision not to repatriate the Parthenon marbles, adding insult to injury through a recent proposal to grant Greece an “exclusive NFT” of the sculptures to “settle unreasonable and unnecessary questions about the true ownership of the story.” That’s what a spokesperson for the British Museum says Hyperallergenic that the “generous compromise” would put an end to the fight over the famous sculptures, which were “lawfully obtained.”
Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed the marble sculptures 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 into British colonial territory with the permission of the Ottoman Empire that controlled Greece in the early 19th century. However, the legality of the removal of the sculpture has been questioned repeatedly, and Greece has demanded the repatriation of the spheres since 1835. England has not wavered in its bid that the spheres belong to them despite the added pressure of the Vatican’s recent repatriation of fragments of the Parthenon Marbles from their collection to Greece.
At a press conference this morning, Saturday April 1, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voiced his support for the plan, stating that the NFT is “infinitely more valuable” because the physical sculptures – which have survived 2,500 years – “could never last this long .”
“In this way, we can be confident that there will be no further damage to these prized sculptures,” the British Museum spokesperson said in a statement, citing the damage inflicted by the bullets from several wars in Greek history and some unsuccessful cleaning and restoration. effort from the conservators at the museum. “An NFT rendition of the Elgin Marbles [sic] will be stamped and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Greek Directorate General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage to ensure that no further confusion or debate arises as to their true ownership.”
Greece’s Ministry of Culture has not yet responded Hyperallergichis request for comment, but late last night Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis simply tweeted “JFC”.
“Blockchain really is such an elegant solution to this complex dialogue around the ownership of culture and history,” said Tiffany Jenkins, a British author who has defended the British Museum’s stance on keeping the marbles.
