Greece is Prepared to Offer ‘Important Antiquities’ to UK in Exchange for Parthenon Marbles

Campaign To Return The Elgin Marbles To Greece — A frieze which forms part of the "Elgin Marbles", taken from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece almost two hundred years ago by the British aristocrat, the Earl of Elgin, are on display January 21, 2002 at the British Museum in London, England. Graham Barclay, BWP Media/Getty Images

Amidst the ongoing campaign for the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles, Lina Mendoni, Culture Minister of Greece, told the Guardian in an interview that the country is ready to "fill the void" that the sculptures will leave the British Museum upon its return to Athens, even if it meant parting with some of the country's "important antiquities."

Mendoni said that "Greece is prepared to organize rotating exhibitions" of these artifacts for the London museum, however, she also said that specific objects are yet to be named as the conversations are still in their initial stages.

The minister added that the "agreement and all its particulars" would still have to abide by the "Greek law on cultural heritage" and she is confident that the would-be loaned artifacts are enough to "maintain, and constantly renew, international visitor interest" in the London museum's galleries.

Agamemnon's Mask, a Potential Loan for the British Museum?

This concept of "cultural exchange" with the UK has been festering since Greece's current prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and his New Democracy party first took to their seats in the country's government back in 2019.

GERMANY-CULTURE-HERITAGE-ARCHEOLOGY — Experts inspect a gold funeral mask discovered at the ancient Greek site of Mycenae (dated around 1600 BC) on November 8, 2018 at the Baden State Museum (Badisches Landesmuseum) in Karlsruhe. ULI DECK/DPA/AFP via Getty Images

Attached to these initial thoughts of exchange were speculations that Agamemnon's Mask, an ancient and fully golden funerary mask dubbed as the "Mona Lisa of prehistory," is among the possible candidates for any possible deals to be made.

A Marked Shift in the Parthenon Marbles Spat

These talks of "partnership" and "win-win" scenarios were previously unheard of within the span of the historically lengthy dispute over the ownership of the Elgin Marbles. At the forefront of this marked shift, in the UK side of things, is George Osborne, Chair of the British Museum.

Osborne has routinely been much more proactive in facing the repatriation issues compared to his predecessors, being the first chair representing the museum to publicly voice his acknowledgment regarding the controversies of the sculptures' procurement as facilitated by Lord Elgin in 1816.

Back in October of this year, Osborne spoke on the museum's desire to "create a proper partnership" during his annual trustees' dinner in the Duveen Gallery. He added that this collaboration would mean "objects from the Parthenon collection potentially traveling to Greece."