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☆ With Slashed Funding, British Museums Turn to Philanthropy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Although the National Portrait Gallery soon secured large grants from several donors, including some from the United States, it also had setbacks. In 2019, the museum turned down a $1.3 million donation from the Sackler family’s charitable arm. Although the National Portrait Gallery eventually raised enough for the renovation, it has struggled in other fund-raising drives. It is widely considered one of the most important portraits of a person of color in British art history. The trans-Atlantic collaboration was “hopefully a good blueprint” for other museums struggling to buy masterpieces, Hilliam added.

Persons: Ramos, Cullinan, ”, Joshua Reynolds’s “, Mai, Sarah Hilliam, Hilliam Organizations: Sackler, Purdue Pharma, Paul Getty Museum Locations: United States, London, Los Angeles

☆ Abortion is ancient history and that matters today
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

This long view of abortion matters, according to Mary Fissell, a professor of the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. That’s because assumptions about how abortion was viewed in the past color present-day arguments about abortion rights. Abortion opponents portray the rights granted by Roe v. Wade and legal access to abortion as an historical aberration, according to Fissell, which is not accurate, historians say. Earliest references to abortionThe first written references to abortion are contained in an ancient Egyptian papyrus written about 3,500 years ago. For most of history, abortion has not been an issue about the fetus, like it is today, but rather about women’s behavior.

Persons: Mary Fissell, Roe, Wade, ”, Fissell, “, Dobbs, it’s, Lysistrata, Aristophanes, —, Lisa Briggs, Briggs, Pliny the Elder, ” Briggs, It’s, Maeve Callan, Callan, ’, Saint Brigid, Patrick, Brigid, Peter Morrison, God, ” Callan, “ quickening, Pope Sixtus V, Pope Gregory XIV Organizations: CNN, Johns Hopkins University, US, Jackson, Health Organization, Cranfield University, British Museum, “, Simpson College, AP, quicken Locations: United States, Dobbs v, Rome, Cyrene, Libya, Iowa, Medieval Ireland, Ireland, Leixlip, Kildare

☆ Where Are Their Heads? Hordes of Ancient Statues Pose That Puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Graham Bowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is clear in any gallery of Greek & Roman art.”Headless Bodies in Top-Shelf MuseumsMany heads were lost because of the wear and tear of time. But other, less innocent explanations for the legions of severed heads include looting and regime change. Ancient insurrectionists and invaders decapitated statues to undermine the authority of rulers who had erected images of themselves as symbols of dominion. “Every culture in the ancient world seems to do it,” said Rachel Kousser, professor of ancient art at the City University of New York. was decapitated by Kushite raiders in Egypt, who then defiantly buried the severed head beneath temple steps in the Kushite capital of Meroë, in modern Sudan.

Persons: ” Kenneth Lapatin, ”, Rachel Kousser, it’s, Emperor Augustus Organizations: Paul Getty Museum, City University of New, British Museum Locations: Los Angeles, “, City University of New York, Egypt, Meroë, Sudan

☆ How Will the Greek Election Affect the Parthenon Marbles?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Since November 2021, Greece’s prime minister and the British Museum have been holding back-room talks about the potential return of at least some of the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of antique treasures that once decorated the famed pillared temple in Athens. The collection, which includes statues of Greek gods and carved friezes, was taken from Greece in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin, a British aristocrat. The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has met several times with George Osborne, a former chancellor of the Exchequer who is now chairman of the British Museum.. The rapport between Mitsotakis and Osborne has widely been seen as one reason the talks have progressed so far. But on Sunday, Greece holds an election and the talks have been postponed until the result of the vote is clear.

☆ Britain's Oxford University cuts ties with Sackler family over opioid links
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The University of Oxford has cut ties with the Sackler family, whose wealth derives from opioid drugs, removing their name form a number of positions and buildings, including two galleries in the Ashmolean Museum. Britain's University of Oxford cut ties with key benefactor the Sackler family, whose wealth derives from addictive opioid drugs and stand accused of helping fuel a U.S. epidemic. The university said that the move, which was approved by its governing council Monday, had also received the "full support" of the Sackler family. "Oxford University has undertaken a review of its relationship with the Sackler family and their trusts, including the way their benefactions to the University are recognized," the university said in a statement. "Following this review, the University has decided that the University buildings, spaces and staff positions using the Sackler name will no longer do so," it said.

☆ Oxford University wipes the Sackler name from its buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Oxford University will remove the Sackler name from its buildings following a review of its relationship with the family that recently expressed regret for its role in the US opioid crisis. The 900-year old university said in a statement that it would remove the Sackler name from some of its most prominent landmarks, including parts of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology and the Bodleian Library. The university said the decision had “the full support of the Sackler family,” adding that it would keep the Sackler name on two donor boards “for the purposes of historical recording of donations to the university.”The Sackler Trust did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Oxford said in its statement that it had not received any new donations from the Sackler family or its charitable trusts since January 2019. In March, a US judge approved a $6 billion settlement paid by the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma to several US states as well as victims of the opioid crisis.

☆ After Seizures, the Met Sets a Plan to Scour Collections for Looted Art
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | Graham Bowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Cambodian officials have said in recent years that at least 45 artifacts at the Met were stolen from ancient sites there. Instead, the Met has requested evidence from Cambodia demonstrating that the works were stolen. The British Museum has been in talks with Greek officials, who have long sought the return of the Parthenon marbles. The Vatican announced last year that it would give fragments of the Parthenon that were long held in the Vatican Museum to the Greek Orthodox Church. Some critics want museums to do far more than simply ensure that ancient objects were not stolen.

☆ Austria says talks underway on returning Parthenon marbles to Greece
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna has a tiny collection of marbles - just two fragments from the Parthenon's northern frieze. But Greece hopes that with each agreement to return pieces to Athens there will be growing "positive momentum" in talks on returning pieces being kept elsewhere. "I am very hopeful that the talks can move on very quickly and the marbles will be on display in Athens." Dendias said the talks were important in the context of discussions about bigger collections, particularly that the British Museum in London. "The regional government of Sicily in 2022 and Pope Francis in 2023 returned to Greece part of the Parthenon sculptures so this will be the third one and this for us is of huge, huge importance," Dendias said.

☆ Artist of Black Portraiture Leads Turner Prize Shortlist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barbara Walker, a British artist who draws huge portraits of Black people onto gallery walls, and Jesse Darling, a sculptor whose works evoke fragile bodies, are among the artists nominated for this year’s Turner Prize, the prestigious British visual arts award. The four-strong shortlist was announced on Thursday at a news conference at the Tate Britain art museum in London. Walker, 58, is perhaps the highest-profile artist to be nominated, with works in the collections of Tate, the British Museum and the Yale Center for British Art. She is nominated for “Burden of Proof,” which appeared last year at the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates, and included charcoal portraits of people affected by Britain’s “Windrush scandal,” in which some long-term British residents, originally from the Caribbean, were misidentified as illegal immigrants and threatened with deportation. Walker drew these portraits directly onto the gallery walls, as well as onto copies of the paperwork that the British government demanded the residents produce.

LONDON—In a small windowless room in the basement of the British Museum sit some of the holiest relics of the Ethiopian Orthodox church: 11 small wooden plaques called Tabots that are considered by Ethiopian Christians to contain God’s presence. Each is meant to represent the biblical Ark of the Covenant. So holy are the pieces that they cannot be publicly displayed—Ethiopian Orthodox believers say only priests should look at them—and not even the director of the British Museum can view them. Covered in pieces of cloth, the 14-inch tablets with carved inscriptions have hardly been seen since they were looted from an Ethiopian fort in 1868 by invading British forces.

☆ UK PM Sunak rules out law change for return of Parthenon marbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN DIEGO, March 13 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ruled out changing a law which prohibits the British Museum handing the Parthenon marbles permanently back to Greece. Sunak is unlikely to break with the stances of his two predecessors who were both against any kind of loan of the marbles to Greece. "The UK has cared for the Elgin Marbles for generations. "We share their treasures with the world, and the world comes to the UK to see them. The collection of the British Museum is protected by law, and we have no plans to change it."

☆ Parthenon Marbles return possible without ownership accord, campaigners say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - The return of the British Museum's Parthenon Marbles to Greece is possible even if the two sides cannot come to an agreement over who owns the sculptures, a campaign group working to resolve the long-standing dispute said on Sunday. Greece has asked for others to imitate the Vatican Museums after they agreed this month to return three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon. London and Athens are in talks over the Parthenon Sculptures held by the British Museum. The Parthenon Project, which has been backed by British politicians from different parties, said the British Museum's Parthenon collection could be returned to Greece under a long-term cultural partnership agreement. That would mean the arrangement sidesteps the requirement for a change in the law to allow the British Museum to dispose of its artefacts.

☆ ‘Mummy’: The Wrap On Ancient Egypt’s Embalmed Remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ben Zimmer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer analyzes the origins of words in the news. Read previous columns here. According to a recent CNN report, a number of British museums are seeking to avoid the use of the word “mummy” in descriptions of human remains from ancient Egypt. Museum officials are instead opting to use terms such as “mummified person” or to highlight the names of individuals “to emphasize that they were once living people,” CNN says.

☆ Egypt unveils renovations of venerable Tahrir Square Museum
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa talks to the media at the Egyptian Museum during a news conference by Egypt's ministry of tourism and antiquities that unveiled a renovated wing at the museum, in Cairo, Egypt February 20, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshCAIRO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Egypt has inaugurated the first phase of renovations on the venerable Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, giving the collection a facelift after many of its objects were relocated to other museums around the country. Egypt hopes to grow its tourism industry by 25% to 30% a year, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at the inauguration ceremony on Monday. The renovation, financed by the European Union and assisted by five major European museums including the Louvre and British Museum, was designed to modernise the presentation of the objects. "The Egyptian Museum continues to develop itself, allowing it to compete with the other major modern museums," Issa said.

☆ Column: The devil's metal strikes again in Trafigura nickel fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Andy Home | Thomson Reuters | Senior Metals Columnist Who Previously Covered Industrial Metals Markets For Metals Week | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Appearances can be deceptive when it comes to nickel, as Trafigura has just found out half a millennium later. Just as it's impossible to say whether some of the recent price volatility on the LME nickel contract was down to Trafigura restructuring hedge positions. The problem is that LME nickel trading has been volatile and unpredictable ever since last year's meltdown. There is now also a growing crisis of confidence in the world of physical nickel trading. Nickel could really do with a reputational break but recent history suggests it's just a matter of time before the devil's metal strikes again.

☆ Parthenon marbles could be seen both in London and Athens, museum chair says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The UK is working on a new arrangement with Greece through which the Parthenon Sculptures could be seen both in London and in Athens, British Museum chair George Osborne said on Thursday, describing it as a win-win situation. Osborne, a former finance minister, reiterated that the museum was having constructive talks with the Greek government about the marbles which have been a source of dispute between the two European countries for centuries. "But I think there is a way forward where these sculptures, the Elgin Marbles, the Parthenon Sculptures, could be seen both in London and in Athens, and that will be a win-win for Greece and for us." "If we wanted to send all the Elgin Marbles back then that would require an act of parliament, and that would be beyond my authority," he said. "But what the museum can do is try and form a new relationship with Greece."

☆ A heart-shaped pendant linked to Henry VIII was dug up on an English farm, pointing to a more romantic side to the Tudor king
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An amateur metal detectorist found a gold necklace linked to Henry VIII and his first wife. The locket is engraved with "H" and "K", the initials of the Tudor king and Katherine of Aragon. The heart-shaped locket is engraved with "H" and "K", the initials of the Tudor king and his first wife Katherine of Aragon. It is not known if the pendant belonged to Henry VIII, Katherine, or a courtier. Henry VIII is famous for his six marriages.

The National Education Union (NEU), which is organising the teachers' strikes, has asked for an above-inflation pay award funded fully by the government, so that schools can also cover other costs, from stationery to textbooks. With inflation reaching double digits last year, teachers have seen a 23% real-terms pay cut since 2010, the union says. Heighington, who teaches music, said more than a third of experienced full-time teachers and teaching staff had left his school last year. Educators say schools having to pay teachers' salaries from their own pocket has left classrooms starved of money for textbooks, IT upgrades and school trips. Reports say teachers at the elite Winchester College in southern England, where Sunak attended school and was a head boy, are among those striking on Wednesday.

☆ An Anglo-Saxon Celebration of the Senses in Silver
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jane Coombs | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In a smaller display case, mounted on a vertical panel, is a large, disc-shaped pin that gleams beneath a small light fixture. About 4.5 inches in diameter and slightly convex, this ninth-century accessory bears a magnificent etched design in burnished silver and niello, a black metallic substance pressed into the grooves. Originally worn at the shoulder to fasten a cloak, the Fuller Brooch (named after its 20th-century donor) is one of the best preserved examples of Anglo-Saxon metalwork and the earliest known depiction of the five senses in art. A similar mix of wit and profundity is readily apparent in the Fuller Brooch’s complex iconography. Many suspect it bears the influence of Alfred the Great (reigned 871–899), a learned Anglo-Saxon king who sparked a revival of religion and literacy after his subjects weathered years of brutal Viking attacks.

☆ Fact Check-The British Museum has not banned the word ‘mummy’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Widespread claims that the British Museum has prohibited use of the term “mummy” in its exhibitions are untrue, according to the institution. Social media users shared posts claiming that the British Museum has banned “mummy” from its historic exhibits, favoring instead more “woke” descriptions such as “mummified person” (here, here). However, a British Museum spokesperson told Reuters via email: “The Museum hasn’t banned the use of the term ‘mummy’ and it is still in use across our galleries.”Both the terms “mummy” and “mummified remains of…” feature across current displays and exhibitions at the museum, the spokesperson said. The Daily Mail report claimed the British Museum had banned the word “mummy” but has since been updated (here ). The British Museum has not banned the term “mummy” and uses both “mummy” and “mummified remains of…” in its displays and exhibitions, a spokesperson for the institution said.

☆ Greek PM dashes hopes of swift return of Parthenon marbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ATHENS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday dismissed reports of an imminent repatriation of the Parthenon sculptures known in Britain as the Elgin marbles. Greece has accused Lord Elgin of theft and does not recognise the British Museum as owner of the sculptures. [1/3] A man looks at the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on show at the British Museum in London October 16, 2014. The British Museum has always rejected returning the parts in its collection, which include about half of the 160 metre (525 ft) frieze that adorned the Parthenon. Many countries have pressured British institutions to return looted artefacts, especially given that the British Museum only displays about 1% of its collection.

☆ British Museum says in 'constructive' discussions over Parthenon marbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A man looks at the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on show at the British Museum in London October 16, 2014. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The British Museum said on Wednesday it was holding "constructive discussions" with Greece over the Parthenon Sculptures amid renewed speculation that the 2,500-year-old marbles could soon be returned to Athens. "We've said publicly, we're actively seeking a new Parthenon partnership with our friends in Greece and as we enter a new year constructive discussions are ongoing," the British Museum said in a statement. A spokesperson for the Greek government said there had not been any further discussions with British government officials recently, but its request for the return of the sculptures was ongoing. "The government with professionalism and full respect for all the parameters of this issue will continue to pursue the best possible result, aiming at the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures."

☆ The Vatican is returning Parthenon sculptures to the Greek Orthodox Church as a 'donation' more than 200 years after they were stolen from the country. But other European museums with pieces of the an
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Vatican will return three Parthenon fragments to the Greek Orthodox Church as a "donation." The Vatican Museum has kept the fragments since 1803, when Greece says they were stolen. For years, Greece has sought to regain Parthenon marbles from The Vatican and British Museums. Elgin sold the relics to the Vatican Museum in 1803 and additional fragments to the British Museum in 1816. The British Museum did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Germany hands over 20 looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Lisi NiesnerABUJA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Germany has handed over 20 Benin Bronzes from its museums to Nigeria, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday, making it the latest European country to return cultural artefacts to their African homeland. Germany had agreed to start returning Benin Bronzes held in its museums last year. Earlier this year, Germany signed a declaration with Nigeria to release all 1,130 Benin Bronzes - actually copper alloy relief sculptures, many showing court figures - in German public museums. The returns are likely to increase pressure on the British Museum in London, which holds by far the largest and most significant collection of Benin Bronzes. Nigeria's information minister called on the British Museum to release the more than 900 Benin Bronzes it has.

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