Post AW1zEXJR55ENCfeOfY by si_irini@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by si_irini@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AW0e2fcY4a5NIh8Bl2 by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T07:44:27Z
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You have not only broke them out of the Parthenon But from the history of all mankindFrom the history of mankind that your #britishMuseum is supposed to representWhat do you tell your museum visitors?What history?You want to understand them?You can feel them?You love them?You can'tBecause we cry for them, not youYou just don't want to lose the flagships of your museum#greece #history #betterworld #sendthemhome #givethemavoice #hope #writing #love #humanity #mankind #parthenon
(DIR) Post #AW0e2gV8nbkq20fmqm by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T08:50:40Z
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@si_irini The Elgin Marbles probably do need to be returned. Especially in an era when the UK can make high quality copies of them. As a British person I'd prefer to go and see them in Athens - at the moment they are being displayed in an artificial environment without the correct historical context/setting.
(DIR) Post #AW0e2hIPqPAaUpj8ee by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T08:56:11Z
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@steeznson Thank you 🙏🏼😢🙏🏼🇬🇷🫶🏻Today I am having one of those sad days thinking about them and crying 😢.I wrote a lot about them todayDays like this come and go.Sometimes anger and disappointment but also days with tears.
(DIR) Post #AW0e2hsveeNQK4oIZE by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T08:56:42Z
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@si_irini Would also like to add that the political discourse in the UK in the past two years has led me to believe that they are going to be returned soon. There have been a lot of politicians on the airwaves talking about how they could be returned for a "long-term loan" which basically means permanently.
(DIR) Post #AW0e2iYPARYOOiDQDQ by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T08:58:18Z
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@si_irini I would bet that Greece will have them back in the next 5 years
(DIR) Post #AW0e2jCSlVb2OwxPea by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T09:02:24Z
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@steeznson 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼Hopefully
(DIR) Post #AW0e2jtMC1uKXz1fVo by khoji@ieji.de
2023-05-25T09:38:36Z
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@si_irini @steeznson The main problem with returning things like this is that it’s an admission that your side are/were the bad guys. The British love their feeling of cultural, intellectual and ethical superiority. Returning the marbles breaks that self-image and they can only accept it if they can spin the facts so that they can believe they didn’t steal them or see the people they stole them from as so inferior that their opinions on the theft were irrelevant. Which they did.
(DIR) Post #AW0fEhbAe4HUrbmtrU by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T09:52:02Z
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@khoji @si_irini Yeah I can definitely see that side of it in the discourse here. To be honest I probably manifest some of those attitudes because I think returning of national treasures needs to happen on a case-by-case basis. With the Elgin Marbles it's completely clear that they would be returned to a good home but I'm less convinced in other cases.
(DIR) Post #AW0fuVlP2OaSJwVffc by khoji@ieji.de
2023-05-25T09:59:36Z
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@steeznson @si_irini The “good home” argument is a thin-ended wedge and patronising colonialism starts very close to the thin end. I grew up in a village on a Greek island with intellectual ex-pat parents (heaven fofend—we’re not “immigrants”, pass the Pimm’s , won’t you?). It was only much later that I began to understand how close our conscious and unconscious attitudes were to those of the British Raj in India.
(DIR) Post #AW0gZeN9vzxCtTmpY8 by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T10:07:01Z
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@khoji @si_irini I think the issue is too complicated to be able to apply a blanket rule for each (stolen) treasure. There was a concerning news story the other day about Benin Bronzes going missing in Nigeria after being returned by Germany.https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/berlins-benin-bronze-return-a-fiasco-as-artefacts-vanish-jq9xsn9cf
(DIR) Post #AW0hLx9vODwb3jd3EO by khoji@ieji.de
2023-05-25T10:15:45Z
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@steeznson @si_irini OK, it’s complicated. But try this one: “Well, your honour, I did break in and steal that stereo system. But your honour, it really has a much better home with me. Please rule that I should continue to take care of it until the original owners can prove they are mature enough to do so as well.”Good luck with that. 😎 It’s still a case of theft, so at the very least the criminals should not be permitted to continue to benefit from their crime.
(DIR) Post #AW0hd5vU2z0bAm31ns by steeznson@mastodon.social
2023-05-25T10:18:51Z
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@khoji @si_irini I'm happy with any resolution that still leaves the artefacts available for public display (in any country). I think the most important thing is that humanity is guaranteed access to the treasures of the past, wherever they happen to be housed. If there's a risk that they won't be publically available anymore then you are doing the artefacts themselves a disservice.
(DIR) Post #AW1zEXJR55ENCfeOfY by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-26T01:10:49Z
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@khoji @steeznson What you say brings it to the pointBut there are so many wonderful Brits who see that and don't want that anymore They see the mistakeIt's been 200 years, gone, period, forgottenOne could make such a unique gesture with this returnTo set a mark for mankind which is so praised and claimed to be exhibited at the BMIt makes me sick that one can not see or want what chance this return could be as punctuationThere are so many Brits who support the return
(DIR) Post #AW26oS2SriA8x2mjfU by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-26T02:35:44Z
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@khoji @steeznson But you became aware, and that's the differenceBecoming aware of this brings insight and then changeThat's goodMy parents came from Greece, I was born and raised in GermanyI see myself now as one of many. . . one of the foot folk, and you know what, I want to be right hereEvery day, fighting for survival, no privilegesI'm one of those who make up the majority of the world and who might be able to make a difference if we just want to and fightWe create this world
(DIR) Post #AW28C4Yvtw3T2qncDA by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-05-26T02:51:13Z
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@khoji @si_irini @steeznson I believe @khoji is right; his description is in any case consistent with my own observations, though my sense of clinging to anachronistic imperial and royal tradition seems more pronounced among Tories. Would that be right?
(DIR) Post #AW2AQrN5QYWGNyR9v6 by si_irini@mastodon.social
2023-05-26T03:16:18Z
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@khoji @steeznson 😂 😂 That was good!After all, you're right.The responsibility lies with the countries from which the artifacts come, no one else can decide.Do you know how much black trade there is with ours?The penalties are high, but as long as there are still people who buy it, as long as there will be trade in it