09:26

The Elgin Marbles

The argument about the Elgin Marbles has raged back and forth for a century and a half now. What is beyond question is that the British Museum has been a spectacular home for them, and that the original act of theft by Lord Elgin made sure that they survived in their nearly pristine state. But now? When the Acropolis and its museum can offer preservation and a chance to see those wondrous acts of human creativity in situ? In a well developed secure state with every motivation to display its cultural wellspring to an admiring world?

I used to be on the side of the British Museum but not any more. Not if perfect facsimiles that would be indistinguishable from the originals were put in their place. But these would not be the same, goes the argument. To whom? If an expert standing an inch from it would not be able to tell the difference, what chance would a tourist have thirty feet below? The power and beauty would be indistinguishable from the original. 


But this would be the thin end of the wedge, goes the argument. Anything that wasn’t British would then have to be repatriated. Not if this was billed as a one-off return of objects that belong very specifically in one place and as icons with a particular claim to be at the very heart of what it means to be Greek. I cannot think of any other objects that collectively fulfil that criteria. 


And how about this? Why not offer to return the marbles at the very moment we leave the EU? What a wonderfully generous gesture to say to world, and to our European family, that we may have a disagreement about how we organise ourselves but that we are truly bound together by more than divides us and that we share a common cultural heritage that now belongs safely back in Greece.

SHARE:

09:21

Finance and Trust

Finance and Trust
John Authers is a veteran journalist from the FT. He is widely admired for his intellect and deep knowledge of financial markets. Abut a mon...
SHARE:

00:50

Macron on AI

Macron on AI
In the US, AI is entirely driven by the private sector, large corporations, and some startups dealing with them. All the choices they will m...
SHARE:

04:14

Ruth Davidson

Ruth Davidson
Amongst the possible future Tory leaders there is only one that stands out - in a good way that is; Ruth Davidson. On the face of it she has...
SHARE:

16:02

The Turder Prize

The Turder Prize
A couple of years ago we toyed with creating/sponsoring a prize for the worst building inflicted by the architectural profession on the long...
SHARE:

17:24

Trump’s language problem

Trump’s language problem
One of Trump’s problems (there are many) is the paucity of his vocabulary - which is that of an child. His repertoire of adjectives is limit...
SHARE:

09:00

Golan Heights

Golan Heights
The Golan Heights are again in the news. With the Assad/Iran victory in Syria, the Iranians and their proxies are moving up to the border an...
SHARE:

10:56

Jeremy Thorpe

Jeremy Thorpe
Hugh Grant is doing a great turn as Thorpe. Looking back on it, the whole tale was much more than ‘A very English Scandal’. It was high farc...
SHARE:

14:46

St Kilda

St Kilda
You can easily miss St Kilda. To find it, locate Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and then head out fifty miles into the Atlantic wher...
SHARE:

11:17

Theodora’s speech

Theodora’s speech
This is Empress Theodora’s speech to her husband Justinian and his council during the Nika Rebellion of 523. It must be up there with Church...
SHARE:

18:39

Grade inflation

Grade inflation
One of the sins of getting older is the moan that it was all better in the past. Most of the time it’s just different - and that applies to ...
SHARE:

09:04

2nd Referendum

2nd Referendum
The subject of a second referendum once the terms on offer are known seems to me not only democratic but also commons sense: we had no idea ...
SHARE:

16:48

American Porn

American Porn
I  These are the top shelves (note the plural) of a magazine shop in Miami Airport. Note the (slightly) ashamed way they (sort of) cover the...
SHARE:

15:39

Mary Stuart

Mary Stuart
Robert Icke’s production of Schiller’s Mary Stuart is great theatre. It starts with Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams tossing a coin - a sov...
SHARE:

12:38

Burns night joke

Burns night joke
The  Health Secretary was being shown round a hospital. In one room he saw three poor souls gibbering apparent nonsense. "The best laid...
SHARE:

15:17

The illogicality of drug laws

The illogicality of drug laws
The best that can be said about modern drug laws is that we are where we are. The link between harm and legality is obviously illogical as i...
SHARE:

19:10

Somerset

Somerset
Last week I went to the funeral of a friend in Yeovil, Somerset. Lily was a wonderful person and the crematorium was packed. Her husband, Gr...
SHARE:

19:03

Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour
The reviews were ecstatic and praise for Gary Oldman universal - ‘the definitive Churchill’. I went to Darkest Hour in great anticipation - ...
SHARE:

14:02

Interesting stuff

Interesting stuff
These are things I’ve read, heard or seen - and enjoyed last year. Of course I believe in luck. How else does one explain the success of tho...
SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig