Statement from the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

”The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon
Sculptures (IARPS) and the twenty National Committees worldwide congratulate and firmly support Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his efforts to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens for the festive bicentennial commemoration of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 2021.

The loan proposition Prime Minister Mitsotakis successfully agreed with French President Macron last week – the South metope X of the Parthenon on display in the Louvre in return for a collection of bronze artefacts from Greece – was a first step on the way to making a breakthrough in the long ongoing claim by the Hellenic Government for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens.

We warmly welcome the announcement Prime Minister Mitsotakis made in an interview with The Observer stating that he is going to propose to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, [quote] “as a first move, to loan me the sculptures for a certain period of time and I will send you very important artefacts that have never left Greece to be exhibited in the British Museum.”

We sincerely hope that Prime Minister Johnson, as a philhellene and Classically educated person, will give this proposition the consideration it demands, and we wish Prime Minister Mitsotakis every possible success in his campaign to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in 2021.

Dr Christiane Tytgat
President IARPS

The Executive Board of IARPS

The 20 National Committees worldwide”