ATHENS: Greece’s president called on Monday for Britain to free the Parthenon Marbles from the “murky prison” of its national museum, upping the rhetoric in a near 200-year-old campaign for the sculptures’ return.
President Prokopis Pavlopoulos spoke at Athens’ own glass-fronted Acropolis Museum, which campaigners hope will one day house the classical reliefs and figures taken by a British diplomat in the early nineteenth century.
“Let the British Museum come here and make the comparison between this (Acropolis) museum of light and the murky, if I may say, prison of the British Museum where the Parthenon Marbles are held as trophies,” Pavlopoulos said.
There was no immediate response from the British Museum.
Britain’s Lord Elgin removed the 2,500-year-old sculptures from the Acropolis temple in Athens during a period when Greece was under Ottoman rule.
They have been placed in a gallery inside the British Museum in London, lit by a long skylight.
Greece has repeatedly requested their return since its independence in 1832, and stepped up its campaign in 2009 when it opened its new museum at the foot of the Acropolis hill.
That building holds the sculptures that Elgin left behind alongside plaster casts of the missing pieces, lit by the sun coming through a glass wall looking over the original site.
“This museum can host the Marbles,” Pavlopoulos said. “We are fighting a holy battle for a monument which is unique.”
The British Museum has refused to return the sculptures, saying they were acquired by Elgin under a legal contract with the Ottoman empire.
The museum and other British institutions have also resisted other repatriation campaigns citing legislation preventing them from breaking up collections and arguing that they can preserve items and present them to an international audience.
Greece: Free our marbles from British Museum’s ‘murky prison’
Greece: Free our marbles from British Museum’s ‘murky prison’
- President Prokopis Pavlopoulos: Let the British Museum come here and make the comparison between this (Acropolis) museum of light and the murky, if I may say, prison of the British Museum
- Britain’s Lord Elgin removed the 2,500-year-old sculptures from the Acropolis temple in Athens during a period when Greece was under Ottoman rule
Riyadh to install 25 new public artworks after conclusion of Tuwaiq Sculpture symposium
- Move will extend the impact of the annual art event beyond its conclusion, bringing large-scale contemporary artworks into the city’s streets and parks
- Artworks produced during the symposium will now become part of Riyadh Art’s permanent collection
RIYADH: Some 25 sculptures created during the seventh edition of the Tuwaiq Sculpture symposium and exhibition will soon be installed across public spaces in Riyadh.
The move will extend the impact of the annual art event beyond its conclusion, organizers said, bringing large-scale contemporary artworks into the city’s streets and parks.
Organized by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City through the Riyadh Art Program, the 2026 edition has ended after nearly two months of live sculpting, exhibitions and public programming.
The artworks produced during the symposium will now become part of Riyadh Art’s permanent collection and will appear across the capital as part of a broader effort to integrate art into everyday urban life.
This year’s symposium began in January and took place along Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Road, widely known as Tahlia Street.
The site was transformed into an open-air studio in which visitors could observe artists carving, welding and assembling sculptures.
The live sculpting phase, which was held between Jan. 10 and Feb. 5, brought together leading Saudi and international artists to produce 25 large-scale works.
The sculptures were created using locally sourced granite and reclaimed metal, highlighting both the region’s natural materials and the creative reuse of industrial elements.
Visitors were able to follow the process of each artwork’s development, from raw materials to finished sculptures, while also interacting with the artists and learning about their techniques and concepts.
The event also featured a wide-ranging community engagement program designed to deepen public understanding of contemporary art.
The program included 10 panel discussions, 105 training workshops and 15 masterclasses exploring sculptural techniques, materials and the role of public art in cities.
Educational outreach formed another key component of the symposium. Organizers hosted 25 educational visits for more than 600 students, while daily guided tours enabled visitors to explore the artworks and gain insight into the creative processes behind them.
After the live sculpting phase, the completed sculptures remained on-site until March 8, giving visitors the opportunity to experience the works in their original setting before their distribution across Riyadh.
The symposium was curated by Lulwah Al-Homoud, Sarah Staton, and Rut Blees Luxemburg, who guided the artistic direction around the theme “Traces of What Will Be,” exploring how sculpture can reflect future possibilities while responding to the city’s evolving identity.
