Challenge
Pagefield was hired to develop a campaign aimed at making the case to reunify the Parthenon Sculptures (often known as the ‘Elgin Marbles’), currently housed in the British Museum, in their home in Athens, building fresh momentum and winning new supporters in the UK. The campaign would also seek to ensure that the British Museum can continue in its global position as a ‘museum of the world’.
Approach
The campaign has focused on communicating a clear and compelling win-win solution to this centuries-old issue to political stakeholders and national media. We devised a cross-party advisory board, made up a range of politicians, journalists and academics from our network – who have become key spokespeople for the campaign. This has been complemented by a comprehensive briefing programme and stakeholder trips, supported by public polling demonstrating that the majority of Britons are in-favour of the Sculptures’ return. The campaign created and announced its own proposal for a landmark cultural partnership agreement that would be deliverable under the current law, the British Museum Act 1963. This would see the Parthenon Sculptures reunified in Greece and other Greek masterpieces sent to the British Museum for the curation of world-class visiting exhibitions in return.
Results
The campaign has generated more than 1,000 pieces of coverage including in key UK and Greek national media – and has been featured in the BBC, The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, The Times, Evening Standard, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Spectator, The New Statesman and The Telegraph. The headline proposal for a cultural partnership agreement and the concept of a ‘win-win’ deal is now assimilated into almost all media coverage on the topic. Our suggestion of a pragmatic ‘partnership’ that requires neither party to relinquish its claims has been adopted by both the Greek government and the British Museum during ongoing negotiations, a significant moment of progress in this longstanding stalemate. The Greek Culture Minister recently confirmed that Greece would offer major treasures to the UK if the Parthenon Sculptures were returned, renewing international visitor interest in the Greek galleries of the British Museum. The fact that the Greek government is now prepared to offer a cultural partnership in line with the campaign’s proposal is another significant achievement for the Parthenon Project.
