The British Museum has pledged to not dismantle its assortment, following a report that the establishment’s chairman has held secret talks with Greece’s prime minister over the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, often known as the Elgin Marbles.

The report by the Greek newspaper Ta Nea is the most recent twist within the long-running dispute over possession of the traditional sculptures, which initially stood on the Acropolis in Athens and have been a centerpiece of the British Museum’s assortment since 1816.

Ta Nea reported Saturday that negotiations between museum Chairman George Osborne and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have been happening since November 2021 and are at a complicated stage.

While the museum did not deny that talks have taken place, a spokesman refused to debate the specifics of the Ta Nea story. The museum stated it was ready to “talk to anyone, including the Greek government” about a new Parthenon “partnership.” “As the chair of trustees said last month, we operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle our great collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity,” the museum said in a statement released Saturday. “But we are seeking new positive, long-term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that of course includes Greece.” The Greek authorities supplied no touch upon the report.

Although British authorities have rebuffed efforts to return the sculptures to Greece since at the very least 1941, there was a change of tone lately as museums all over the world search to deal with issues about the best way historic artifacts had been acquired in periods of imperial domination and colonial enlargement.

In July, Jonathan Williams, the British Museum’s deputy director, stated the establishment wished to “change the temperature of the debate” across the marbles.

“What we are calling for is an active Parthenon partnership’ with our friends and colleagues in Greece,” he told the Sunday Times. “I firmly believe there is space for a really dynamic and positive conversation within which new ways of working together can be found.” On its web site, the museum says it’s keen to think about loaning the sculptures to Greece, however that successive Greek authorities’s have refused to acknowledge the museum’s possession. There aren’t any present negotiations concerning the situation, the museum says.

Speaking throughout a go to to London on Nov. 28, Greek PM Mitsotakis implied that some talks have taken place.

“I don’t want to speak publicly about the discussions that we have had,” he stated. “But I think there is a better sense of understanding that maybe a win-win solution can be found that will result in a reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Greece, while at the same time also taking into consideration concerns that the British Museum may have.” The situation is sophisticated by an act of Parliament that prohibits the museum from promoting, freely giving or in any other case disposing of any objects in its assortment except they’re duplicates or not wanted for research.

The marbles are remnants of a 160-meter-long (520-foot) frieze that ran across the outer partitions of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis, devoted to Athena, goddess of knowledge. Much was misplaced in a Seventeenth-century bombardment, and about half the remaining works had been eliminated within the early nineteenth century by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin.

They ended up within the British Museum, which has repeatedly rebuffed Greek calls for for his or her return.

Successive Greek governments have lobbied for the return of the British Museum’s share of the works, which embody statues from the Parthenon’s pediments — the all-marble constructing’s gables. They argue that Elgin illegally sawed off the sculptures, exceeding the phrases of a questionable allow granted by Turkish authorities whereas Greece was an unwilling a part of the Ottoman Empire.

The British Museum rejects that stance — regardless of indications that public opinion within the U.K. favours the Greek demand — and has proven little willingness to completely return the works.

The Parthenon was constructed between 447-432 B.C. and is taken into account the crowning work of classical structure. The frieze depicted a procession in honour of Athena. Some small bits of it — and different Parthenon sculptures — are in different European museums.

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