French government to hear last-ditch appeal this week over new culture minister’s ‘compromise’ for Pavillon des Sources
Campaigners battling to save part of Marie Curie’s Paris laboratory have said the decision to take it apart brick by brick and rebuild it is “totally absurd”.
They warned that once the Pavillon des Sources is dismantled under the “compromise” plan announced by the new culture minister last week, it is unlikely to be restored.
Continue reading...New Bond Street department store, which opened in 1890s, to close doors for final time this weekend
More than 130 years after it opened, the flagship Fenwick department store in central London, will close its doors for the last time on Saturday.
The historic four-storey shop in New Bond Street, Mayfair, is shutting after the retailer – which is owned by more than 40 descendants of John James Fenwick who founded the company with a single store in Newcastle in 1882 – sold the property to developers for £430m.
Continue reading...Three-year €2.1m fund will prioritise former colonies of the two countries and could lead to return of items
Germany and France will jointly spend €2.1m (£1.8m) to further research the provenance of African heritage objects in their national museums’ collections, which could prepare the ground for their eventual return.
A three-year fund, with contributions of €360,000 a year by each country, was launched in Berlin on Friday. It has been designated to fund research on objects from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, though priority is expected to be given to countries that were colonised by France and Germany, such as Togo and Cameroon.
Continue reading...Archaeologists surprised to find graves of ordinary locals in place known as final resting place of rich and powerful
In the heyday of the wonderful church, it was used as the final resting place for the rich and powerful: high-ranking clergy, wealthy landowners, lords who guarded the borderlands.
But excavation work carried out at Tintern Abbey has found that after the gothic masterpiece fell into ruin following the dissolution of the monasteries, ordinary local people took advantage of the chance to bury their dead within the sacred – and beautiful – grounds.
Continue reading...Then PM was advised to ‘encourage’ British Museum to agree long-term loan in return for Greek support
Tony Blair considered a “long-term loan” of the Parthenon marbles to Greece in the hope of support for a London 2012 Olympic Games bid, newly released documents reveal.
Twenty years before Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, over the ownership question of the sculptures, Greece was lobbying Blair, the then prime minister, for a long-term loan, bypassing the issue of ownership.
Continue reading...Culture minister Lina Mendoni pledges to ‘fill the void’ at British Museum should ancient sculptures be returned to Athens
Greece is prepared to part with some of its greatest treasures to “fill the void” at the British Museum if the Parthenon marbles were reunited in Athens, the country’s culture minister has said.
Speaking to the Guardian at the end of a momentous year for the campaign to retrieve the fifth-century BC masterpieces, Lina Mendoni promised that the London institution’s revered Greek galleries would never go empty.
Continue reading...Thousands sign petition challenging Macron-backed restoration that would add contemporary design to building
A plan backed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to replace stained-glass windows in Notre Dame Cathedral’s side chapels with contemporary creations has been criticised as “vandalism”.
A petition has been signed by more than 120,000 people to retain the original windows. Critics say the change would destroy the architectural harmony of the historical building that was ravaged by fire in April 2019.
Continue reading...Architect of Brexit calls for closer Anglo-Greek cultural ties, with sections held elsewhere in Europe also sent back
Britain should be part of a pan-European effort to bring the Parthenon marbles back to Greece, according to an architect of Brexit, who said the UK should make a grand gesture to create closer diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries.
David Frost, a chief Brexit negotiator, called for a deal between Britain and Greece that would put the long-running dispute to bed, with the sculptures returned to Greece for the first time since the early 1800s when they were taken by Lord Elgin. At present they are in the British Museum’s collection.
Continue reading...Historic England highlights ‘remarkable gems’ among 227 places added to national list in 2023
An intact second world war radar station and a 1960s church that resembles an upturned boat have joined some of England’s grandest buildings on the national heritage list.
Historic England singled out 16 “remarkable historic gems” that had been added to the list or had their entries updated in 2023. They include a 400-year-old structure regarded as England’s earliest known “modern-day car wash”, an unusually long railway footbridge, an iron age cave and a Manchester primary school that still has its flashy art nouveau tiling from more than a century ago.
Continue reading...Famous tree was cut down from its spot on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in September
Salvaged seeds and cuttings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are showing positive signs of being able to grow and provide “new descendants”, the National Trust has said.
The world famous tree was cut down from its spot on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in late September. Police continue to investigate the felling. A man in his 60s and two men in their 30s, who were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, remain on bail.
Continue reading...Work to be carried out on Garisenda tower in new year after area around it was cordoned off due to collapse fears
Officials have announced plans to repair one of two 12th-century towers in the Italian city of Bologna after the area around it had to secured last month over fears its leaning could lead to collapse.
The city said the €4.3m (£3.7m) project to shore up the Garisenda tower – one of the Two Towers that look out over central Bologna, providing inspiration over the centuries to painters and poets and a lookout spot during conflicts – would proceed in January and February.
Continue reading...Cancellation of meeting with Greek PM has Europeans wondering how Cameron will work with No 10
The Greek foreign minister, Giorgos Gerapetritis, was attending a two-day Nato summit in Brussels on Tuesday when he received an unexpected message from the British delegation. The foreign secretary, David Cameron, was hoping the minister might be available for an unscheduled meeting. There was much to discuss on migration, as well as the relief operation in Gaza. There was one condition from the UK: that there be no cameras.
Gerapetritis readily agreed, and one can only assume it took only an un-minuted raised eyebrow from Lord Cameron for the former prime minister to distance himself discreetly from Rishi Sunak’s bizarre decision to cancel a scheduled Downing Street visit with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, set for 12.30pm on Tuesday.
Continue reading...PM reaffirms stance after George Osborne suggests snub to Greek counterpart was result of ‘petulance’
Rishi Sunak has denied having a “hissy fit” over the Parthenon marbles row and has said they cannot be returned to Greece “as a matter of law”.
The prime minister this week accused his Greek counterpart of using a trip to London to “grandstand” over the issue of the ancient Greek sculptures.
Continue reading...Institution’s chair, George Osborne, says the row opened Rishi Sunak up to a ‘devastating line of attack’ from Labour
Rishi Sunak opened up a “devastating line of attack” from Labour by snubbing his Greek counterpart this week, according to the British Museum’s chair George Osborne, who said the row had encouraged the institution to press ahead with talks over loaning the Parthenon marbles to Athens.
Osborne said: “That is, I think, something worth exploring. And we can go on doing it whether or not Rishi Sunak meets the Greek prime minister or not. In fact, if anything, things have been rather clarified by this week. We obviously know we’re not going to get any particular support from the Conservative government.”
Continue reading...Prime minister escalates row with Athens counterpart in first public comments after cancelling their meeting
Rishi Sunak has intensified his diplomatic spat with his Greek counterpart, accusing Kyriakos Mitsotakis of using his recent trip to London to “grandstand” over the issue of the Parthenon sculptures.
The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday he had cancelled a planned meeting with Mitsotakis in London on Tuesday because the Greek prime minister had reneged on a promise not to use the trip as an opportunity to advocate for the sculptures’ return.
Continue reading...Tristram Hunt says trustees should be able to ‘make case’ for items to be retained or returned to countries of origin
Museum trustees should be able to “make the case” whether items in their collections should be retained or returned to their countries of origin, but instead were being “infantilised” and “hidebound” by legislation, Tristram Hunt, the director of the V&A, has said.
He was speaking as a diplomatic row between the UK and Greece over the future of the Parthenon marbles, held at the British Museum, blew up this week after Rishi Sunak abruptly cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Continue reading...Levelling up secretary breaks away from evidence at Covid inquiry to apologise for ‘errors I and others made’
Gove breaks away from the line of questioning to issue an apology.
I want to take this opportunity, if I may, to apologise to the victims who endured so much pain, the families who’ve endured so much loss, as a result of the mistakes that were made by government in response to the pandemic.
And as a minister, responsible for the Cabinet Office, and who was also close to many of the decisions that were made, I must take my share of responsibility for that.
Continue reading...Kyriakos Mitsotakis to raise issue of ‘reunification’ of sculptures when he meets Rishi Sunak this week
Talks over a possible return of the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum to Greece are not advancing quick enough, the Greek prime minister has said before his meeting with Rishi Sunak this week.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis likened the British Museum’s possession of the sculptures – also known as the Elgin marbles – to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half, saying it was not a question of ownership but “reunification”.
Continue reading...Labour leader gives strongest hint yet of support for loan deal with Greece if his party wins next election
The Greek government has been assured by Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, that in the event of electoral victory next year he will not block a prospective arrangement to return the Parthenon marbles to Athens.
Speaking through aides before talks in London with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Starmer gave his strongest hint yet of his support for a loan deal that would see the antiquities return to the country where they were carved 2,500 years ago.
Continue reading...Amnesty says heritage body has ‘fallen short’ in its responsibility to thousands of families thrown off the complex in Cambodia
Unesco has “fallen short of its responsibility to uphold and promote human rights” amid mass evictions at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, Amnesty International has claimed in a new investigation.
The Cambodian government has used “intimidation, harassment, threats and acts of violence” to remove about 10,000 families from the world heritage site, the report said. In an unusual move, Amnesty also named Unesco as a “responsible actor”, arguing that the UN body was made aware of alleged human rights abuses for months but did not investigate or acknowledge them.
Additional reporting by Keat Soriththeavy
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