A fashion show in front of the Parthenon friezes in London scandalizes Athens

At the British Museum, Fashion Week is controversial. On Saturday, to present his fall winter 2024 collection, inspired by the Greek singer Maria Callas and her interpretation of the opera Medea in 1953, designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the exhibition room of the Parthenon friezes. A choice strongly contested by the Greek authorities, who have been demanding the restitution of these prestigious ancient works for years.

“By organizing a fashion show in the exhibition hall where the Parthenon friezes are exhibited, the British Museum, once again, demonstrates that it has no respect for the masterpieces of the sculptor Phidias, reacted Saturday evening the Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, in a press release. Those responsible for the British Museum devalue and insult not only the monument, but also the universal values ​​it represents. The conditions for exhibiting sculptures in the Duveen gallery are deteriorating day by day. It is time for this stolen and mistreated masterpiece to shine again in the light of Attica,” she added.

For decades, Greece has been demanding the return of this 75-meter frieze detached from the Parthenon, which is one of the centerpieces of the British Museum. London claims the sculptures were “legally acquired” in 1802 by British diplomat Lord Elgin, who sold them to the British Museum. Greece maintains that they were the subject of “looting” while the country was under Ottoman rule.

In November 2023, a bilateral meeting planned in London between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was canceled by the British leader, after a statement by the Greek head of government to the BBC. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, an ardent supporter of a return of the famous marbles to Athens, estimated that keeping part of the Parthenon friezes outside Greece amounted to “cutting the Mona Lisa (the Mona Lisa) in two”. According to a recent You Gov poll, 53% of Britons are in favor of their restitution. In November 2021, a poll from the same institute showed 59% favorable votes.