Elgin Marbles

[lpm]

Just give them back. Nobody in the country cares, except liberal metropolitan elites. Only foreigners ever go to a so-called "museum" to see them.

[dyqik]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

[Gentleman Jim]

Oooh A project for D&T/art pupils - draw your version of the Elgin Marbles and print them on the 3D printer

[monkey]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

There's already copies knocking about. I saw a set in Nashville in the copy of the Parthenon they have there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_(Nashville)

[Fishnut]

I think they should scan the marbles (which I feel almost sure they must have done already) then return the originals and display the copies. And do that for all the contested items. The British Museum should lead the way on repatriation of artefacts that were stolen or dubiously procured. There is no good reason for us to hold onto these things. There's definitely an argument to be made that collections should be split to protect them should anything befall the museum (the fossils I work with for my PhD are split across several museums around the world for this reason) but that should be a dialogue with the home country, not a unilateral 'we "bought" this 300 years ago so it's ours now'.

I really think that for western museums to continue to be a place of relevance they need to directly and honestly address the consequences of the 'age of exploration' and the empire. Why do we think it's ok to display skeletons and mummies? Why do we think it's ok to claim ownership of items that are sacred to the people whose ancestors made them? I love museums and have learned so much from them but it's increasingly clear that there is a refusal to acknowledge the darker sides of their collections. Even the origin of the British Museum is inextricably tied to the slave trade yet you'd barely know it at the museum.

[Boustrophedon]

Oooh A project for D&T/art pupils - draw your version of the Elgin Marbles and print them on the 3D printer

Wrong, no one makes anything in DT now. Draw a 3D version of the Elgin Marbles and show that they could be printed.

[Boustrophedon]

They're rubbish not worth parthenon.

[cvb]

Give them back you thieving f.ckers, and the rest of artefacts stolen during the empire.

You obviously won't but you should.

[Gfamily]

An act of parliament would be needed, as there's a law to prevent repatriation of museum artefacts.

cba to Google details

[Gentleman Jim]

Oooh A project for D&T/art pupils - draw your version of the Elgin Marbles and print them on the 3D printer

Wrong, no one makes anything in DT now. Draw a 3D version of the Elgin Marbles and show that they could be printed.

Hey, I've made several things in DT over the last couple of years - oh.......................

[jimbob]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

Dippy, for example. Although that's now a cast which is important in its own right as an artefact.

I was at a conference dinner in the National Museum of Wales, whilst it was there, and no red wine was allowed.

[Martin_B]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

There's already copies knocking about. I saw a set in Nashville in the copy of the Parthenon they have there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_(Nashville)

Been there. Nashville was a much more likeable city than I was expecting. It helped that we met the wife of either the mayor or some other bigwig who took us on a tour and then offered her car and chauffeur for the day in case there was anything else we wanted to see.

[Grumble]

Give them back you thieving f.ckers, and the rest of artefacts stolen during the empire.

You obviously won't but you should.

f.ck all to do with the British Empire. We bought them off the Ottoman Empire. Whether they were entitled to sell them is the question but we didn’t steal them.

[cvb]

Give them back you thieving f.ckers, and the rest of artefacts stolen during the empire.

You obviously won't but you should.

f.ck all to do with the British Empire. We bought them off the Ottoman Empire. Whether they were entitled to sell them is the question but we didn’t steal them.

Nothing dodgy there then.

[nefibach]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

You'll be wanting the world expert on how they were originally painted, then, to come up with the colour schemes.

Get your sunglasses on before you click.

https://buntegoetter.liebieghaus.de/en/

[jimbob]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

You'll be wanting the world expert on how they were originally painted, then, to come up with the colour schemes.

Get your sunglasses on before you click.

https://buntegoetter.liebieghaus.de/en/

Really interesting, thanks nefibach.

[Allo V Psycho]

As someone else here had said on Twitter, it's now trivial to 3d scan and reproduce them so they'd pass any basic museum visit.

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Same goes forvmany other museum exhibits - statues or dinosaur bones, for example, often are plaster casts already.

You'll be wanting the world expert on how they were originally painted, then, to come up with the colour schemes.

Get your sunglasses on before you click.

https://buntegoetter.liebieghaus.de/en/

Fascinating, thanks, nefibach.

[nefibach]

You're both welcome!

[plebian]

That is a super site and program. Thanks

[raven]

And to use that as a base to replace the heads and paint them in the bright colors they'd have originally been painted in.

Wish they'd repaint Ely Cathedral in its original colours. That would be awesome.

The Ashmolean had a couple of casts painted in original colours last time we wandered through the statuary bit. They was very pretty, especially this guy: https://frieze.com/article/polychrome-r ... rta-statue

Also, I thought the Pitt Rivers, which is basically stuffed with artefacts from other cultures, handled it pretty well when someone pointed out they'd got hold of things they shouldn't really have: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/201 ... -artefacts

Pitt Rivers is really interesting. I was really surprised that they had a couple of Hawai'ian cloaks in there. Did not expect to see those in the UK. (They'd been given as gifts I think.)

Edited for crap typing. Again.

[greyspoke]

I love the Pitt Rivers as well though I haven't been there for ages. I always imagined Rivers himself to be a swashbuckling cowboy, hence the saying "nobody crosses Pitt Rivers and lives".

[dyqik]

I love the Pitt Rivers as well though I haven't been there for ages. I always imagined Rivers himself to be a swashbuckling cowboy, hence the saying "nobody crosses Pitt Rivers and lives".

"You can't cross the same Pitt Rivers twice."

[TopBadger]

I think we should give them back - they can pay the shipping costs though!

[JQH]

Just tell the Greek government they can collect and make their own arrangements for transportation.

[dccarm]

We could just leave a card saying we tried to deliver it but no one was home.