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Victoria Mindova

The Director of the New Acropolis Museum Prof. Dimitrios Pandermalis speaks exclusively to GRReporter about the world historical heritage of the ancient Greek culture and the new methods of study of ancient remains. He stressed that archeology is an inspiring, but also a demanding profession. As director of one of the most beautiful museums in the world, Pandermalis stressed that the people visiting it come to feel good in it, learn new things, feel comfortable and realize that we are not living in the world only here and now, but we are part of eternity.

The problem with ancient marble artifacts at the British Museum has been on the agenda for many years and Greece has repeatedly tried to bring them back home. Tell us more about this problem and your position as the director of the New Acropolis Museum.

The Parthenon marbles issue has two sides. The first concerns the museum and the second relates generally to the state and the Ministry of Culture, which should take a general decision on the issue of bringing the missing parts back to Greece. The museum could only deal with the specific issues related to the exhibits. Currently, the museum owns half of the bas-reliefs and our main task was to answer the question of "How to present the exhibits to the public?"

From the outset, we decided that we wanted to show the people all the Parthenon had. The only way to do this was to expose all original pieces and to our great regret, to supplement the missing pieces with replicas made primarily from gypsum.

Did you make the difference between the originals and the copies visible on purpose?

Of course not. Just the copy can not have the same quality and appearance as the original. Otherwise, it is as if we are trying to lie to the visitors. On the other hand, this enables us to show how rich and beautiful was the Parthenon, how many and different sculptures it had. The visitors have the opportunity to see the combination and feel the atmosphere. If there were no replicas of the missing pieces, there would be some pieces here and there, and the works would not have its full appearance. When we arranged the initial exhibition at the museum, our work was not completed. We continue to explore the exhibits and reevaluate some data. We do not live believing that there is no need of change or improvement since the museum opened its doors.

What steps did you take to develop or even improve the exhibition?

After we arranged the exhibits, we started looking and examining additional pieces and remains at the museum repository. We found that the replicas presented so far are really good, but they do not meet the level of the originals and have some defects from the scientific point of view. Therefore, we started two programs that will help us solve this problem. Their main goal is to find scientifically how to connect the various parts of the exhibits when the time comes. In the autumn, we will start a three-dimensional study of the pieces using new technologies. It will give us an accurate digital picture of exhibits from all sides to determine how the different pieces were removed from the Parthenon. We will apply this method to all the exhibits at our museum and to those at the British Museum. Then, we will make a digital connection, which will be highly accurate and will show clearly whether there is a need for further development or not.

You understand that the authentic marble parts can not be compared with the replicas. The gypsum from which they are made is inexpensive and fragile material that is easily deformed. Furthermore, not all the originals and their surfaces are fully explored. Only the visible surface has been studied until recently but the back of the bas-relief also has a history. The study will be conducted in cooperation with our British colleagues. They have nothing against the project because it is scientific work and it is actually more important to us. This will make it clear how the various objects have been separated from the original structure. Some of them had broken due to vibrations of the bombings; others because of corrosion and the effect of time, third were deliberately broken or cut. Understanding the process by which they were separated and the Parthenon was destroyed will help us put the pieces together again. This is our program on the issue of the missing pieces of marble for the coming years. As for bringing back the marbles from the British Museum, you should contact the Ministry of Culture.
 
Could we expect the New Acropolis Museum to house the remains, which are now in the possession of the British Museum, as a guest exhibition? Are you discussing this issue with your British colleagues?

All options are open, but this particular issue is beyond my responsibilities. If necessary, I would take part in the negotiations. As happened during the talks UNESCO organized a month ago when it was decided on the programs I told you about. This is an important development, because it is one thing to say, "Bring back the marble" and quite different to establish with scientific accuracy where each missing piece was taken from and where it belongs. You should not think that the British Museum knows where each piece was taken from and what it symbolizes.