Sir Mark Jones was appointed interim director of the British museum after the sustained theft of some two thousand key pieces for years came to light and that countries like Greece and China questioned the capacity of the institution to safeguard historical heritage and requested the restitution of several of them appropriated by the English institution.
Jonesa renowned Saxon museologist who long before this appointment proposed, for example, to share with Greece the marbles of Parthenon appropriated by Britainwas appointed to replace hartwig fischerwho resigned on August 25 from the leadership of the British museumafter knowing the systematic thefts of important historical pieces that evidenced failures in the security system of the prestigious institution.
Why a museum employee was fired
Located in the center of Londonthe museum that has among its collections marbles from Parthenon and pieces like rosetta stone (fragment of an Egyptian stela that allowed to decipher the hieroglyphs at the beginning of the XIX century) came to the international media in recent days because he had fired an employee, accused of stealing and damaging objects from his collection.
Missing pieces include gold jewelry, semi-precious stones, and crystals from collections from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. london police He accepted that he had conducted interrogations but so far has not confirmed any arrests. He as he reported that artifacts stolen from the British Museum “may be untraceable” due to poor records.
Within this framework, the appointment of Jones led to growing speculation about the possibility of a breakthrough in the longstanding dispute over ancient Greek sculptures and looting that includes countries like Nigerianotes the English newspaper The Guardian.
The appointment, subject to the approval of the first Minister Rishi Sunakwas confirmed by george osbornepresident of the museum trustees, who assured, reports theartnewpaper.com, that “Mark he is one of the most experienced and respected museum leaders in the world” and predicted that “he will offer the leadership and drive that the museum needs at this time”.
“It is clear to both of us that your priorities are to speed up the cataloging of the collection, improve security and bolster pride in the museum’s curatorial mission. This is in addition to the significant renovation work we are undertaking and the partnerships we are forging to ensure that we build a stronger future for the museum that we all love and admire,” he said. osborne in the statement replicated by that web platform.
Who Sir Mark Jones
Jones studied at the Institute of courtauld art and was deputy conservator of Coins and Medals in the British Museum between 1974 and 1990 and conservative of Coins and Medals from 1990 to 1992. He was director of the National Museums of Scotland from 1992 to 2001 and directed the Victoria & Albert Museum London from 2001 to 2011, where he oversaw the renovation program of the £120 million Future Plan.
Cultural commentators say the top priority for the new interim director should be to restore trust, prioritizing custody and care of the collection. “Restitution and major renovations can only take place once the museum has regained the trust of its public and stakeholders,” said an anonymous source quoted by The Art Newspaper.
In a 2002 interview with The Observer newspaper, Jones, then director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, defended the idea of sharing the marbles of the parthenon with greece, recalled The Guardian. “There must be the possibility that something works now for all parties (…) “I can not tell another museum how to behave in this regard, but I think it is possible to develop partnerships. It can be good to exhibit objects in different places”, the museologist had said in that interview.
“Wherever there is a strongly held belief, there will also be an opportunity, if it can be recognized. It’s not necessarily about transferring ownership or returning the marbles forever, but when people believe things are really important, as they believe in this case the Greeks and the British museum, that’s actually a good thing. Apathy is our great enemy,” he said on that occasion.
In this sense, the British newspaper recalled that “in January the British museum confirmed that he was involved in constructive discussions with Greece about the return of some of the marbles from the Parthenon“. A return that would not be such, since in an immediately following paragraph that newspaper indicates: “According to a proposed plan, which is still under discussion, Greece would give up his right to the marbles, but the British museum would lend some of the sculptures to Athens and the Greek treasures would go to London”.
However, the approval of Sunak to the appointment of Jones; no less a step, considering that last March the premier promised to protect the marbles from Parthenon so that they would not be returned to Greece.
“He United Kingdom has taken care of the marbles of Elgin for generations,” he had said, using a name derived from the British earl who plundered them from the greek acropolis at the beginning of the 19th century. “The Collection of British museum is protected by law and we have no plans to change it,” he said.
Source: Ambito
