Neos Kosmos was instrumental for the inclusion of the Parthenon Sculptures in the ABC podcast and television series, Stuff the British Stole which airs tonight on ABC TV at 8 pm. The second series premiere’s with the Parthenon Sculptures, commonly called Marbles.
In the episode, British actor, writer, and Hellenophile, Stephen Fry likens the removal of the Parthenon Sculptures from Greece to Nazi Germany, stealing the Arc de Triomphe during the occupation of France. Fry commented on the Australian TV series Stuff the British Stole.
Fry argues that even if the claimed Ottoman firman, or edict, was “the most scrupulously written document” providing permission to Britain’s Lord Elgin to remove the Parthenon Sculptures from the Acropolis in 1802, “it’s like saying ‘Well, Germany claims it should have the Arc de Triomphe and there’s the document that proves it.’ But the Nazis were an occupying force. What right did they have to give away parts of France? It wasn’t theirs to give away,” Fry told The Guardian.
No firman by the Ottomans
Last week, Neos Kosmos reported that the key argument by the British side for the Parthenon Sculptures to remain in London was undermined by the representative of Turkey at the 24th Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, which was held in Paris on 29 and 30 May.
Turkey’s spokesperson at the ICPRCP denied any knowledge of a written authorisation permitting Britain’s Lord Elgin to purchase sections of the Parthenon’s Sculptures torn off the ancient Greek citadel between 1801 and 1812 when Athens was under Ottoman rule.
“We are not aware of any document legitimising this purchase,” Zeynep Boz, who heads the Turkish Culture Ministry’s department for combating trafficking in antiquities, told the 24th session of the committee, which took place in Paris on May 29-31.
Marc Fennel’s education on the Parthenon Sculptures
The television series is based on the 2021 podcast by Marc Fennell, Stuff the British Stole. However, the first campaign to repatriate heritage stolen by the British, the Parthenon Sculptures, was outside the podcast series.
When contacted by Neos Kosmos in 2021, Fennell was unaware of the Parthenon Sculptures or the oldest campaign to repatriate the stolen treasures.
Fennell later included the Parthenon Sculptures in the second podcast series of Stuff the British Stole.
The second podcast included the Parthenon Marbles after Neos Kosmos made Fennel aware of the issue and assisted him with links to campaigners in Australia.
However, the Parthenon Marbles were then omitted from the first ABC TV series of Stuff The British Stole.
When Neos Kosmos sought answers as to why the Parthenon Sculptures were cut from the series, Fennel tweeted back to Neos Kosmos journalist Fotis Kapetopoulos, “Not in this series. But we have covered it in this episode of the podcast” and added a link to the podcast.
Stuff The British Stole – New Series Premieres Monday 17 June 8.00pm on ABC TV with all episodes streaming on ABC iview
