![\"elgin-marbles\"](\"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/elgin-marbles-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAs an anthropologist, I love the idea of museums playing nice with the cultures they represent. In Zange’s piece, the work between the tribe and museum perfectly illustrates how communities should be involved with their museums. Although reading through these articles, I had to laugh at how simple this all sounds…<\/p>\n
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Behold, the Elgin Marbles! Otherwise known as the architectural friezes that once made up the Parthenon in Greece. But they are not in Greece at the moment and have not been for several decades. They are in the British Museum in London proudly displayed in a large room mimicking the original Parthenon. The politics behind these pieces is an interesting one. To keep it short, they were acquired by the British many years ago and the museum has refused to return them to Greece, partially arguing that the Greeks could not take care of such precious pieces. The Greeks, in response, send demands every year for the pieces to be returned and even have a whole section of their museum set for the display of the marbles; pedestal, placards, and all.<\/p>\n
Although circumstances like Zange’s are ideal, they rarely occur. Improper display of cultural pieces is not the only point to consider here but also the technical theft of the object itself. While the pieces made have been acquired legally, home countries always argue the legitimacy of the dealings (as they took place decades ago). Egyptian pieces were also removed during the excavations in the early 1900s with some partially shady dealings.<\/p>\n
While it would be nice for everyone to return the pieces to their heritage country we would be left to ponder the next problem? How do we experience other cultures if we are unable to travel there? If a country is unwilling to part with any object, how can we learn about that culture? Perhaps technology really is the answer here. Acting as a replacement for the object, 3D visuals and interaction could be used in museums to avoid nasty politics. Unfortunately, having the original piece still generates public interest and increased revenue so there is a monetary benefit to have the originals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As an anthropologist, I love the idea of museums playing nice with the cultures they represent. In Zange’s piece, the work between the tribe and museum perfectly illustrates how communities … Continue reading “Week 4: Elgin Marbles”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}