KEY POINTS:
Last week, during the first visit to New Zealand of a Greek head of government, the New Zealand Parliament decided the Elgin Marbles belong to Greece.
Close readers of Hansard might recall that in 2004 a petition from Bruce Blades, chairman of New Zealand Parthenon Marbles Committee "and 1020 others" requested Parliament "urge the British Government to return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens".
It was referred to the foreign affairs, defence and trade select committee, which reported back in March last year, recommending, "the Government ask the British Government to consider sympathetically the generous Greek offer of joint ownership of the marbles to facilitate their return to Athens".
The wording substantively differed from MP Marian Hobbs' motion adopted last week which urged "the British Government to support the return" of the sculptures.
The committee's more cautious approach would have been welcomed by many observers of this long-running diplomatic feud, especially those in the international museum community.
The restitution of cultural artefacts is one of the most intractable and complex politico-cultural issues of our era. While the case of the Elgin Marbles must be assessed on its own merits, the arguments and any eventual decision will have widespread ramifications and open a Pandora's box in the complex issue of international cultural restitution.
Moral rights notwithstanding, the legal basis for the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece is slender. Turkey, occupying Greece at the time and therefore owner of the sculptures, sold them to Lord Elgin from whom the British government bought them in 1816, 14 years before Greece's independence from Turkey was finally guaranteed at the London Conference by France, Russia and, in this context ironically, Britain.
Since Merlina Mercouri became the Greek Minister of Culture in 1981, Greece has been agitating for the return of the marbles but without an act of Parliament, the board of the British Museum is unable to relinquish its ownership of them.
Britain claims legal ownership of the sculptures, with thousands of other treasures which once belonged to other nations.
The same would apply to many treasures legally acquired by museums elsewhere.
In 1989 David Wilson, then director of the British Museum, wrote: "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: the questionable legality of the sale of Charles I's great painting collection [by Oliver Cromwell after the king's execution in 1649] does not mean that we should sue half the world's great art museums for its return."
Neil MacGregor, former director of the National Gallery and now director of the British Museum, says the museum is always prepared to consider making temporary loans to appropriate museums, on condition the items are in suitable condition for travel.
However, as he stated last month: "The difficulty at the moment ... is that the Greek Government has formally, and recently, refused to acknowledge that the [British Museum] trustees are the owners of the objects. Therefore, in law, the trustees could not possibly lend them."
One proposed compromise is that the British Museum could have an annexe next to the new Acropolis museum due to open this year which would enable the display in Greece without changing ownership.
The return of cultural property across international borders is taking place. Under an international agreement a growing number of individuals and organisations have regained ownership of items illegally confiscated by the Nazis, including great paintings worth millions of dollars. Significant gaps have begun to appear in the museums that had legally acquired them and because of their value they will never be replaced.
New Zealand, with Australia, has successfully negotiated the repatriation of indigenous human remains from overseas .
A form of cultural restitution is also under way within New Zealand. In 1997 Pukaki, a taonga depicted on our 20 cent coin, and familiar to generations of Auckland War Memorial Museum visitors, returned to Rotorua, close to its original home Ohinemutu.
Pukaki, however, was not illegally in the museum but was deposited there by the Crown after receiving it as a gift from Ngati Whakaue in 1877. It is now displayed in the Rotorua District Council building.
Similarly, should the Elgin Marbles be repatriated to Greece they will not once again grace the Parthenon but will be displayed in the new museum designed with their return one day in mind.
* Christopher Johnstone is a former director of the Auckland Art Gallery, and is an arts and heritage consultant.
