The Parthenon marbles are rarely out of the news. Most recently, Turkish officials have rejected claims by the British Museum that British diplomat Lord Elgin was given permission from Ottoman authorities to remove the marbles from the Acropolis in Athens in the early years of the 19th century.
The Parthenon marbles are probably the most renowned example of a country calling for heritage objects to be returned. They are part of a larger move to investigate the colonial contexts through which most western museum collections have been formed. As a result, we are beginning to see greater transparency about acquisition histories.
