Terpsichori returns to Epirus – 2024-02-19 08:10:02

THE CARLOS MUSEUM DELIVERED THE STATUE TO THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

At the Michael Carlos Museum of Emory University in Atlanta, USA, the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni received three Greek antiquities, which are immediately returned to Greece.

The antiquities come from three different geographical regions of Greece, Crete, Epirus and Attica having a common element.

These are products of illegal diggers that were trafficked by antiquities circles and were illegally exported from our country, before ending up in the Carlos Museum.

As far as we are concerned, the statue of Terpsichore that was stolen in Epirus and ended up in the Carlos Museum in Atlanta, is returning to its place.

The marble statue of a young female figure resting with her left elbow on a tall tree trunk dates to the 2nd century BC.

According to the information provided by the Ministry since 2007, when the competent Services of the Ministry of Culture became aware of information from the police authorities and from publications questioning the legality of the acquisition by the Michael Carlos Museum of the Minoan urn and the statue of the female figure, as well as of a relief pithos.

Then, an official letter of claim was sent by the Ministry of Culture to the Museum. The Museum’s response was that it had checked the provenance of the objects, before acquiring them, and no dispute had arisen.

Until 2020, informal contacts between the two sides continued, but without any substantial progress. In 2021, after the Ministry of Culture sent a new official letter to the Museum and a series of contacts with the diplomatic authorities of the country, the dialogue was restarted.

The competent Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Properties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs searched for and re-evaluated all the documentation of the Greek claim. With the assistance of the Legal Council of the State, he gained access to old court files and gathered evidence that proved, beyond any doubt, the illegal trafficking of the female statue from the Epirus region and in particular Dodoni.

In April 2022, the file, with all the documentation, was submitted to the Greek Embassy in Washington and – with the mediation of the Consul of Greece in Atlanta – a new round of contacts between the representatives of the Museum and the Ministry of Culture began. In April 2023, Henry Kim, director of the Museum, and his colleagues visited Athens to discuss all the scientific and legal arguments of the Greek side.

In June 2023, the Carlos Museum notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through diplomatic authorities, of the intention of the Board of Trustees of Emory University to return the three objects, for which there was irrefutable evidence, to Greece. At the same time, he declared the Museum’s will to cooperate closely with the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to proceed with the verification of the legality of origin of the other Greek antiquities in the Collection. Especially for the pithos, the effort to find other elements from the Greek side will continue.

The antiquities are immediately returned to Greece and will be presented to the public, before ending up in the museums of the regions they came from.