PON Live! Resolving the Parthenon Marbles Dispute
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School is pleased to present:
PON Live! Book Talk
Resolving the Parthenon Marbles Dispute
A fresh take on one of the world’s longest-standing cultural disputes.
with:
Alexander Herman
Director, Institute of Art and Law, United Kingdom
Nicholas O’Donnell
Partner at Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Boston
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Free and open to the public
About the book talk:
The dispute between Greece and the British Museum over the Parthenon Marbles has been ongoing for years. It relates to the ancient sculptures taken from the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis by men working for British Ambassador Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. Greece wants them back, and has made restitution a central part of the country’s international cultural policy since the 1980s, but the British Museum and the UK government have continually rebuffed Greek demands.
The Parthenon Marbles Dispute: Heritage, Law, Politics, by Alexander Herman, situates the dispute within the larger discussions around national cultural heritage, the role of museums and the law/ethics divide. It offers valuable insight into the resolution of disputes – especially complex and long-standing ones – by revealing the many layers of conflict and then seeking out solutions that can benefit both sides.
Join Alexander Herman and Nicolas O’Donnell for a discussion offering a fresh look at the removal of the Marbles, the history of the dispute and finding a way forward.
About the speakers:
Alexander Herman is Director of the UK-based Institute of Art and Law. He has written, taught and presented on an array of topics in relation to art, law and cultural property. His writing appears regularly in The Art Newspaper and he has been quoted widely in the press on art law topics (including in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, ArtNET and Bloomberg). His work has been cited in an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court and in the debates of the United Kingdom House of Lords. He trained in both common law and civil law legal systems at McGill University and practiced law in Canada. He is Programme Co-Director of the Art, Business and Law LLM at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London. In addition to The Parthenon Marbles Dispute, he is also the author of Restitution: The Return of Cultural Artefacts (Lund Humphries, 2021).
Nicholas O’Donnell is a Partner at Sullivan & Worcester LLP in Boston. He is an expert in complex civil litigation and art disputes, having recently brought a case involving Nazi spoliated art to the Supreme Court (Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany 592 U.S. (2021)). He is the co-chair of the Art, Cultural Property and Heritage Law Committee of the International Bar Association and co-chair of the New York chapter of the Responsible Art Market Initiative, as well as a member of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. He is the author of A Tragic Fate—Law and Ethics in the Battle Over Nazi-Looted Art, (Ankerwyke/ABA Publishing, 2017) and numerous art law articles in the art publication Apollo. He is also the editor of the Art Law Report, a blog that provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. He is admitted to practice at three district courts, six appellate courts, the Federal Court and the Supreme Court.
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