The Founder and Chairman of the "International Organising Committee - Australia - For the Restitution of the Parthenong Marbles" is a speaker at this important Seminar in Athens.

On Friday the 10th of December 2010 Emanuel is giving a lecture in this Coloquium.

His topic is : "Are the Hellenes of Today the Same of Those 2500 years ago?

The Colloquium is organised by:

The University of Athens

The Acropolis Museum

The Foundation for International Legal Studies and

The Council of Hellenes Abroad.

A copy of his lecture and possible audio video material will be available upon Emanuel's return from Greece.

Watch this space.

A lecture by Emanuel J. Comino OAM

"The Case for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles. Athens, Greece and the Whole World are ready to see the Treasures Returned"

The issue of the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles continues to be the world’s most celebrated
cultural property dispute. Since Lord Elgin took them their history has been the subject of both
neglect and controversy. Now in the British Museum they’ve been rendered mere artefacts in a
distinctly British construction of world history and their place in it.

Removing great works from their cultural context and displaying them in gloomy spaces is a
distinctly 19th century approach to knowledge. It is particularly sad when these brilliant works are
acknowledged globally as expressions of the very heart of Greek culture. The real tragedy of their
exile in a foreign setting is in denying the world an opportunity to see them in the very place that
gave them ‘life’.

In Athens the new Acropolis Museum has been built to display theses irreplaceable masterpieces,
close to their original setting. Here, aligned as they were on the Parthenon, it will be possible to
view these unique Hellenic Sculptures in a completely holistic context.

The real history of the Parthenon Marbles is an extraordinary story, far more interesting than their
sombre display in the British Museum can possibly suggest.

On Sunday 15 November, Emanuel J Comino OAM JP Founder and Chairman of the International
Organising Committee - Australia - For The Restitution Of The Parthenon Marbles, is presenting an
address on the fascinating history of these priceless expressions of Hellenism.

Founder of the !rst organised committee to campaign for the Parthenon marbles return, his contribution
to the campaign has been unwavering since the Committee’s foundation in 1981. In 1983,
Melina Mercouri asked the Committee to provide all the support it could to the newly formed
British Committee. In 1997 similar support was given to the new American Committee and in 2000
the New Zealand Committee.

Emanuel speaks to a wide range of International conferences and seminars in places as far a !eld as
Athens, New York, New Zealand and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Global interest in restitution of the Parthenon Marbles is now bene!ting from a growth in the
number of organisations campaigning for their return including Facebook support groups.

The International Organising Committee-Australia-For The Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles
(EST. 1981) in conjunction with AHEPA and The Greek Australian Professional Association, invite you
to attend at AHEPA Hall Rockdale next Sunday.

Ring 95884144 or 0418204466 for further information.

Russell L Darnley OAM
Secretary

Acropolis Museum Opening
Gods, heroes and long-dead mortals stepped off their plinths into the evening sky of Athens on Saturday during the lavish launch of the new Acropolis Museum, a decades-old dream that Greece hopes will also help reclaim a cherished part of its heritage from Britain. (Associated Press)