The Association of Greek Archaeologists calls for the cancellation of the Agreement on the Stern Collection, stressing that the latter, ratified by the Parliament, “legitimizes the trafficking of antiquities and counterfeit monuments”.
In their announcement, the Greek archaeologists refer to, among other things, the recent publication which presents with documents that the figurine no. 29 of the Stern Collection was in the hands of antiquities trafficker Gianfranco Becchina, and the letter by archaeology professor Christos Doumas to the Ministry of Culture and the Museum of Cycladic Art, in which he explains why he considers it necessary for a competent committee to check the authenticity of the artefacts.
In the same interview that Christos Doumas gave online informing about the letter, he also states that “in the case of at least 4-5 figurines from the Stern Collection exhibited in Athens, it is highly conceivable they are fakes”.
For its part, the AGA requests “that a team of Greek expert archaeologists and conservators go and examine the authenticity of all the objects of the Stern Collection”. Also “to issue an order to the competent Service of the Ministry of Culture, as should have been the case from the start, to check the certificates of origin of the artefacts, to document the provenance of the Stern Collection antiquities and make all necessary comparisons and identifications with the facts and the data of all relevant files”.
Furthermore, “to request the assistance of the New York County District Attorney, for the confiscation and repatriation to our country of figurine no. 29 of the Stern Collection and figurine no. 12 of the Glories of the Past exhibition from the Shelby White Collection, which are proven products of antiquarian theft”.
“The ownership and possession of the original stolen antiquities of the Stern Collection should pass to the Greek State and the antiquities repatriated to be exhibited in public Greek Museums. The final destination should be the Museum of Cycladic Culture in the Castle of Naxos, to enrich the exhibition of this globally unique museum that will be entirely dedicated to the Cycladic culture of the 3rd millennium BC, and thus raise awareness among visitors on issues of illegal trading of antiquities ” concludes the announcement by the AGA