Talk:Neil MacGregor

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• Are details of his salary really required here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Griffin147 (talk • contribs) 11:59, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, why not? Details of salaries of other famous people have been put in other articles, such as that on Jeremy Paxman and that on Simon Cowell, so I think that it would be OK to put the details in here. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 19:31, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

• I make a full disclosure here that I work for the British Museum, as you can see from my user page. I am posting this on behalf of the Museum, which would like to point out where words are being associated with Neil MacGregor which he has not said and are not attributed to him in the citation given.

Two sentences read: He has vowed never to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, saying that it is the museum's duty to "preserve the universality of the marbles, and to protect them from being appropriated as a nationalistic political symbol". He did agree to discuss a loan of the marbles on the condition that Athens rejects all claims of ownership to them.[6]

The citation in note 6 that appears to cover these sentences is: Wilson, Cyril (11 May 2009). "Neil MacGregor vows to keep Elgin Marbles". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 1 February 2010 With the link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/5304133/Greek-government-unveils-new-home-for-Elgin-Marbles.html

Firstly, the title/byline of the Telegraph article cited in n. 6 appears to have changed since citation, as it now reads “Greek government unveils new home for Elgin Marbles” by Andrew Pierce.

Secondly, nowhere in the Telegraph article is Neil MacGregor quoted as saying that he had ‘vowed to keep’, or ‘vowed never to return’ the Parthenon sculptures. The former only appears in the Telegraph’s title (likely written by a sub-editor, and now no longer extant). There is no evidence in the copy of the article that Neil MacGregor used these words.

I won't edit this myself at this stage, because of perceived COI, but would like views from others on this. Thanks.

Matthewcock (talk) 13:24, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

I'm not really across this stuff, though I'm uneasily aware that politicians have been banging on about the Elgin Marbles for as long as I've been on the planet. Or at least that's how it feels. Two slightly serious points:

• The piece of text that concerns you includes a direct quote from NM. You have not suggested that he has been misquoted. That's good. No?

• The bit about the vow doesn't reflect what the source says so it needed changing so I changed it. If, as you write, the source has changed its own headline, then I think we may be cautiously encouraged that someone at the Daily Telegraph reads wikipedia. That's good, because it means that despite much publicity given to recent downsizing (well, it's been all over Private Eye...) they still employ people who can read. What's not to like?

Regards Charles01 (talk) 13:50, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks! Much appreciated. No, I wasn't suggesting that he was misquoted by the Telegraph. Matthewcock (talk) 16:08, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Post-retirement activities

A person who does not have a WIKIPEDIA account added this statement: New Appointment as Director for the Berliner Stadtschloss 8 April 2015. This is without any reference to the source of this information and has been removed. The statement does not agree with the official press release of the British Museum. Shirazibustan (talk) 14:23, 30 May 2015 (UTC) Shirazibustan

Directorship of the Humboldt Forum

What is given here does not seem to square with what is appearing in the German press and, from that, the actualities in Berlin. Perhaps this should be mended in due course. SirGeorgeHill (talk) 11:04, 24 April 2016 (UTC)SirGeorgeHill

@SirGeorgeHill: Please consider doing that! I would be very interested to know the angle in the German press, but the British press is unlikely to report on it. Ham II (talk) 13:09, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

The statement made here is a manifest distortion. There was and is no simple director of the Humboldt Forum.

Journalist Jörg Häntzschel had published an article in the widely distributed newspaper, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, about the Humboldt Forum, a new cultural and exhibition space – including displays from various museum collections – currently in the making in Berlin. As well as containing stinging criticism of what he described as a ‘dizzying system of political interests’ resulting in ‘paralysis, intransparency and a lack of ideas’, his article included an organigram, setting out ‘the labyrinthine organizational structure’ (see Figure 1). Please consult "No Museum is an Island: Ethnography beyond Methodological Containerism" by Sharon Macdonald*, Christine Gerbich**, Margareta von Oswald***, visible online in ResearchGate.

What is actually going on at the Humboldt and what role the subject of the present WIKI article plays is unclear, and as such this does not serve the purpose of wikipedia, namely, to provide a useful and reliable source of information, in this instance biographical fact. The whole thing should be cut drastically; as it stands this gives the appearance of pufferySirGeorgeHill (talk) 09:26, 14 July 2020 (UTC)

Living with The Gods

I see that this article says that MacGregor will present a programme on faith and culture. Is this the programme called Living with th Gods? As I have put reference to this programme in the article, the section of this article on MacGregor's media work may need re-writing.

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Elgin Marble discussion.

The introduction of the details around the Elgin marble debate and the comments of Jeremy Corbyn after the departure of MacGregor are more or less irrelevant to the purpose of this article, which is one of biography. Regardless of what we think of the ownership of the marbles, the evidence presented here should migrate to the relevant place, otherwise it looks like this is being made a soap-box, and thus outside WIKI guidelines. There are things said here which do not have adequate sources as well -- there may be sources, but they are not given.SirGeorgeHill (talk) 14:34, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

Yes, I think there is over-emphasis here. I'm surprised we don't have a separate article on the controversy, which also over-dominates Elgin Marbles. It would be better to float it off. Johnbod (talk) 14:36, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

Outside of Britain, the British Museum is perhaps primarily known through the Parthenon Marbles and other similar controversies surrounding looting, so interest in MacGregor is naturally connected to his own very controversial stances on this, for which there is no lack of sources.94.66.57.76 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 14:40, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

I am not supporting or rejecting the case: I merely state that this piece is about biography, so what MacGregor may or may not have done during his tenure should be reported, and sourced. It is now an historical subject, well behind us. Do we care what Robert G. W. Anderson said on the subject? or what he did? Not a jot. The time has come, in fact, for this article to be seriously peeled back and made to match that of Anderson, or his predecessor David M. Wilson. comment added by SirGeorgeHill (talk. And just to add: our friend .94.66.57.76 in Thessaloniki should join up and make an account with wikipedia. We are all very friendly here and welcome the contribution to the debate. After all the Greeks invented that, along with philosophy, history, democracy and, well, the idea of Europa itself. Cheers..SirGeorgeHill (talk) 14:58, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

I may join one day! Concerning one of the above comments though, I should add that I do not actually find it strange that the Elgin Marbles article is dominated by the controversy surrounding repatriation rather than the sculptures themselves. The "Elgin marbles" are not an artistic unity. The Elgin Marbles constitute about half of the Parthenon sculptures and they appear to have been selected by Elgin's agents on the basis of ease of removal and suitability as ornamentation for Elgin's manor house. It is difficult to discuss artistically the "Elgin Marbles" without discussing the adjacent marbles which Elgin wasn't able to pull off the Parthenon frieze and metopes and happily remain in Athens. Indeed, the totality of the Parthenon sculptures themselves are discussed in the article the Parthenon Frieze. If you come to Athens and see the presentation in the Acropolis Museum, you will understand what I am talking about. Anyway, I'm just saying that the very concept of "Elgin marbles", not to mention the name, is a concept intimately connected to the controversy of their removal and could never naturally be studied alone simply as "artistic objects", without their broader context (i.e. the slabs of stone to their left and right). Hence the high profile of the controversy and the international interest (not only in Greece!) in exactly how British Museum directors over the years like MacGregor have tried to justify this state of affairs in their public statements.94.66.57.76 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:21, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

Hagiography

Rather a lot of this here, with various personal anecdotes given that are not sourced. Much of it depends on Adams, Tim (8 June 2003). "His place in history". The Observer, but the link leads to the TLS and not the data in question. SirGeorgeHill (talk) 15:00, 20 August 2018 (UTC). The article needs to be peeled back to the sort of basic biography that we find for Anderson, and Wilson, the previous two directors of the British Museum. As it stands the article is not objective or especially helpful and factual.SirGeorgeHill (talk) 15:02, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

How Others See Us

The section on MacGregor's media work could mention that he has presented a programme on BBC Radio Four called "How Others See Us", looking at how his own country (the United Kingdom) is seen by other countries around the world. Vorbee (talk) 09:08, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

I agree. Um ... why don't you do it? And thank you "im Voraus"! Charles01 (talk) 09:12, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

• The series is, in fact, called "As Others See Us". Vorbee (talk) 09:18, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

All right - I have put it in now. Vorbee (talk) 08:55, 5 January 2019 (UTC)