PRESS CONFERENCE BY MICHALIS LIAPIS MINISTER OF CULTURE Subject: Outdoor transfer of Artefacts from the old to the
New Acropolis Museum
MR. M. LIAPIS: So let's get started. The procedure is that I will be conveying to you some thoughts, and then you can ask questions. And if they are of general content I will give an answer to them, whereas if they are of technological or archaeological content, our collaborators here can have the floor.
Ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to thank you for your presence here today. We are just one step before the initiation of the transfer from the old to the new Acropolis Museum. You have had the opportunity a while ago to have a first view of the test transfer, which was successfully completed.
We tried the three-crane system in order to check our technical details and in order to start Sunday morning with complete safety the transfer of one of the heaviest frieze segments of the Parthenon weighing 2.3 tons.
The metal box which you saw today travels the distance between the Acropolis to the New Museum. It contains a marble volume equal to the heaviest object to be transferred, that is to say 2.5 tons. Within three months of today the New Museum will be hosting the artifacts of a very specific monumental group, the artifacts of the Acropolis. They will be transferred for the first time from their natural habitat, so to say, after 2500 years. At least transferred for the first time legally, that is.
So we are undoubtedly faced with a historical event of major national significance. It is a complex and very delicate endeavor. It is a first for the Greek as well as international reality. It is an endeavor which is paramount for the conclusion of the transfer to the new Acropolis Museum.
Chief of the transfer is Mr. Kostas Zambas, civil engineer, who has special expertise for the last 30 years in the restoration works on the Acropolis. The special study carried out for this historic transfer included both documentation and packing of all the exhibits, as well as the outdoor transfer up to their entry into the new Museum.
Taking part in this whole work are 15 people in charge of restoration and five archaeologists of the First Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, and I would like at this point to publicly thank all those who have contributed to the success of this effort.
A top priority for all of us has been and will be the safe transfer of antiquities. In addition, in carrying out the study, also considered were some crucial parameters such as minimization of the required interventions at the archaeological site, minimization of disturbance in Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, and minimization of any delays in the restoration works on the monuments themselves.
I would like now, getting into more details, to present the work of the outdoor transfer of artifacts from the old to the new Acropolis Museum. Let me also state here that most details are already included in the folder you have been given.
The first stage was recording of archaeological exhibits. Suggestively I would like to mention here that in the area of the old Museum there were recorded 246 artifacts weighing a total of 113 tons. From the storage rooms, we calculate that there are more or less 4000 smaller objects, mainly of marble, in 28 columns of shelving, with a total area of 255 square meters, and their weight is estimated at 124 tons.
The second stage is packing, which as a rule is done in metal boxes, with the artifacts in an upright position. Inside the boxes have wooden frames and protective foam material. Small fragile items are additionally packed in wooden boxes with special packaging.
There has been a categorization of the exhibits, and six different types of boxes are going to be used. As you have seen, for the outdoor transfer three large cranes are going to be used.
The first one was erected at the ramp of the Theater of Dionysos, the second one is located at the end of Tripodon Street, outside the propylon of the Sanctuary of Dionysos, and the third one was placed on a similar pedestal, which was built immediately to the west of the entry bridge to the New Acropolis Museum.
Maximum allowed payloads at the end of each arm of these cranes is three tons. The first crane will be collecting the special boxes from the yards to the east of the old Acropolis Museum, and will deposit them in the area of the southeastern corner of the Theater of Dionysos, in the temporary decking that you just saw.
From this point, the boxes are to be collected by the second crane, and will be deposited near the fencing of the archaeological site on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street. From this point onwards, a third crane will be collecting the boxes and will be depositing them at the entrances that have been specially prepared at the level of the Archaic Hall on the first floor and the Parthenon Hall, which is on the third floor of the new Museum.
For the safety of the exhibits an exceptionally slow speed will be used, and each transfer is calculated to have a duration of about two and a half hours.
So on a daily basis four movements will be conducted for about six weeks, in order to transfer all these exhibits.
However, the three cranes will remain for another three months, since a plethora of other objects will need to be transferred to the new Museum.
Now, about the cost of the transfer, it reaches EUR1,606,000, including VAT. And it goes without saying that the transfer has been insured with Ethniki Asfalistiki insurance company, and there is 24/7 guarding of the worksite equipment.
The contractor assumes all risks entailed in the execution of the project, and remains solely responsible for it.
Insurance against any potential risk, including everything, amounts to EUR400 million. It insures against any potential risk, such as earthquake or other natural disasters, malicious acts, fire, lightning, explosion, impact, landslide, poor workmanship, defective materials or design.
I have to say here that there is full cover against any third party civil liability, and of course insurance of personnel.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish from the bottom of my heart, to the whole team of specialists that will be taking part in this project, the best of success. This transfer lies in the hands of people that have knowledge, experience, expertise and a high degree of responsibility. And we all know that it is going to be safely concluded.
Next Sunday at 9 o'clock in the morning, as you already know, the transfer of a part of the frieze has been scheduled, and I would like to invite you all at 12 noon to watch from the Hall of the Parthenon its transfer.
At this point I would like to inform you that the New Acropolis Museum Organization has taken care for the documentation of the whole transfer, and it will be found in a documentary, whereas you will be able to see the latest updates on our website throughout the course of the project.
We want all of you to stand by us. We want people to consider that this Museum is their own museum, every Greek person's museum, every citizen of the world's museum.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 25 centuries the marbles and the statues of the Acropolis are for the first time being transferred from their natural environment to the new Museum of the Acropolis. At the point where 30 years ago Konstantinos Karamanlis had envisioned the new Museum, a museum that, in fulfilling the expectations and visions and dreams of many generations, will be securing a modern space appropriate to host the masterpieces that are going to be exhibited.
A museum that will be completely proving that we do have modern spaces that could host the marbles of the Parthenon. It will be a new destination for thousands and thousands of visitors, and will represent the way in which Greece is in a position to promote its cultural heritage.
This is what I had to say with regard to the whole project in the next days and the developments with regard to this project. The transfer starts officially next Sunday. Today I think you saw for yourselves this successful transfer in a time less than what we calculated, less than two and a half hours, that is, so hoping that we keep to this schedule and weather conditions are good, we shall be able to conclude this transfer, this basic transfer, in the time scheduled, so that in a few months Athenians, Greeks and foreigners will be able to see one of the most modern museums in the world.
Thank you very much for your presence here today. We shall be together again next Sunday. If you want to ask any questions, my collaborators and I are at your disposal to resolve any questions that you might have. You have the floor. JOURNALIST: From what you said, I conclude that space has been provided for the marbles that have gone outside Greece. MR. M. LIAPIS: Surely. Mr. Pantermalis is also going to provide you with a more scientific answer. I would say that this conjuncture is the best possible for the return of the Parthenon marbles, the masterpieces of Classical antiquity, and the best supporter for this demand, which is not only a Greek demand; it is a universal demand, and a global debt, so to say, having to do with culture.
So the best supporters of this demand are the thousands of visitors that will be coming to see the marbles, will see the voids there, and will be thinking that some pieces of these artifacts are 4000 miles away from their destination point. Would you like to say a few scientific things?
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: Just a detail I would like to add here. We have equipped the Parthenon Hall will big panels, one for each part of the friezes. There are the appropriate places that will be void, and will hopefully have the missing friezes. MR. M. LIAPIS: And mainly we want the visitor to wonder where these artifacts are. It's going to be the straightforward question, and therefore the greatest possible pressure, so that the artifacts will be coming back to Greece. JOURNALIST: Could Mr. Pantermalis please tell us - he has told us, but if he could make it a little clearer - how the copies will be inserted, and this dreamlike image that is described every time, but we don't know exactly how it will be.
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: You saw during the visits you have paid to the building that was under construction our efforts to find a way to present the missing pieces in a way that they will not be confused with the originals. A special mesh is being put in front of them.
There are also other people that are processing this matter, and will end up with a definite solution, so that the copies are underrated visually, so that we will be able to put the pieces that are in the Acropolis Museum and stress in a more dramatic way that there is a piece outside of Greece, as the Minister stressed. However, we have another one that we put at its place. And this is going to be the most eloquent way to present the problems of the Parthenon marbles. JOURNALIST: Some technical details. Because the first crane is 60m. high, I want to ask what you have provided for. What if the packages fall? I haven't seen any protective net underneath. It would be very interesting for us. Thank you. MR. M. LIAPIS: You have asked the question that crosses the mind of anyone who thinks about this venture or sees it in progress. We should say that the reality is that in all these many transfers that have been conducted during the restoration projects, we have found tens of cases of valuable artifacts hovering from cables of cranes that have been controlled again and again.
The same condition of safety we have here. We have cranes, we could say very simply state-of-the-art technology, that have been tested in many, many other projects. So we have this system being completely checked and controlled.
The second matter is the way of packing, that is to say metal boxes that have great endurance and great rigidity. This means that they cannot be deformed. They are used in order to pack inside them all the exhibits.
Another matter of safety is that between the metal boxes and the exhibits we also use special foam materials that have a great possibility to absorb any strong vibrations. So metal, rigid, high-safety boxes and foam materials. And we have taken into consideration this extreme possibility, and statistically speaking of course we cannot exclude it, and we have taken it into consideration.
What we can do, and mainly with the study and supervision and many controls and tests, is to practically eliminate this possibility that crosses any person's mind, hovering from a crane. JOURNALIST: And second, it might sound funny, but in order for us to understand how to absorb all the vibration, would an egg break under such conditions?
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: For today's itinerary we have to say that what you watched for the first time we also watched for the first time. It was not the first rehearsal; it was the first itinerary.
And with regard to the 2.5 hours, yes, you are right. Also many of your colleagues have said so. Practically it's faster. And at all stages we need to be able to take a breather and have some provisions with regard to safety.
The same goes for time. You saw the transferring stations. You saw that much care must be paid to the way in which we handle this.
Let's say that there is a gust of wind. Ok, it might not be windy, but there might be a gust of wind. So all this system of low-speed cranes and systems of safety gives us the possibility to do our work in one and a half hours, but also for reasons of security it can be maximized to two and a half hours.
If you paid much attention to this transfer, not an egg, but also a cup of coffee would not be spilled during the transfer.
There were no vibrations, and the hovering also was minimized. This is why we chose the three-crane solution.
Other solutions were excluded, because with these cranes we can transfer the packaged objects without any hovering, and that's why I also gave you the example of a cup of coffee.
And I believe that we have chosen the safest possible way, but today it was the first testing, and by Sunday we will also perform many more. JOURNALIST: Since we are talking about safety, what is going to happen if an earthquake takes place during the transfer?
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: Evidently we have taken this into consideration; the engineers also know it well, that a crane of this type mainly has a problem with wind, not earthquakes. The risk would be from strong winds, so they have been so designed for the worst-case scenario, and this is not the earthquake but very, very strong winds. And winds that, allow me to say, are not usual here in Greece. JOURNALIST: I would like to ask, from the moment that the transfer of the exhibits will be concluded up to the point where it will be visitable by people, how much time have you provided for? MR. M. LIAPIS: Mr. Pantermalis will tell you, but more or less we estimate it to be a year. If everything goes well, and with God's will, there is this transfer procedure for the next two months. We hope that towards the end of 2008 we will be able to give the new Acropolis Museum to its visitors, Greeks and foreigners. JOURNALIST: Are we talking about when the inauguration will be completed? MR. M. LIAPIS: Yes, we are talking about the complete inauguration time. JOURNALIST: A question would be how many people work on this transfer project. And as far as I understand, weather conditions have a paramount role, and therefore if there are rains and so on and so forth. So it's six weeks, if the weather is good. Otherwise could it be three or four months?
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: Look, we have made a safety contingency time schedule, and we made these calculations depending on the transfer of the artifacts coming to the new museum, but this does not mean that we will not take the necessary measures in order to minimize risks.
Today we had ideal weather conditions. If there are storms, rain and high winds, we shall stop the procedure. There's no rush; we want everything to be done in a way that we will be securing the safe transfer of the antiquities. So this is why we have leased the cranes for four months, in order to have plenty of time.
About the human resources that you mentioned, because this is a collective work and many people have worked in the engineering group, experienced colleagues that work in restoration of antiquities in the Museum. In the sculpture workshop of the First Ephorate of Antiquities are 15 people who work very, very hard and have started preparations even before we started the study, this is to say quite a few years ago. These people will be also working.
Archeologists - we left them last but not least, as it's said, and chief is Ms. Vlassopoulou and Mr. Mantis who is curator.
And also the people who have worked in order to set up the cranes and AKTOR company that has been assigned this whole project, where people who handle the cranes work, people who have put them together. And unless they work in the best possible way, then we will have a safety issue. Everybody has to work very well. JOURNALIST: In this team are also included the people who are protesting, that have not been paid for August and September, and the dispute over the collective agreement? They need the money in order to live, they say. MR. M. LIAPIS: I am new in my duties here; I do not know. Any other questions? Last question. JOURNALIST: May I ask you, you said that there will be the inauguration when the whole project is complete, by the end of 2008. This progressive opening of the Museum: when is it going to start?
And a second question: How are the antiquities going to be put on the three floors? And Mr. Zambas, from the three phases, which is the most risky one? For instance, when the objects come down the Acropolis, 65m., or the last one which takes the longest time? Thank you.
MR. D. PANTERMALIS: Look, risks, as we defined them earlier, are throughout the endeavor, since we have to take them down, we have to pack them, we have to put them in boxes, hang them up, transfer them and want to put them back to their exhibition point.
I cannot possibly think of a point where the risk is higher. Care must be taken at all stages of the process.
If you would like to have an estimate, perhaps most care and knowledge is required at the moment when an exhibit is removed from its base and is being packed. This is where experience and expertise of people in charge of restoration of antiquities is paramount, but at all stages of this endeavor maximum attention is required.
MR. K. ZAMBAS: The new Museum, as you know, has many originalities, one of which is daring to construct it on top of the excavation, that was strongly objected to. And as you know, we have had lots of objections. However, the result is judged to be positive and we are particularly enthusiastic about it.
Another point is the transparency of the Museum, which is unusual. Instead of walls, there is glass.
A third element would be the operation of the Museum, and we believe that the public should not be excluded from the most charming moment of a museum, which is the moment of setting up the museum.
Of course this requires very good preparation. It's not simple, even by distance, as we have planned it, that some hours of the day visitors will be able to see how this work is being done.
This is going to be announced when we are sure that there is no risk whatsoever, and that the whole work is not being inhibited. You can be sure that this will be done as we have planned.
Now, the Museum has a lower floor where the excavation exhibition is located, in order to take it from there. There is the ground floor which leads to a transitional floor containing exhibits from the Acropolis slopes, the Archaic floor and on the other side the works after the Parthenon, up to Roman civilization, and the top which is the Parthenon Hall.
JOURNALIST (REUTERS TV): Mr. Liapis, I wanted to ask you about another topic. About the two buildings in Areopagitou Street, about which there has been much opposition lately. Already the owners have suggested some solutions involving trees to cover the buildings. How are you going to handle it? Are you willing to accept a solution where the buildings will not be so visible, or do you plan to demolish them? And if so, you will have to pay a lot of money for compensation, if you have thought about this. MR. M. LIAPIS: For the Ministry of Culture, the whole issue has been decided on. The Archaeological Council has taken a decision; my predecessor has signed. One of these two buildings has been de-characterized. The law will be enforced. I deeply respect legitimacy and the law. The state has taken a decision, however, and we persist in our decision.
Thank you very much. See you on Sunday.
