Cambodia welcomes the Met's repatriation of centuries-old statues looted during past turmoil
- In Reports
- 11:21 AM, Jul 05, 2024
- Myind Staff
On Thursday, Cambodia’s culture minister said the return to Cambodia this week of 14 sculptures that had been looted from the country during a period of war and unrest is like welcoming home the souls of ancestors.
The items repatriated from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art arrived on Wednesday and were displayed to journalists and VIPs on Thursday at the National Museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
They “were made between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period and reflect the Hindu and Buddhist religious systems prevailing at that time,” the museum said in a statement this week.
A statement from Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said the "historic homecoming of national treasures" followed several years of negotiations between Cambodia’s art restitution team, U.S. federal prosecutors in New York, investigators from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Metropolitan Museum.
Cambodian Culture Minister Phoeurng Sackona emphasised the significance of the artifacts' return, stating it was crucial for the Cambodian people to reconnect with the heritage of their ancestors, spanning both prosperous and challenging times.
“The pieces were staying a long, long time abroad, but today they returned to Cambodia, like a blessing for our people for peace, stability in our country now,” she said.
To Cambodians, the returned artworks carry the souls of their ancestors, she said. Bringing back these ancestral souls also signifies reconnecting with history, reverence, and knowledge, Phoeurng Sackona explained.
She mentioned, without elaboration, that Cambodia anticipates receiving another 50 artifacts from the U.S. soon. Cambodia asserts that additional items illegally trafficked from the country remain at the Metropolitan Museum and other museums, as well as in the possession of private collectors.
“These returns contribute to the reconciliation and healing of the Cambodian people, who endured decades of civil war and suffered tremendously from the tragedy of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Phoeurng Sackona said. “They also demonstrate the truly positive partnership we have developed with the United States."
For the art world, the return of these artifacts marks the outcome of a growing awareness in recent years about the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures taken from their original countries. This includes not only ancient Asian artworks but also pieces lost or stolen during conflicts in other regions such as Syria, Iraq, and Nazi-occupied Europe.
The artworks returned to Cambodia from the Metropolitan Museum were looted during a prolonged period of civil war and instability, particularly under the brutal communist Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. They were acquired and trafficked by prominent art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was indicted in 2019 for allegedly orchestrating a long-term scheme to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the global art market. Latchford, who passed away the following year, consistently denied any involvement in smuggling activities.
Cambodia’s Culture Ministry emphasised that two of the returned works are slated for restoration by reuniting them with other parts already in their possession.
Among them is an "extraordinary" stone sculpture dating back to the 10th century depicting the female goddess Uma, originally from the ancient royal capital of Koh Ker. The Ministry noted that the sculpture's foot had already been recovered from its original site.
“At last, the Uma can be reunified to achieve its full magnificence as one complete statue.” it said.
“Moreover, a significant returned artifact is a 10th-century bronze head of the deity Avalokiteshvara, which the Ministry highly anticipates finally being reunited with its matching torso, currently on display at the National Museum of Cambodia,” it said.
Image source: AP
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