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30 artefacts en route to Cambodia

Torn Vibol / Khmer Times Share:
Previously returned artifacts (from left to right) a late 12th century Khmer sandstone sculpture depicting Prajnaparamita, the goddess of transcendent wisdom; prehistoric bronze bell that is thought to belong to a set of 12 and is believed to have been used to call warriors to battle; 7th to 8th century sandstone sculpture depicting the sun god Surya. US Department of Justice

Thirty more Cambodian artefacts will be returned to the Kingdom from the United States on August 8 after several lawsuits were settled in US courts. This comes after 27 cultural treasures were returned by the US on July 13.

Hab Touch, secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said yesterday that some of the artefacts were confiscated by US authorities from private collectors which required lengthy court proceedings, delaying repatriation, but eventually the Cambodian and American sides agreed on an official handover ceremony in New York, USA on August 8.

“The Cambodian people are very happy that our ancestral souls are back,” he said.

“The Cambodian cultural treasures that will be returned to Cambodia are from different sources and styles. Some are made of sandstone and others made of bronze, while some are from the pre-Angkorian period, some the Angkorian period and others from the post-Angkorian period. There is also the large and the extremely valuable statue of a peacock-riding Skanda that originated at Koh Ker,” he said.

Most of the cultural treasures were lost during the country’s three decades of conflict, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, which presented countless opportunities for criminals to steal and export artefacts abroad, and even into the early 1990s artefacts were still looted from unsecured areas.

However, when the war ended, Cambodia began to reclaim the stolen artefacts. Many Khmer cultural treasures were repatriated after agreements were made with the US, Japan, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Norway and China. A senior official of the Ministry of Culture said that since 1996, Cambodia has received more than 600 artefacts from these countries.

Daniel J. Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that cultural cooperation between the US and Cambodia has facilitated the repatriation of more than 100 invaluable artefacts to Cambodia in order to build the capacity of Cambodians working in cultural heritage conservation.

Thuy Chanthuon, Vice-President of the Institute of Culture and Fine Arts, said that as an archaeologist, he highly appreciated the good intentions that facilitated the return of the artefacts to Cambodia.

He believes that at the US government has been trying to persuade Cambodia to strike a balance between East Asia and the West, and returning these artefacts to Cambodia facilitates that objective, as well as to strengthen the bonds of solidarity between the US and Cambodia.

“Under UNESCO law, an artefact or piece of culture before going anywhere is required to have sufficient documents or data, but if insufficient, all artefacts must be confiscated and sent back to Cambodia or to the original owner through all means possible,” he said.

 

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