Returned looted artefacts to be displayed at the National Museum - Khmer Times
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Returned looted artefacts to be displayed at the National Museum
Nearly 100 Cambodian looted artefacts returned from abroad will be put on exhibition at the National Museum from today until December 18, with the aim for the public to learn and embrace ancient Khmer culture.
Chhay Visoth, director of the museum, said yesterday that the museum will select 99 statues and pieces of jewellery, which were returned from the US and United Kingdom.
He said that the statues depict deities and the jewellery pieces are crafted from stone, metal and bronze.
“We anticipate over 10,000 national and international guests will visit the exhibition to marvel at these ancient relics that have been returned to Cambodia,” he said.
He appealed to Cambodian people, especially young people to visit and learn about their Khmer heritage, as experts will be on hand to explain the history, the cultural and religious significance of each piece on display.
He added that there will also be five famous stone statues on display from the pre-Angkorian period, which were looted from Koh Ker temple.
Head of the Culture, Education, and Tourist Relations Department at the Royal Academy of Cambodia Chhort Bunthong, said, “It is a very important to display those artefacts, which were stolen and trafficked abroad.”
The younger generation should come and visit the exhibition to cherish their Khmer heritage and learn when, where and why the artefacts were created, also when and why their cultural heritage was taken from them and trafficked. It is great for them to learn about our ancient culture but also to understand why our recent history aided tomb raiders and robbed us of our heritage,” he added.
Sim Socheta, 18, a student from Sisowath High School, said that she is interested in this cultural exhibition at the museum and will visit with her friends.
“There are many modern exhibitions to visit these days but an exhibition related to our culture and history is special. I can understand why some youths are not interested. My friends and I will visit the exhibition so we can view the artefacts directly and learn about them from experts,” she said.
In December 2023, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York returned 14 artefacts, including several masterpieces such as the breath-taking, 10th century sculpture of a female goddess (Uma) from the ancient capital of Koh Ker; a 10th century bronze head of Avalokiteshvara, with the matching torso currently at the National Museum of Cambodia; and an 11th-century Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara sculpture.
From 1996 to 2022, more than 600 ancient Khmer artefacts have been returned to Cambodia from the US, Japan, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Norway and China.