ARTS-NEPAL: Stolen Artifacts Wind Up In Western Museums
Rich Winkel
** Topic: /ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS-NEPAL: Stolen Artifacts Wind Up In **
** Written 9:10 PM Sep 14, 1999 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english **
Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 14-Sep-99 ***
Title: /ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS-NEPAL: Stolen Artifacts Wind Up In
Western Museums
By Ramyata Limbu
KATHMANDU, Sep 18 (IPS) - A decade after the publication of
'Stolen Images of Nepal', a comprehensive photographic
documentation of the country's stolen sculptures, a batch of icons
featured in the book have been returned.
In what the country's archaeologists and art lovers describe as
a 'historic event', a Los Angeles-based art collector recently
returned four sculptures dating back to the 9 century A.D..
''It is a historic event. This has never happened before. It
has been for centuries that Nepal's art work has been plundered
but this is the first time that someone has felt morally obliged
to return any. That is a historic first,'' says avid art watcher
Jurgen Schick.
Photographs of numerous Hindu and Buddhist icons, taken by
Schick during his travels in the Valley in the early 80s, feature
in the book (published in 1989 by the Royal Nepal Academy) by
leading art historian and former vice-chancellor of the Royal
Nepal Academy Lain S. Bangdel.
Schick's own book, 'The Gods are Leaving the Country, Art Theft
from Nepal', published in German in the same year, carries
pictures and accounts of stone and bronze sculptures that
disappeared from Nepal in the 70s and 80s. An English edition of
the book was published in 1997.
The work of both men, one a connoisseur whose work spans 30
years, the other a self-confessed art lover who spent seven years
painstakingly documenting the Valley's icons, is detailed proof of
the plunder of Nepal's 2000 year-old cultural history.
The books, according to archaeologists, may be the only record
of Nepal's stolen artworks.
''In the absence of the Archaeology Department's own records,
these books may be the only existing evidence that will enable us
to claim artworks that have disappeared from the country,'' says
archaeologist C. P. Tripathee.
The Department, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, spent about
3,000 dollars to bring back the sculptures estimated at over
100,000 dollars.
The art works - a 9th century Buddha image, a 10th century
Garudasana Vishnu image, the mutilated head of a 12th century
Saraswati image and a 14th century Surya image - are now in the
National Museum in Kathmandu.
Schick , who first arrived in 1980 as a tourist was struck by
the wealth of culture concentrated in Kathmandu, a valley
comprising the ancient cities of Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu.
His aim to put together a comprehensive book on the Valley's
heritage changed when on his rounds, he began to notice empty
niches, holes in the wall and mutilated statues - the work of
professional, international art-theft organisations.
Many of these sacred idols, worshipped and venerated by
generations of Nepalis, lie behind glass cases in the sterile
atmosphere of art galleries, museums, and private collections in
the West.
''In the early 80's, I'd taken a group to look at the statue of
Lakshmi Narayana in Bhaktapur. It wasn't there. It had been stolen
in the night. There was a crowd of people. Women were weeping,''
recalls Schick. Today, an ugly, badly-done copy stands in its
place.
Like Bangdel's book, the aim of Schick's book, apart from
providing evidence of the theft, is to change the purchasing
policies of western collections and lay the ground for a future
return. Schick cites examples.
A Sotheby's Catalogue (New York, 1990) on Himalayan Art
published a 15th century sculpture of Vasudeva Kamalaja. The
sculpture was stolen in 1984. A 10th century stone sculpture of
Uma Mahesvara, stolen in the mid 1960s, is on display in the
Denver Museum in the U.S.
Another Uma Mahesvara statue, stolen in 1984 from the hamlet of
Bhaktapur, is on display in the Guimet Museum in Paris, one of the
world's leading museums of South Asian Art.
''The statue used to be there,'' says Bhaktapur resident
Rabindra Kharbuja, pointing to an empty, moss-ridden niche, just a
couple of yards from the fake statue of Laxmi Narayana.
''The recent return of stolen artworks has given us hope. If
our gods come back, we will go to the airport to receive them with
pomp and ceremony. We've worshipped them for centuries.''
Eight other sculptures, documented in Bangdel's book, are
missing from the immediate vicinity. More than aesthetic works of
art, the sacred icons have a deeply religious significance for
generations of Nepalis who worship them with flowers, vermilion,
milk and butter everyday.
Many of the remaining statues have been put behind ugly iron
bars are cemented to the ground to deter art-robbers. The export
of artifacts older than 100 years is banned in Nepal.
''The nineties have experienced less art theft. I guess there
is not much left to steal,'' says Schick . ''I think attitudes are
changing too. The market is shrinking.''
A U.N. Convention, ratified by Nepal in 1976 but yet to be
signed by all the rich countries, bans the export and ransfer of
ownership of cultural property. Its implementation could save the
heritage of many countries like Nepal. (END/IPS/rl/an/99)
Origin: Montevideo//ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS-NEPAL/
----
[c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
All rights reserved
May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or
service outside of the APC networks, without specific
permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution
via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists,
print media and broadcast. For information about cross-
posting, send a message to <wd...@ips.org>. For
information about print or broadcast reproduction please
contact the IPS coordinator at <onl...@ips.org>.
** End of text from cdp:ips.english **
***************************************************************************
This material came from the Institute for Global Communications (IGC), a
non-profit, unionized, politically progressive Internet services provider.
For more information, send a message to igc-...@igc.org (you will get
back an automatic reply), or visit their web site at http://www.igc.org/ .
IGC is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
***************************************************************************