March 17, 2023 marked the return of hundreds of Khmer antiquities from public and private collections abroad. One month prior, a collection of Khmer gold and metal jewellery was brought from the UK to Cambodia, a highly publicized return shining an ever brighter spotlight on the illegal activities of art collector-dealer Douglas Latchford. An official celebration led by Prime Minister Hun Sen was held in Phnom Penh where artefacts were on display for prayer, dance and commemoration. Many expressed their support and excitement online, including the UK Ambassador to Cambodia.
The event and its subsequent press highlighted the cooperation between nationsâCambodia and especially the U.S. and U.K.âwhich makes diplomatic returns such as these possible. The ‘pricelessâ cultural treasures carry not only the value of their prior commercial value within the art market, but also the cultural value of representing âthe soul of the nation.â Clear to the audience was the remarkable national identity held within antiquities.
A different expression of the same return can be found in a snapshot of the Restitution Team, posing with the 10th century Ganesha, still encased in its shipping container remarkably plastered with stickers attesting to its long journey out of the Koh Ker temple site, through Latchford, to the Berlin Museum of Asian Art and into the private collection of Netscape founder Jim Clark. Despite conservators voicing concerns from the early 20th c., Latchford and his facilitators managed to fend off accusations of trafficking of the long documented piece for nearly two decades. Ganesha seems equally at home here as in the diplomatic hall. Both are crucial settings for demonstrating the authenticity of what can often be considered mere rhetoric: that the return of these cultural treasures reunites a people with its soul. CO-OP programme lead, Ashley Thompson, remarked of the photograph:
âThe team receiving this monumental Ganesha looks relieved, at once joyous and serene, and dignified. It is palpable here how the restitution of objects embodies a restitution of dignity. It strikes me that there is no colonial gaze directing the team membersâ gazes, nor are they fighting it off, looking for ways to look strong. Itâs a posed picture of course but they arenât posing for anyone; they are at home with themselves.â
On the newly restituted Prasat Bac Ganesha: translation of a note from the Sculpture Conservation Workshop, National Museum of Cambodia / EFEO, in the May 2023 Newsletter of the Ăcole française dâExtrĂȘme-Orient
The imposing statue of Ganesha from Prasat Bac, restituted this past March, is currently displayed in the Museumâs entry courtyard, on a sheltered platform (ponlea).
An initial study revealed the excessive restoration to which the sculpture had been subjected: more than three quarters of its surfaces had been touched up in order to hide the assemblage of broken bits along with numerous modifications. At close inspection, these brownish surfaces with slightly purplish colouring have the dullness of a âfake rock,â quite distinct from the ochre patina of the sandstone still visible on the statueâs left arm and ears.
The different components of the statueâs pedestal, which had been conserved in the enclosure of the APSARA Authority in Siem Reap, were transferred to the Museum last month, while the search for missing components ongoing on-site.
To the degree possible, we envisage a de-restoration along with a re-installation of the statue on its original pedestal.
Ultimately, the statue will take the place of the great Garuda from Prasat Thom of Koh Ker which has stood in the museumâs entry hall since 1952. This statue also requires significant de-restoration / restoration.
