This past week there has been a range of articles focusing on Cambodia’s bid to repatriate artefacts overseas, particularly the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert museum. Roundup of articles below.
While some countries fight to reclaim antiquities that were stolen centuries ago, Cambodian investigators are dealing with far more recent thefts. Many of the country’s prized treasures were taken by looters in the 1980s and 1990s and then sold on to some of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert museum, in London. At the centre of many of the sales was a rogue British art dealer. Celia Hatton joins the Cambodian investigative team and gains unprecedented access to looters who have become government witnesses. The Phnom Penh government has now launched a legal campaign in the UK to get some of its most prized statues back. For many Cambodians these are not simply blocks of stone or pieces of metal, they are living spirits and integral to the Khmer identity. The Gods, they say, are cold and lonely in foreign collections and they want to come home.
Source: The Documentary Podcast – Cambodia: Returning the gods – BBC Sounds
See also:
- Cambodia urges UK museums to investigate and return looted treasures allegedly handled by dealer Douglas Latchford | The Art Newspaper, 13 May 2022
- Cambodia Calls on U.K. Museums to Return Objects Allegedly Looted by Disgraced Dealer Douglas Latchford | ARTNews, 13 May 2022
- The long struggle to return Cambodia’s looted treasures | BBC News, 13 May 2022
- Cambodia seeks artifacts return from Britain | China Daiy, 13 May 2022
- Cambodia wants UK to return artefacts | Khmer Times, 16 May 2022
- Cambodia Asks U.K. Cultural Institutions to Return Looted Statues | Smithsonian, 18 May 2022
