Australia’s national gallery said Thursday it will return three sculptures to Cambodia after an investigation found they had likely been “illegally exported” from the country.
The 9th- and 10th-century bronze sculptures were bought for $1.5 million in 2011 by British art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was later “convincingly implicated in the illegal antiquities trade,” the gallery said. .
Latchford died in 2020, a year after being charged with trafficking stolen and looted Cambodian antiquities. He has also been charged posthumously related to artwork he sold, the gallery said.
At a handover ceremony, Susan Templeman, Australia’s special envoy for the arts, said returning the sculptures to Cambodia was “an opportunity to right a historical wrong.”
She said the Cambodian government had worked with Australia on the issue in a “cooperative spirit and kindness”.
Announcement – Scroll to Continue
Chanborey Cheunboran, Cambodia’s ambassador to Australia, described the handover as “a historic occasion and an important step towards rectifying past injustices, reinforcing the value of cultural property and recognizing the importance of preserving and protecting cultural heritage.”
The sculptures, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Padmapani, Bodhisattva Vajrapani and Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Padmapani, will remain on display in Australia for up to three years while the Cambodian government prepares a new home for them in Phnom Penh.
Museums around the world are returning stolen artifacts as they acknowledge the wrongs inflicted on many countries under colonial rule.
Announcement – Scroll to Continue
Amsterdam’s famed Rijksmuseum vowed last month to return hundreds of items stolen from Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and late last year London’s Horniman Museum vowed to return some of its treasures to Nigeria more than 100 years after they were stolen by the british forces.
sm/arb/cool
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.