Famous temples in Cambodia work to recover stolen artifacts (VIDEO)
After Cambodia's civil war, sacred sites and temples fell victim to thieves. Art and statues important to the country's culture and religion were scattered across the world, often ending up in the hands of museums and private collections. One lawyer has made it his mission to track these pieces down and bring them back to where they belong.
Elizabeth Palmer reports.
Jun 10, 2023

How a statue looted from a Cambodian temple revealed a vast smuggling network dealing in stolen cultural artefacts
The tracing of how a statue of a Hindu warrior ended up in a Sotheby’s auction uncovered a highly lucrative network that had been in operation for decades
Published: 7:45am, 18 Jun, 2023

The five-hour journey from Phnom Penh had already been arduous. The acrid smell of burning rice stubble hung in the air as the jeep snaked slowly along red laterite roads in Cambodia’s northeast, overgrown with dense foliage where old skull-and-bone warning signs lay in the brush – stark reminders of landmines still present from the Khmer Rouge occupation and the subsequent civil war that consumed the country for more than a decade after their reign ended, in 1979.

It was March 2005 and, bouncing around in an army-green 1976 GMC jeep, archaeologists Tess Davis and Dougald O’Reilly trundled towards their destination, the ancient temples of the once-fabled city of Lingapura, the Khmer capital built by King Jayavarman IV in AD921, known today as Koh Ker.

Davis’ Cambodian street dog, Penhois, sat obediently on her lap as they came to a stop, and they all jumped out and visited various temple sites.

Davis, O’Reilly and Penhois made their way to Prasat Krahom, the red temple, which once housed a three-metre-high (10-foot) statue of the Hindu god Shiva.

Armed with cameras, notebooks and measuring equipment, all eyes – at least the two pairs of human ones – locked onto pieces of the expected Shiva statue’s arms and hands, now scattered on the ground.

As Davis wandered around, she shook her head, lamenting the jagged pits where looters had tried to dig their way into the temple structure’s foundation deposits. Nearly every temple had similar burrow holes, as well as evidence of stolen artefacts.

French explorers in the late 1800s described Koh Ker as an open-air museum, relatively well preserved due to its isolation up to the mid-20th century. But by the early 21st century, it was clear to Davis that the site had been pillaged, and seeing the destruction of this national cultural heritage would leave an indelible impression on the young archaeologist.

As Davis explained to me in October 2022, “there was next to nothing free-standing left”.

Fast-forward almost two decades, to March 17, 2023, and the long-awaited return of looted antiquities from the United States to Cambodia...
Article: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... -artefacts

Anyone listened yet? https://english.cambodiadaily.com/lifes ... ak-183052/

UPDATE
Accused Art Trafficker’s Estate Forfeits $12 Million to End Case
The payment will settle a civil suit brought by U.S. officials who accused Douglas A.J. Latchford of being a major dealer of looted antiquities.
By Graham Bowley and Tom Mashberg
June 22, 2023
[excerpts]
Federal officials announced Thursday that the daughter of an accused antiquities trafficker had agreed to forfeit $12 million from his estate as part of a settlement of a civil case that accused her father of profiting from the sale of stolen Cambodian artifacts.

Latchford’s daughter, identified in court papers as Julia Copleston, inherited more than 125 statues and gold relics that authorities contend were looted from Cambodia, as well as an undetermined amount of money from her father.

In 2021 she reached an agreement with the Cambodian government to ship back those items. Negotiations have been ongoing since then over Latchford’s financial accounts.

“The late Douglas Latchford was a prolific dealer of stolen antiquities,” Ivan J. Arvelo, a special agent in charge with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, said in a statement announcing the settlement. “His complicity in numerous illicit transactions over several decades garnered him millions of dollars in payments from buyers and dealers in the United States, of which as part of this agreement, $12 million will be rightfully forfeited by his estate.”

Currently pending are talks between Cambodia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Cambodian officials say they believe dozens of looted objects are held, some of which were given or sold to the museum by Latchford.
Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/arts ... ghter.html

https://www.metmuseum.org/press/news/20 ... hmer-works

More Latchford fallout. Do the right thing, New York.


The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Return of 16 Khmer Sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand
The Met has initiated the repatriation of 14 sculptures to the Kingdom of Cambodia and two to the Kingdom of Thailand, including all of the Khmer works known by the Museum to be associated with the dealer Douglas Latchford.

The Met will temporarily display a selection of the sculptures—which will be presented as the repatriated heritage of Cambodia and Thailand, respectively—while arrangements are made for their return to their countries of origin.

(New York, December 15, 2023)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it has initiated the return of 14 sculptures to Cambodia and two to Thailand, effectively removing from its collection all Khmer works known by the Museum to be associated with the dealer Douglas Latchford. Mr. Latchford was indicted for selling antiquities illegally in 2019; following his indictment, The Met proactively reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and to Cambodian officials, and through this cooperative partnership, the Museum received new information about the sculptures that made it clear that the works should be transferred. The Met and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have since signed an agreement to return these works to Cambodia and Thailand. The Museum is continuing to review its collection of Khmer art and will be exchanging information on sculptures with officials in Cambodia and Thailand as part of that ongoing research.

“The Met has been diligently working with Cambodia and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for years to resolve questions regarding these works of art, and new information that arose from this process made it clear that we should initiate the return of this group of sculptures,” said Max Hollein, the Museum’s Director and Chief Executive Officer. “The Met is pleased to enter into this agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and greatly values our open dialogue with Cambodia and Thailand. We are committed to pursuing partnerships and collaborations with our colleagues there that will advance the world’s understanding and appreciation of Khmer art, and we look forward to embarking on this new chapter together.”

The works of art being repatriated were made between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period and reflect the Hindu and Buddhist religious systems prevailing at that time. A number of the sculptures—including the bronze masterpiece The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease (late 10th–early 11th century), and the monumental stone Head of Buddha (7th century)—will remain on view in the Museum’s galleries for South Asian art while arrangements are made for their return to their countries of origin.

The Met has partnered in the past with both Cambodia and Thailand, most significantly in the presenting of the major exhibition Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century in 2014. The Met has also worked with Cambodia on prior repatriations: In 2013, The Met voluntarily returned to Cambodia two objects known as the “Kneeling Attendants,” which were also associated with Mr. Latchford. This move was described as “historic” by Cambodian officials and paved the way for other repatriations to that country and cemented the Museum’s strong and productive partnership with its cultural leaders.

The Met recently announced a suite of initiatives related to cultural property and the Museum’s collecting practices that includes undertaking a focused review of works in the collection; hiring provenance researchers to join the many researchers and curators already doing this work at the Museum; further engaging staff and trustees; and using The Met’s platform to support and contribute to public discourse on this topic. More information is available on The Met website.

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December 15, 2023

stevenjb wrote: ↑Sat Dec 16, 2023 12:07 pm IMO the Met should have done more due diligence on provenance of these pieces before accepting them. On the other hand it is fortunate these pieces were not sold to private collections where they may have been lost forever.

I realize these pieces are significant to Cambodian culture. It might be a nice cultural exchange if Cambodia allowed some of these pieces to remain at the Met indefinitely. Allowing other people who visit the Met but may not visit SEA to experience these pieces in person.

Good point about some patrons not being able to make it out all the way to SEA (elderly, infirm, etc.). Perhaps Cambodia may want to negotiate on that.

Yeah, the provenance issue is where I get the impression they are trying to re-evaluate their internal processes.

Probably far more Cambodians are unable to make it all the way out to the MET, and it is their culture. It's more important that they have access to it.

Moe wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 1:50 am Probably far more Cambodians are unable to make it all the way out to the MET, and it is their culture. It's more important that they have access to it.

A persuasive point. I'd advise the Cambodian representatives to negotiate firmer on that issue. It's been long enough.