CAMBODIA: U.S. government returns smuggled Angkor-era artifact

The U.S. government has returned the head of an Angkor-era sculpture, that had been stolen and smuggled out of the country, back to Cambodia, one of many artifacts that leave the country every year. The 2 kg artifact, a sandstone head of an apsara, or a celestial dancer from the 12th century, was smuggled out of the country in violation of a 2003 bilateral agreement to protect Cambodia's cultural heritage but was seized by U.S. law enforcement agents earlier this year. "People talk a lot about the need for Khmer culture to be preserved but not enough is done so we're very grateful and happy that our police and other law-enforcement agencies are focussed on this issue. We cannot really expect Cambodia to move ahead into the future if it doesn't have enough understanding of its past," said U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph A. Mussomeli. The country's ancient stone monuments, the most famous of which is the Hindu temple Angor Wat, have sustained much damage over the years due to nature, nearly three decades of war as well as looters. Many priceless artifacts have ended up in the hands of private overseas collectors. "There are many ways of looting -- from temples, pagodas, excavating from the ground etc. Now we are educating people to understand our heritage and informing them of the law which protects our heritage and we are also making an inventory of our artifacts. If we have a list of what we have and where they are, we can protect them," said Hat Touch, director of the National Museum. Antique dealers say the biggest markets for Khmer art are in the United States and Europe as well as wealthy Asians in Singapore and Japan. On the streets of capital Phnom Penh, many workshops offer cheaper alternatives which are popular among tourists as well as Cambodians who have left the country. Every day, sculptors chisel Buddhas and replicas of Khmer statues in various kinds of stone. "I like art from the Angkor Wat wall. I would like to preserve those arts and that is why I make them," said 28-year-old sculptor Sim Polin. UNESCO removed the Angkor Wat temple complex from its World Heritage in Danger list in 2004, commending the efforts to preserve the country's main tourist attraction. Work is underway to educate farmers who often unearth sculptures and other antiquities in fields and jungles as to the importance of protecting and preserving the country's past.

ITN Source | August 12, 2007

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