LETTER FROM PHNOM PENH
Khmer sculptures looted from the temples of Angkor were returned in droves, notably during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) and up until the 1990s, when the Cambodian state was reborn under the aegis of the United Nations (UN). In Phnom Penh, the National Museum of Cambodia is so overflowing with these restituted works that France is funding a study to create new rooms at the nearby Royal University of Fine Arts.
Among the latest treasures to be located is a bust of a woman with four arms, undoubtedly a Hindu deity characteristic of Khmer art from Angkor until the 12th century. "We were informed of its presence in an auction house in the US. In January, the American authorities intervened and recovered the object," said Huot Samnang, Director of Antiquities at the Cambodian Ministry of Culture. The statue was handed over to the Cambodian ambassador on March 26, before being repatriated. "Each piece is essential; these sculptures contain the soul of our ancestors," the expert said.
Some of the 14 sandstone and bronze sculptures returned from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in 2024 can already be admired in the temple-like national museum, including several major pieces stolen from Koh Ker, a short-lived capital in the 10th century located 80 kilometers from Angkor and only listed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2023.
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