via various news sources below: The National Gallery of Australia is returning three 9th-century Cham sculptures to Cambodia, believed to have been looted and sold illegally by UK dealer Douglas Latchford.
Australia’s connection to this saga came to light when the National Gallery of Australia undertook an extensive investigation into the provenance of the trio of 1,000-year-old Cham bronze sculptures.
On Thursday the NGA announced these masterpieces of the Cham culture – which once flourished in parts of modern Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos – would be returned to Cambodia after it found, on the balance of probabilities, they had been illegally excavated and exported.
The undersecretary of state from Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Kong Vireak, said at the official handover at the NGA last week his country had been traumatised by war and the return of the sculptures “heals our nation”.
“The return is a miracle and sets an example for the world,” he said.
See also:
- Australia: National Gallery Returns Cambodian Sculptures | Telesurenglish, 03 Aug 2023
- Australia’s National Gallery to return stolen treasures to Cambodia | Washington Post, 03 Aug 2023
- Australia’s return of stolen artefacts ‘rights a historical wrong’ | Straits Times, 03 Aug 2023
- Australian museum to return stolen Cambodian artefacts | BBC News, 03 Aug 2023
- Australian museum to return three ancient looted sculptures to Cambodia | La Prensa Latina, 03 Aug 2023
- Cambodian sculpture return is a win-win | ArtsHub, 03 Aug 2023
- How statues looted from a Cambodian field wound up in the National Gallery of Australia | ABC News, 03 Aug 2023
- Re-writing history of loot: Australia’s national gallery to return stolen Cambodian artefacts | WION, 03 Aug 2023
- Restoring justice: Australia returns stolen artefacts to Cambodia | Al Mayadeen, 03 Aug 2023
- Thousand-year-old sculptures to be returned to Cambodia | AAP/The West Australian, 03 Aug 2023
- National Gallery of Australia to return bronze artifacts believed stolen to Cambodia | ICIJ, 03 Aug 2023
- National Gallery of Australia Returns Sculptures to Cambodia | ArtDependence, 03 Aug 2023
- National Gallery of Australia Will Return Three Bronze Sculptures to Cambodia Sold by Dealer Douglas Latchford | ARTNews, 03 Aug 2023
- National Gallery of Australia returns sculptures to Cambodia | National Gallery of Australia, 03 Aug 2023
- Australia’s National Gallery to return $1.5M statues bought from disgraced art dealer | CNN, 04 Aug 2023
- National Gallery of Australia returns sculptures to Cambodia | Australian Arts Review, 04 Aug 2023
- Aussie museum returns ownership of Khmer statues | Phnom Penh Post, 04 Aug 2023
- Australia Returns Three Looted Statues to Cambodia | Smithsonian, 09 August 2023
