Australia’s National Gallery has announced its decision to return three 9th and 10th Century bronze sculptures to Cambodia, acknowledging that they were stolen.
The move comes as part of a global push to repatriate looted cultural artifacts to their rightful homes.
Australia’s Special Envoy for the Arts, Susan Templeman, expressed the significance of the repatriation, stating, “It is an opportunity to put right a historical wrong but also to strengthen our ties and deepen our understanding.”
The three ancient sculptures originated from the Champa Kingdom, which once spanned regions of Vietnam and Cambodia.
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The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) purchased the valuable artifacts in 2011 for A$2.3 million from the now-deceased British art smuggler Douglas Latchford, who had been implicated in the illegal trade of antiquities.
Charges were laid against him in 2019 related to alleged trafficking of stolen and looted Cambodian artifacts.
According to reports, the three statues were unearthed in Cambodia’s Tboung Khmum region in 1994 and were subsequently smuggled across the border to international art dealers in Thailand, eventually finding their way into Latchford’s collection.
Nawapan Kriangsak, daughter of the late Douglas Latchford, played a pivotal role in the repatriation process, working alongside researchers from the NGA and Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to facilitate the return of the cultural treasures.
The artworks will remain on display at the NGA in Canberra for three years while Cambodia prepares a new home for them in Phnom Penh. Cambodia’s government has welcomed the move as “an important step towards rectifying past injustices.”
This latest repatriation effort adds to Australia’s growing commitment to returning stolen cultural goods to their places of origin.
Earlier this year, Australia agreed to return four Aboriginal spears taken by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1770 to their traditional owners after more than two centuries at Cambridge University. The repatriation followed a 20-year campaign by First Nations communities.
The decision by Australia’s National Gallery to return the ancient sculptures to Cambodia reflects a growing awareness of the importance of preserving and respecting the cultural heritage of nations worldwide.
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