US officials have promised to continue the repatriation of stolen Cambodian antiquities. Authorities gave examples of items, including this carved sandstone stela (left) and a statue of a female divinity. (NATIONAL MUSEUM)Wednesday, 03 March 2010
By RANN REUY
The Phnom Penh Post
Siem Reap Province - AMERICAN authorities plan to repatriate a “very large” shipment of cultural artefacts plundered from temples in the Kingdom, a senior US law enforcement official said Tuesday.
John Morton, the assistant secretary of homeland security for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said American officials are working on the logistics of transporting a shipment of priceless antiquities, some of them very heavy, back to the Kingdom later this year.
“In 2007, we returned small items,” Morton told reporters after a meeting with Cambodian officials in Siem Reap Tuesday.
“For this next repatriation, the items are very large and weigh several thousand pounds. We have to make special arrangements for them to be shipped to Cambodia.”
Morton said the artefacts were large pieces removed from a temple that had found their way into the US.
Cultural spokespersons in the Kingdom have long decried the illicit sale of ancient artefacts.
The items, looted from ancient burial sites or wrenched from important monuments and temples throughout the country, are often highly sought after on the illicit international art market.
“This is international business, and unfortunately, there is a black market in cultural artefacts,” said Morton, whose department includes the repatriation of stolen cultural heritage worldwide.
“It can be very difficult to investigate these cases because the items have been stolen many, many years ago.”
The US has pledged to work with Cambodian authorities to stem the flow of the illegal art trade. An ongoing memorandum of understanding between US authorities and the Ministry of Culture bans the importation of Cambodian artefacts dating back to the Iron Age into America.
Tan Chay, director of the heritage police, said after the meeting that US officials have promised to help Cambodia with skills training and that they hoped to open a permanent office in Cambodia to work on antiquities issues.
Earlier this year, authorities released a watch list of items that are commonly stolen from cultural sites in the Kingdom and trafficked onto the illicit art market. It was planned to be distributed to officials at major border crossings.
John Morton, the assistant secretary of homeland security for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said American officials are working on the logistics of transporting a shipment of priceless antiquities, some of them very heavy, back to the Kingdom later this year.
“In 2007, we returned small items,” Morton told reporters after a meeting with Cambodian officials in Siem Reap Tuesday.
“For this next repatriation, the items are very large and weigh several thousand pounds. We have to make special arrangements for them to be shipped to Cambodia.”
Morton said the artefacts were large pieces removed from a temple that had found their way into the US.
Cultural spokespersons in the Kingdom have long decried the illicit sale of ancient artefacts.
The items, looted from ancient burial sites or wrenched from important monuments and temples throughout the country, are often highly sought after on the illicit international art market.
“This is international business, and unfortunately, there is a black market in cultural artefacts,” said Morton, whose department includes the repatriation of stolen cultural heritage worldwide.
“It can be very difficult to investigate these cases because the items have been stolen many, many years ago.”
The US has pledged to work with Cambodian authorities to stem the flow of the illegal art trade. An ongoing memorandum of understanding between US authorities and the Ministry of Culture bans the importation of Cambodian artefacts dating back to the Iron Age into America.
Tan Chay, director of the heritage police, said after the meeting that US officials have promised to help Cambodia with skills training and that they hoped to open a permanent office in Cambodia to work on antiquities issues.
Earlier this year, authorities released a watch list of items that are commonly stolen from cultural sites in the Kingdom and trafficked onto the illicit art market. It was planned to be distributed to officials at major border crossings.
10 comments:
Please save some in America and deposit them into world's artefacts' museum. You don't want them all concentrate in one area.
priceless antiquities ? if it's priceless, why do we want it back ?
Someone needs to go back to ESOL class.
Welcome news! Objects of antiquity are the roots and soul of the Khmer people. Khmer artifacts have found their way into the homes of wealthy patrons, collectors and art dealers around the world, not least, in the US and Europe.
With this gesture, the US is setting a good precedent for other countries to follow, and if only 1/4 of these 'lost' treasures were to be repatriated to Cambodia, they will go along way in helping to resuscitate a traumatised nation.
The challenge for the government will be to expand the means for the preservation of the objects.
The National Museum is a fine building, aesthetically, but sadly too confined in storage space for a country so rich in antiquities. An additional museum will also give tourists reason to spend an extra day or two in the capital. Just please, don't build it next to the casino.
Compared to the labour, sweat and devotion that our ancestors had put into their countless works of art, our inherited task of merely preserving them for the enjoyment and benefit of the next generation may seem a much lighter one.
MP
It's about time the US of A does something right for Cambodia. Thanks!
OMG 5:34AM NO ONE WILL EVER,EVER EVER, ANSWER YOUR QUESTION !!!!!!!!!! PLEASE GO AND GET SOME HELP FOR YOURSELF..........ARE YOU KNOW WHAT , WHERE IS THE STUPID STICK, SO I CAN HIT YOU WITH IT YOU RETARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You USA (Mr. Morton), I am please with your decision! but at the same time I also am worry of these priceless artifact, they might disapear once again when its reach Khmerland. I strongly believe that it's not right time to return yet, please preserved in USA for the time been wait until Khmer will have adequatly independent from YUON collonial. Than repatriat these Artifacts, Yuon,Siamese,or Some of Hun Sen's theft officers will steal them to selle for sex again. Mr.Hun Sen is not able to see what all actually happening around him, he relays on his corrupted officers say lie to him most the time.
Please! Please! keep them in USA for now.
Thank You USA
god bless cambodia.
5:34AM,I think you better spend more time to study English. (Priceless = Invaluable, មានតំលៃថ្លៃឥតគណនាបាន)
The flower from heaven!
A rarely seen Buddhist flower, which blossoms every 3,000 years, has been discovered under a nun's washing machine
http://www.jendhamuni.com/news/articles/buddhistflower.htm
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