{"id":166667,"date":"2023-08-15T08:58:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T08:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=166667"},"modified":"2023-08-17T06:01:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T06:01:25","slug":"australias-national-gallery-returns-stolen-art-to-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/australias-national-gallery-returns-stolen-art-to-cambodia\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia&#8217;s National Gallery Returns Stolen Art to Cambodia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover the story behind the National Gallery of Australia&#8217;s decision to repatriate stolen treasures to Cambodia.<\/span><\/p>\n           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>National Gallery of Australia repatriates three ancient statues to Cambodia, suspected to be illicitly acquired.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The statues were tied to Douglas Latchford, a British antiquities dealer indicted for crimes linked to stolen artifacts.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>This move represents an ongoing global effort to return looted antiquities to their rightful homes.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<h2><b>The Controversial Path of the Cambodian Artifacts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let&#8217;s dive into some art world news, straight from Melbourne, Australia. The National Gallery of Australia is making headlines as they&#8217;ve decided to return three ancient statues to Cambodia. This comes after suspicions arose that these treasures were unlawfully taken from the Southeast Asian nation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year, Cambodia welcomed back several art pieces previously housed in U.S. museums and collections. A common thread? They were all connected to Douglas Latchford. Remember him? He was the infamous British <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/stolen-antiquities-worth-725000-repatriated-to-yemen-a-step-towards-restoring-cultural-heritage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">antiquities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> dealer indicted in the U.S. in 2019 for his alleged involvement in the illegal art trade. Sadly, Latchford never saw the inside of a courtroom, passing away before his trial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The accusations against Latchford were severe. Prosecutors believed he&#8217;d altered records to present the relics as legally acquired. In reality, many of these items had been pilfered from Cambodian temples and smuggled across international borders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, the spotlight&#8217;s on three specific bronze sculptures: the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Padmapani and its attendants. The National Gallery of Australia proudly added these to their collection in 2011, shelling out a cool $1.5 million. Originating from the 9th or 10th century&#8217;s Cham Kingdom, these sculptures have quite a tale behind them.<\/span><\/p>\n                        <!-- <div class=\"container-c\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"row justify-content-between\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"col-post-800\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- start html -->\r\n                        <div class=\"blockquote-wapper\">\r\n                            <div>\r\n                                <span class=\"text_quot\">\r\n                                    <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover the story behind the National Gallery of Australia&#8217;s decision to repatriate stolen treasures to Cambodia.<\/span><\/p>\n                                <\/span>\r\n\r\n                                <div class=\"quot_icon\">\r\n                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                                <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n\r\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot_tick\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot_tri.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <!-- end html -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                                    \n<h2><b>Voices from the Ceremony: A Turning Point for Global Art<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At a heartfelt ceremony, Cheunboran Chanborey, the Cambodian ambassador to Australia, described this repatriation as a crucial step in righting past wrongs. Likewise, Nick Mitzevich, the gallery\u2019s director, expressed his contentment in restoring these culturally significant <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/louise-bourgeois-iconic-spider-sculpture-anticipates-record-breaking-sale-at-sothebys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sculptures<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to their true home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This move wasn&#8217;t entirely out of the blue. The gallery began its investigations into the statues&#8217; authenticity around five years after their purchase. Why? That&#8217;s when Latchford&#8217;s name started ringing alarm bells in the illicit antiquities market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A bit of history for you: Latchford&#8217;s alleged misdeeds started way back in the 1970s. For context, this was when Cambodia faced significant hardships, including bombings during the Vietnam War and the terrifying Khmer Rouge regime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, let&#8217;s talk about a recent expose. Last year, an investigation involving the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists unveiled that Latchford had set up secret offshore trusts for his art stash. By then, several pieces associated with him had found their way into renowned collections globally, including, yes, you guessed it, the National Gallery of Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phoeurng Sackona, the Cambodian minister of culture, vowed never to cease efforts in recovering Cambodian heritage. Emphasizing the cultural and spiritual importance of these artifacts, she mentioned, &#8220;These objects&#8230; have spirits and are considered as lives.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitzevich noted the profound changes in the art world&#8217;s stance on artifact provenance in recent years. &#8220;The art world has been shocked at the fraud that\u2019s been undertaken,&#8221; he remarked. This repatriation ceremony, in particular, was an emotive occasion. Although the statues will be exhibited in the gallery for another three years, arrangements are underway for their eventual display in Phnom Penh.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>A Larger Global Movement: Latchford&#8217;s Legacy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Douglas Latchford wasn&#8217;t just any art dealer. He was among the top-tier Western traffickers of prized artifacts from developing nations. But, in a turn of events, Julia Copleston, Latchford&#8217;s daughter, has agreed to send back her father\u2019s personal collection to their original homes. She also agreed to a whopping $12 million forfeiture arrangement concerning her father\u2019s estate with U.S. officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, there you have it, folks! A journey of stolen artifacts, making their long-awaited return. And as the world watches, Australia&#8217;s National Gallery reminds us of the art world&#8217;s complex intersections with history, ethics, and justice.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10028,"featured_media":166782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10028"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}