Current:Home > ScamsCambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plan to return looted antiquities-InfoLens
Cambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plan to return looted antiquities
View Date:2024-12-23 14:07:47
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia has welcomed the announcement that New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will return more than a dozen pieces of ancient artwork to Cambodia and Thailand that were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia.
This most recent repatriation of artwork comes as many museums in the United States and Europe reckon with collections that contain objects looted from Asia, Africa and other places during centuries of colonialism or in times of upheaval.
Fourteen Khmer sculptures will be returned to Cambodia and two will be returned to Thailand, the Manhattan museum announced Friday, though no specific timeline was given.
“We appreciate this first step in the right direction,” said a statement issued by Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. “We look forward to further returns and acknowledgements of the truth regarding our lost national treasures, taken from Cambodia in the time of war and genocide.”
Cambodia suffered from war and the brutal rule of the communist Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and 1980s, causing disorder that opened the opportunity for its archaeological treasures to be looted.
The repatriation of the ancient pieces was linked to well-known art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was indicted in 2019 for allegedly orchestrating a multiyear scheme to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market. Latchford, who died the following year, had denied any involvement in smuggling.
The museum initially cooperated with the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations on the return of 13 sculptures tied to Latchford before determining there were three more that should be repatriated.
“As demonstrated with today’s announcement, pieces linked to the investigation of Douglas Latchford continue to reveal themselves,” HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan said in a statement Friday. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art has not only recognized the significance of these 13 Khmer artifacts, which were shamelessly stolen, but has also volunteered to return them, as part of their ongoing cooperation, to their rightful owners: the People of Cambodia.”
This isn’t the first time the museum has repatriated art linked to Latchford. In 2013, it returned two objects to Cambodia.
The Latchford family also had a load of centuries-old Cambodian jewelry in their possession that they later returned to Cambodia. In February, 77 pieces of jewelry made of gold and other precious metal pieces — including items such as crowns, necklaces and earrings — were returned to their homeland. Other stone and bronze artifacts were returned in September 2021.
Pieces being returned include a bronze sculpture called The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease, made sometime between the late 10th century and early 11th century. Another piece of art, made of stone in the seventh century and named Head of Buddha, will also be returned. Those pieces are part of 10 that can still be viewed in the museum’s galleries while arrangements are made for their return.
“These returns contribute to the reconciliation and healing of the Cambodian people who went through decades of civil war and suffered tremendously from the tragedy of the Khmer Rouge genocide, and to a greater strengthening of our relationship with the United States,” Cambodia’s Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Phoeurng Sackona, said in her agency’s statement.
Research efforts were already underway by the museum to examine the ownership history of its objects, focusing on how ancient art and cultural property changed hands, as well as the provenance of Nazi-looted artwork.
___
Associated Press writer Maysoon Khan in Albany, New York, contributed to this report. Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
veryGood! (35)
Related
- Massachusetts lawmakers to consider a soccer stadium for the New England Revolution
- See Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Taking on the World Together During Bahamas Vacation
- Alabama sets May lethal injection date for man convicted of killing couple during robbery
- Crowns, chest bumps and swagger: In March Madness, the handshake isn’t just for high fives anymore
- Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn’s SKIMS Holiday Pajamas Are Selling Out Fast—Here’s What’s Still Available
- A man has been arrested for randomly assaulting a young woman on a New York City street
- Washington state's Strippers' Bill of Rights, providing adult dancers workplace protections, signed into law
- Mississippi Senate Republicans push Medicaid expansion ‘lite’ proposal that would cover fewer people
- Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa’s close congressional race as GOP wins control of House
- Athletics unfazed by prospect of lame duck season at Oakland Coliseum in 2024
Ranking
- Joel Embiid injury, suspension update: When is 76ers star's NBA season debut?
- South Carolina House OKs bill they say will keep the lights on. Others worry oversight will be lost
- West Virginia Gov. Justice breaks with GOP Legislature to veto bill rolling back school vaccine rule
- New York’s state budget expected to be late as housing, education negotiations continue
- Judge sets date for 9/11 defendants to enter pleas, deepening battle over court’s independence
- House of Villains Season 2 Cast Revealed: Teresa Giudice, Richard Hatch and More
- 4 people killed and 5 wounded in stabbings in northern Illinois, with a suspect in custody
- GirlsDoPorn owner goes from FBI's Most Wanted List to San Diego court appearance
Recommendation
-
Shawn Mendes quest for self-discovery is a quiet triumph: Best songs on 'Shawn' album
-
Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis highlights balancing act between celebrity and royals' private lives
-
Hawaii says 30 Lahaina fire survivors are moving into housing daily but 3,000 are still in hotels
-
Is there a safe way to 'make weight' as a high school wrestler? Here's what experts say
-
Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys
-
Completion of audit into Arkansas governor’s $19,000 lectern has been pushed back to April
-
Former Child Star Frankie Muniz's Multi-Million Dollar Net Worth May Surprise You
-
Florida bed and breakfast for sale has spring swimming with manatees: See photos