Australian museum to return stolen Cambodian artefacts

Three bronze sculptures from the 9th and 10th centuries may be returned to Cambodia by Australia’s national gallery after they were discovered to have been stolen.

It comes after a ten-year research by the two nations to ascertain the source of the plays.

The historical action was praised by Cambodia’s government as” an essential step towards rectifying earlier injustices.”

A global effort to return stolen social items is underway at the same time.

The Champa Kingdom, which previously ruled Vietnam and some of Cambodia, is where the three paintings originated.

The Australian National Gallery (NGA) says it purchased the sculptures in 2011 for A$2.3m (£1.18m; $1.5m) from British artefacts smuggler Douglas Latchford – who died in 2020.

According to the NGA, Mr. Latchford has been charged with the alleged prostitution of stolen and looted Thai artifacts since 2016, and charges were brought against him in 2019.

The three figures, which are now part of Mr. Latchford’s set, were discovered in a niche in Tboung Khmum, east of Cambodia, in 1994. They were then smuggled to foreign art dealers in Thailand.

Nawapan Kriangsak, the daughter of Mr. Latchford, assisted in the transfer of the merchandise along with researchers from the NGA and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in Cambodia.

While Cambodia prepares a new house for them in Phnom Penh, the works will be on display at the NGA in Canberra for three years.

At a transfer service on Friday, Susan Templeman, Australia’s Special Envoy for the Arts, said,” It is an opportunity to put straight an historical wrong but also to improve our relationships and deepen our understanding.”

Hundreds of antiquities, including some that it claims are housed in the Victoria and Albert and British Museums, have been taken from Cambodia’s ancient temples. Cambodia has continued to appeal to global institutions for their assistance.

The NGA has removed stolen artwork from its set twice in recent times.

A number of artifacts that were connected to the alleged treasures criminal Subhash Kapoor and the later New York art dealer William Wolff were brought back to India by the gallery in 2021, some of which date from the 11th century.