[CPProt.net] Book review: Pillaging Khmer Art

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

Book: Pillaging Khmer Art
Masha Lafont

By: Jos van Beurden

The preservation and the illicit trade in Khmer art has been described in
numerous articles and books. ICOM did so, in close cooperation with the
Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient, in its publication 'One hundred missing
objects: Looting in Angkor'. UNESCO has devoted attention to it in its
publications. There are numerous newspaper reports. Japanese journalist
Masayuki Nagashima spent attention to it in his book 'The lost heritage: The
reality of Artifact Smuggling in Southeast Asia'. Masha Lafont, who has
worked for UNESCO in Paris, has added another book: 'Pillaging Cambodia: The
Illicit Traffic in Khmer Art'. Whereas Nagashima focussed particularly on
the Thai side of the illicit trade in Khmer and other Southeast Asian art,
Lafont pays more attention to the role of Cambodia.

After an overview of Cambodian history and culture, Lafont explores the
history of the illicit trade, its size and structure, its growth and profit
margins, and the participants and international crime syndicate involved in
it. She describes 'the demand' side of the story: antique dealers,
collectors, auction houses, and museums. And she deals with the impact of
the illicit trafficking on the legal, political, and economic systems of
Cambodia, as well as its effect on archeological, historical, and religious
values and the cultural identity of the nation. 

What does she add to the information we already have? First of all, she
explores much more explicitly and extensively than in most other sources the
role of high-ranking Cambodian military in the looting. 'A few top military
officers' in the capital are the 'main participants', they 'loot the temples
situated in the areas in which each particular division is based'. The
military operate in groups of four or five. All in all between five hundred
and seven hundred soldiers are involved in it. In the Angkor area some ten
groups are active. In several instances the army 'videotapes and documents
the temples and the sculptures and sends the material to the dealers in
Bangkok or other neighboring countries'.

Secondly, she gives an overview of the legal measures the country has taken
to curb the looting and illicit traffic. Cambodia had already a law in 1925.
It was rewritten in 1965, after the country had gained its independence. The
dilemma came ten years later when the Pol Pot regime and Year Zero annulled
all legislation. Although since then several efforts have been made to make
new laws, she blames the Cambodian government that it 'does not give the
impression of being in a hurry to introduce the sub-decrees', which are
necessary to make legal measures effective. According to her this is the
result of the involvement of high-ranking government officials in the
illicit trade themselves. It offers an interesting legal dilemma. 

Finally, Lafont offers in an appendix seventeen instances of restitution of
Khmer art to Cambodia. Most of them end up in the National Museum in Phnom
Penh, as it is no longer possible to determine the place from where they
have been removed.

All in all, the book offers an interesting overview and adds some insights.
Although she is quite explicit about the responsibility of Cambodians
themselves for the looting, according to Lafont it is the demand side which
keeps the illicit trade growing. The author has based her findings on
extensive interviews in Paris and Phnom Penh (in this sequence) and on a
large number of newspaper articles. All the time she mentions her sources in
footnotes. In some instances there is a gap between her broad statements in
the main text and these notes. When she points about the increase of
'magnificent Khmer collections' in Western and Japanese museums or about the
role of top military officers, I would have loved to see more hard evidence.
The footnotes do not fill this gap. At several instances she mentions the
extensive role of diplomats and foreign workers in the illicit export of
Khmer art, without giving many details. That is a pity.

 
Pillaging Cambodia
The Illicit Traffic in Khmer Art
Masha Lafont
McFarland & Company, 2004
ISBN 0-7864-1933-4 



_________________________
Museum Security Network
http://www.museum-security.org/
toncremers at museum-security.org
Archive Cultural Property Protection
http://te.verweg.com/pipermail/cpprot/
Archive Museum Security Network
http://te.verweg.com/pipermail/msn-list/
_________________________