Protecting Cambodia's imperiled art

Ashley Thompson, an American working to halt the cultural destruction, shows a group evidence of recent looting

April 25, 2000
Web posted at: 4:02 p.m. EDT (2002 GMT)

ANGKOR WAT, Cambodia (CNN) -- The great temple complex of Angkor Wat is at the core of Cambodia's identity.

Now that identity is imperiled. Angkor Wat, built 1,000 years ago when the Khmer Empire ruled much of Southeast Asia, has become the target of international art thieves.

"They have truly taken the best masterpieces of Cambodian art," says Van Molyvann, who runs the Apsara Authority, the government agency in charge of Angkor, in northwestern Cambodia. The temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Perhaps no other object of art better symbolizes the pilfering of Cambodia's cultural heritage than the headless statue. Collectors prize the heads of stone figures, creating illicit opportunities for thieves.

American Ashley Thompson, who also works for the Apsara Authority, points to a figure whose decapitation appears to be the work of professionals.

"Here it looks as if they've gone in with a chisel and chiseled all the way around the head in order to take out the head intact," she says. "What you see here is much more professional looting."

Experts say the pillaging of Cambodia's cultural relics is now a multinational business, fed by the growing demand for Khmer sculpture among collectors around the world.

The network for looted Cambodian art is so sophisticated, and so blatant, that catalogues exist listing sites and specific objects. A connoisseur without scruples can have a priceless object stolen to order.

"It's a network that runs all the way from the village level in Cambodia, to the national authorities in Cambodia, to the national authorities in Thailand, to the art dealers in the first world countries," Thompson says. "(It's) corruption at all levels."

Professional looting is eating away at Cambodia's cultural heritage as art thieves plunder masterpieces for collectors and dealers around the world

In Cambodia, that includes powerful elements in the armed forces, who can easily bribe or intimidate the Cultural Heritage Police and the 400 volunteers who are paid just $25 a month to protect the 160-square-mile (400-square-kilometer) complex.

Outside the country, it's a different, but no less effective, kind of corruption.

The network for looted Cambodian art is so sophisticated, and so blatant, that catalogues exist listing sites and specific objects. A connoisseur without scruples can have a priceless object stolen to order.

"These catalogues circulate in Washington, Tokyo, and other international art markets," Molyvann says. "A collector puts in an order. The robbers, generally soldiers or local villagers, steal the object and take it across the border to Thailand."

Others are fighting back, including UNESCO, the United Nations Education and Social Organization.

The complex of Angkor, built 1,000 years ago, is among the most heavily pillaged sites

"What UNESCO is doing is promoting measures of protection in Cambodia, and action to seize the stolen objects in the country of destination," says Etienne Clement, who works for the U.N. agency. "There is still a lot to do to sensitize the dealers. As far as collectors are concerned, this is probably the most difficult issue to deal with."

In the end, a country as poor as Cambodia can only do so much, say those charged with protecting the nation's heritage. Until dealers and collectors realize that the art they're acquiring is contributing to the destruction of Cambodia's culture, they say, the pillaging of those treasures will go on.

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Forgotten Wonders: Angkor Wat

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