"All three can be connected with problematic dealers, and no evidence emerged that gave us any confidence that the pieces came out in anything other than those circumstances. So after a lot of internal research and several visits to Cambodia, we worked closely with both the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts as well its legal representative Edenbridge, shared the information we had, and came to the conclusion that all three pieces should be returned."
"There is very strong evidence that all three pieces came out of Cambodia, out of a context of war and violence and the dissolution of order,"
""As a result of internal discussions-thinking in part about the nature of how Asian and African collections came together,"
The National Museum of Asian Art conducted internal provenance research and voluntarily returned three Cambodian statues after concluding they were likely removed during Cambodia's 1967–75 civil war. The returned objects include a tenth-century sandstone hybrid deity combining Shiva and Vishnu linked to Pre Rup, a four-foot-tall tenth-century sandstone tied to Phnom Bakheng, and a circa 1200 goddess of transcendental wisdom. The museum identified connections to problematic dealers and found no evidence of lawful export. The repatriation was coordinated with Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and legal representative Edenbridge under the Smithsonian's 2022 ethical-return policy.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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