Art Blog

A Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor

By JANE PERLEZ

Monks at Angkor Wat, one of the temples where antiquities of the 9th to 15th centuries have been looted.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Hidden among stands of bamboo far from the throngs of tourists who clamber over the grand temples of Angkor, a series of bas-reliefs in rose and gray sandstone stand in solitary splendor. The gods and demons and half-human, half-animal figures revered by the Angkor civilization were carved at Mount Kulen by anonymous artists and, like countless other artworks, disappeared into nature when the empire collapsed 500 years ago. Advertisement Now, like much else at Angkor, the carvings are symbols not only of the mystique of the past but also of the greed of the present. In the past six months, a head of one of the figures was gouged from the rock, said Sin Sokhorn, a Cambodian guide who often comes to the site by motorcycle. A scar in the rock marked the place where looters had hacked at the statue, leaving a crumpled, headless torso. The head was probably on display in an antiquities shop in Bangkok or in a European city with a handsome price tag, he mused. Or, he suggested, it could be in a private collection of Angkor art, secure from prying eyes. "We need protection from the looters, but where are we to get it?" asked Mr. Sin Sokhorn as he showed the bas-reliefs. ...

http://www.nytimes.com