Healing historical wounds

Editor's note: In this weekly feature China Daily gives voice to Asia and its people. The stories presented come mainly from the Asia News Network (ANN), of which China Daily is among its 20 leading titles. Cambodia has secured the return of 74 Khmer cultural objects formerly held by the family of British collector Douglas Latchford, marking one of the country's largest single repatriations of looted antiquities in recent years.

Douglas Latchford (1931-2020) was a British art dealer and scholar who gained notoriety as a major trafficker of looted Cambodian antiquities. Based in Thailand, he helped illicitly move hundreds of Khmer artifacts into Western collections, acting as a "scholar-dealer" to mask the illegal trade. He was charged in 2019 and died shortly after.

The Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts described the 74 objects as more than artistic works, calling them "living testimonies to the wisdom, creativity and spiritual life of Khmer civilization".

Several of the pieces went on display at the National Museum of Cambodia in March.

In a news release on Feb 27, the ministry explained that the artifacts were returned in accordance with a 2020 agreement between the ministry and the Latchford family.

"The return of this significant number of Khmer cultural treasures marks another major achievement in recent years, following the repatriation of important Khmer artifacts from the Latchford family in 2021 and 2023," according to the ministry.

"These artworks date from the pre-Angkorian period to the height of the Angkorian Empire and include masterfully crafted sandstone and metal sculptures, as well as ritual objects.

"Among the most significant pieces are two exceptional sandstone sculptures from the early Angkorian period, dating to the first fifty years of the 9th century, during the reign of Jayavarman II, which Latchford claimed originated from Phnom Kulen (a mountain range in Siem Reap)," it said.

The male and female divine figures are regarded as exemplary works from the formative period of the Angkorian Empire and are commonly referred to as the "divine couple".