OFF THE PEDASTAL: THE LOOTING OF CAMBODIA  (1/13/25)

 

“Statues listen. They have heart. They contain the soul of their ancestors.”   Brad Gordon

 

During the 1970’s through the 1990’s amidst genocide, civil war, and political upheaval, Cambodia experienced a time of mass looting, resulting in the theft of their precious antiquities. Many of these valuable statues were ripped right off their pedestals; the thieves leaving only the feet attached to the base. Who would do such a thing? Investigations uncovered a smuggling network that sold blood antiquities for money. Who would buy such stolen merchandise? Wealthy collectors, prestigious museums and private corperations not only purchased the pillage,  they displayed them in plain sight. A cluster of priceless statues was even prominently featured in Architectural Digest. It seem the buyers believed the collection was acquired through legal channels. But were they?

Cambodians don’t think so. According to the Hindu God Visnu, statues are sacred and divine. Once a statue is lost, stolen, or vandalized, the soul that inhabited the stone either dies or looks for another place to rest in eternal peace. Statues are so vital to Cambodia that a repatriation is in place. The Department of Arts & Antiquities (a division of Homeland Security) is aiding Cambodia as it attempts to reunite the missing statues with their pedestal; thus making the statues whole again; in body and soul.

I first became interested in this story (how could I not?) after watching a CBS 60-minute segment with Anderson Cooper. The more I researched the theft, the more I realized the enormity of the crime. Not only statues of men and male gods were looted but women as well. At Angor Wat, a 1,000-year-old temple, hundreds of female statues lay beheaded, legless, armless, and bodyless. The carnage left the peaceful place of worship with an ominous undertone. I ached for these amputated statues. Just listening to the segment and looking at the devastation, I felt the anger of the Gods. If was if I could hear the quiet suffering of the statues as they were severed, limb by limb. The Gods, as well as the people of Cambodia, want their statues returned. As they should.

Women, especially Lakshmi, Goddess of Beauty and Apsara, Goddess of Love were favorites of the looters. The bodies of thousands of nymphs also suffered at the hands of the looters. Here this: Feminism forces of the universe were pilfered. Centuries of beauty and goodness were stolen for profit. This outrage may seem trivial. But it’s not. Most of these statues stood alone, unguarded, defenseless. They couldn’t even hold a protest sign, shout for help, push an emergency button or run and hide. They are simply, there for the taking.

As of this writing, the MET has returned 13 statues and more are in the process of being returned to Cambodia. Numerous people were charged with the theft. Some even faces charges of murder and violence; all in the pursuit of these blood antiquities. As you know from reading this blog, statues are created in the likeness of someone who has risen above the “everyperson” and memorialized in stone, bronze, silver, gold, or wood so they can stand on their pedestal in supreme glory. To remove such a large number of these antiquities for profit is an indescribable tragedy.

On this blog, we honor monuments, usually women, but today we weep for all the statues that have suffered amputations at the hands of profiteers, thieves, looters and anyone else responsible for their violent removal.  Statues are not just stone-cold blocks of stone; they’re the embodiment of a soul, the bedrock of history and the manifestation of greatness.

Let’s round up these beauties and bring them home so our souls can sing once again.