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Calls for the restitution and repatriation of cultural objects continue to escalate. High-profile cases such as the Parthenon Frieze and the Benin Bronzes dominate international news cycles and provoke fierce debate; however, less attention has been paid to items that are quietly returned and to the potential positive outcomes for the institutions on both sides. This article discusses three Southeast Asian case studies to address this lacuna and urges institutions to become more proactive in their engagement with restitution and repatriation claims.

Auction sales of unprovenanced, likely stolen, cultural objects continue to generate controversy. But while auction houses can appear to be relatively passive agents in the sales process, providing a platform for bringing together buyers and sellers, in reality their business practices are more complex. With reference to three recent disputed auctions of cultural objects, this paper explores in more detail the ‘art world’ of auction house business practices, exploring in particular the central role of professional experts in supporting auction sales and the legal and ethical implications of their involvement.

Azéma Aurélia, Baptiste Pierre, Bassett Jane, Bewer Francesca G., Boulton Ann, Bourgarit David, Castelle Manon, Garenne-Marot Laurence, Samnang Huot, Lambert Elsa, La Niece Susan, Maish Jeff, Mechling Mathilde, Mille B., Robcis Dominique, Strahan Donna K., Texier Annick, Vincent Brice, Warren Jeremy, Weinryb Ittai, Welter Jean-Marie. Angkorian Founders and Bronze Casting Skills: First Technical Investigation of the West Mebon Visnu. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 104, 2018. pp. 303-341.

Antelme Michel, Vicheth Hiep Chan, Porte Bertrand. Le « Rapport sur le transfert en septembre 1944 de statues du Buddha et d’un piédestal de la commune d’Angkor Borei, district de Prey Kabbas, province de Takéo, de Kam Doum (Kâ̆m Dŭm). In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 109, 2023. pp. 237-274.

Le temple khmer d'Angkor Vat, datant du XIIesiècle, a été montré à Paris pendant l'Exposition coloniale internationale de 1931, et décrit comme la plus grande reconstitution architecturale d'un bâtiment non-europé en jamais construite sur le continent européen; cette reconstitution a dès lors été présentée comme un chef-d'œuvre, selon le canon (occidental) de l'historiographie de l'art. Pourtant, les prémices de la carrière française de cette réplique dans les années 1860 et au début des années 1870 restent fort mal connues. Cet article vise principalement à mettre au jour les circonstances du transfert physique de ces gigantesques pièces architecturales à destination du public européen, par le biais de moulages en plâtre. Pour mieux conceptualiser ce qui a constitué le transfert symbolique d'un patrimoine culturel de l’Orient colonial vers le centre du pouvoir colonial français, nous utilisons le terme de « translation ». En regard de la prédominance des études de textes et d’images, les techniques de translation matérielle directe—tels les moulages en plâtre—ne sont que rarement discutées dans les études scientifiques, et l'importance de ces moulages dans le cadre de la politique coloniale n'a pas été analysée. Cet article explore l'hypothèse selon laquelle les moulages constituaient un puissant outil de translation aux mains de ceux qui voulaient s'approprier les fameux temples khmers pour représenter l'héritage colonial dans la métropole coloniale. Notre étude se concentre donc sur les cinq premières étapes du processus de la canonisation historique d'Angkor en Europe: 1) les premiers moulages d'Angor Vat effectués lors de l'expédition française du Mékong en 1866-1868; 2) l'intégration des moulages dans la « classification générale » de l'Exposition universelle de 1867; 3) l'exposition sur le mode pittoresque des moulages en plâtre « orientaux » dans le cadre de l'Exposition permanente des colonies; 4) la première mission à Angkor explicitement dédiée au moulage, sous l'égide de Louis Delaporte en 1873; 5) à sa suite, la fondation du Musée khmer à Compiègne en 1874, premier du genre en Europe. The 12th-century Cambodian temple of Angkor Wat was staged during the Exposition coloniale internationale of 1931 in Paris as probably the largest architectural reconstitution of a non-European structure ever built on the European continent, and has counted, since then, as an architectural masterpiece in the (Occidental) canon of art historiography. The beginnings of the temple's French 'career' in the 1860s and early 1870s have however remained quite unknown until today. To shed light on these earliest circumstances of the physical transfer of Angkor's gigantic temple architecture in the medium of plaster casts for the European public is the general aim of this paper. In order to conceptualize more specifically what was also a symbolic transfer of a declared patrimoine culturel from the colonial Orient into the centre of French colonial power, we employ the term 'translation'. Yet, given the prevalent focus on texts and images, techniques of direct material translation -such as plaster casts -are rarely discussed in scientific literature, and the analysis of the casts' importance in colonial politics as such remains a desideratum. To sum up, this paper explores the hypothesis that plaster casts were a powerful translation tool used to appropriate the famous Khmer temples of Angkor for a colonial heritage representation in the French métropole. Our study focuses on the earliest five stages of what was to lead to an art historical canonization of Angkor in Europe: 1) the first French casts from Angkor Wat as executed in the context of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866-1868; 2) the casts' embedding in the classification genérale of the Parisian Universal Exhibition of 1867; 3) the picturesque display modes of Oriental plaster casts in the Exposition permanente des colonies; 4) the first explicit plaster cast mission to Angkor under Louis Delaporte in 1873, which finally led 5) to the foundation of the Musée khmer in Compiègne in 1874 as the first of its kind in Europe.

ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: Comparison of bas relief medallions at Angkor with medallion patterns on Chinese silk and Indian cotton textiles provides compelling evidence that fabrics from these regions were actually in use in the courts of Khmer kings. They served two purposes. One was as items of opulent palace decoration; this role transferred to stone temples, homes of the gods. Second, they represented a canopy or ceiling above a sacred space. Another group, here termed 'pseudomedallions,' is described and their function speculated on. While the original textiles at Angkor have long since disappeared, their representations in stone survive as a memorial to these practices. // ABSTRCT IN FRENCH: En comparant les médaillons des bas-reliefs d'Angkor avec les motifs de médaillon sur les soieries de Chine et les cotonnades d'Inde, il ressort clairement que ces textiles ont été en usage à la cour des rois khmers. Cette utilisation fut double: pour la décoration luxueuse des palais, étendue à celle des sanctuaires de pierre, maisons des dieuxe; pour confectionner un dais ou couvrir un espace sacré. Un autre groupe de ' pseudo-médaillons ', est également décrit et sa fonction envisagée. Alors que les textiles originaux présents à Angkor ont depuis longtemps disparu, leurs représentations lapidaires ont survécu, témoignant de leur utilisation passée. Reprinted by permission of Brill Academic Publishers

About one millennium ago Angkor used to be one of the mightiest empires in the world. However, there is only scarce information available about its culture, because there are hardly any literal sources left except one contemporary report by a Chinese trader, Zhou Daguan, written at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Because of the almost total lack of \"classical\" written sources, the stone-carvings of musicians in Angkor could have a crucial function in research about this ancient culture. Of course, they can only be interpreted if results of other disciplines are taken into consideration, mainly those of ethnology and archaeology. But also the research results from these disciplines are still quite limited, what implies that the music iconography could serve as a central part of Angkor research, which is per se urged to interdisciplinary approaches. Music iconography can shed light on the ethnic and social structures of Angkor as well as reconstruct the place music had in that society. The context in which musicians are represented on bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat are military ensembles. A musician is never depicted alone, but always within an ensemble of three to thirteen musicians, playing percussion and often brass and/or woodwind instruments.

The widely held belief that the earliest known Cambodian sculpture from Phnom Da has an early-sixth-century date is challenged. New artistic evidence supports a mid-seventh-century date on which a new chronology for early Cambodian sculpture can be established. This new inception date has implications for the understanding of early Cambodia. It indicates that the Phnom Da images have no association with Rudravarman, the last king of Funan. This separates the Phnom Da images from the named ruler and shortens by 100 years the chronology for early Cambodian sculpture. The earliest known Cambodian images are now inseparable from a widespread artistic development in seventh-century Cambodia, when permanent materials first appeared in temple architecture and sculpture. The seventhcentury inception date indicates that \"the strategy of monumental validation\" first appeared in the early to mid-seventh century after the replacement of Funan by Chenla. Only then does the artistic evidence suggest that local rulers seriously began to adopt Indian practices and beliefs that were to characterize Southeast Asia for the next 1000 years.