On December 11, the National Museum of Asian Art, an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., announced it was returning three Khmer period sculptures in its collection to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The return was made after research, undertaken in collaboration with Cambodian authorities, determined that the works were likely looted during Cambodia’s civil war (1967–1975).
Each of the three sculptures—two from the 10th century depicting the Hindu deities Uma and Harihara respectively, and one from around 1200 CE of the Buddhist deity Prajnaparamita—was donated to the museum without documentation of export from Cambodia; all were also associated with art dealers now known to have trafficked in looted antiquities. Based on these findings, as well as on the pieces’ relationship to known sites and the timing of their appearance on the international market, the museum’s provenance team determined that they should be returned to Cambodia.
The return will be the museum’s first under the Smithsonian’s Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns policy. Under this policy, adopted in 2022, Smithsonian museums may voluntarily return ownership of looted artifacts to their country of origin without requiring a formal restitution claim. According to the museum, now that ownership has been established, the three sculptures have already been deaccessioned. At the same time, the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has agreed in principle to a long-term loan of the objects to the NMAA.
Notably, as with several agreements made by museums in America and Europe in recent years, the arrangement proactively returns the sculptures to their country of origin as a way for the museum to fulfill its ethical obligations while avoiding legal exposure. The NMAA is among a number of museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that that have preemptively expanded their provenance departments and conducted internal reviews of their collections, often in partnership with stakeholders, to identify potentially looted objects.
In a statement, the NMAA said, “[The Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy] acknowledges that ethical norms and professional best practices in collecting have changed. The Smithsonian has objects that it would not have acquired under present-day standards. Although the Smithsonian has legal title or custody of its collections, continued retention or sole stewardship may cause harm to descendants or communities and be fundamentally inconsistent with the Smithsonian’s ethical standards and values. In these circumstances, shared stewardship or ethical return may be appropriate.”
