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karma
Post #498 • March 22, 2005, 7:44 AM • 4 Comments
Jane Perlez for the New York Times: A Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor.
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.
Despite a Unesco convention outlawing the import or export of Cambodian cultural artifacts in the United States, which has helped curtail illicit acquisition, the looting of Angkor Wat continues at a troublesome rate.
It would be nice if they could do what they did at the Acropolis Museum to protect the friezes and caryatids - place the originals in a museum and put copies on the site. According to the article, though, a concrete replica was put in place of one stolen Buddha head, and the replica was stolen as well.
Notice to looters: do you remember the Buddhas that the Taliban destroyed? Do you remember what happened to the Taliban shortly thereafter? Buddhists have a term for it: karma.
2.
March 22, 2005, 6:48 PM
Destroying or stealing statues is being selfish to other human beings.
3.
March 23, 2005, 2:14 AM
Woudn't ya know it, the Miami Herald went ahead and mentioned the Olitski show after all.
6 sentences in the "Tropical Life" section, under "Tropical Nights", by Daisy Oliviera.
On Monday, no less. Lotsa names. Lotsa pix of people.
A dumb "sassiety" blurb is all you get, Jules.
Their big Sunday feature was dresses with spikes on them, and other such wonders. "Art", of course.
It's hopeless.
4.
March 27, 2005, 2:40 PM
Something etheric happens when dieties are created in stone.
They change the energy of the air around them with mystical powers.
My heart breaks at the lack of respect and reverence for such things.
1.
Momoko
March 22, 2005, 6:44 PM
Destroying or stealing statues is not as bad as being selfish to other human beings.