US to Return 900-Year-Old Artefact to Thailand
The Art Institute of Chicago will return a 900-year-old artefact taken from Prasat Phanom Rung in Thailand. The artefact, 'Fragment of a Pilaster with Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhana,' was confirmed to have been illegally removed. The institute delisted it and is coordinating its return with the Thai government.
The Art Institute of Chicago in the United States will return a 900-year-old artefact believed to have been illegally taken from the ruins of Prasat Phanom Rung in Buri Ram, Thailand, in 1965.
The artefact, known as 'Fragment of a Pilaster with Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhana,' is part of the temple complex's decorative pieces.
Phnombootra Chadrajoti, director-general of Thailand's Fine Arts Department, confirmed the artefact's origin and its illegal removal during a period preceding the department’s restoration project of Prasat Phanom Rung, a Hindu Khmer Empire temple complex.
Dr. Nicolas Revire, a specialist in Southeast Asian art and archaeology at the Art Institute of Chicago, found evidence supporting the pilaster's origin in Buri Ram.
Upon realizing the artefact's potential illegal acquisition, the institute's board delisted it on June 11 and has coordinated its return with the Thai authorities.
The artefact, known as 'Fragment of a Pilaster with Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhana,' is part of the temple complex's decorative pieces.
Phnombootra Chadrajoti, director-general of Thailand's Fine Arts Department, confirmed the artefact's origin and its illegal removal during a period preceding the department’s restoration project of Prasat Phanom Rung, a Hindu Khmer Empire temple complex.
Dr. Nicolas Revire, a specialist in Southeast Asian art and archaeology at the Art Institute of Chicago, found evidence supporting the pilaster's origin in Buri Ram.
Upon realizing the artefact's potential illegal acquisition, the institute's board delisted it on June 11 and has coordinated its return with the Thai authorities.
