Introducing Angkor: Presenting Khmer civilisation to the world

ANGKOR ANGKOR Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City EDITED BY Theresa McCullough, Stephen A. Murphy, Pierre Baptiste, Thierry Zéphir Alison Carter, Damian Evans, Piphal Heng, Paul A. Lavy, Martin Polkinghorne, Rachna Chhay, Miriam Stark 14 This book is published in conjunction with MASTERPIECES OF THE MUSÉE NATIONAL DES ARTS ASIATIQUE—GUIMET ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM IS AN INSTITUTION OF the exhibition Angkor: Exploring Cambodia’s Introducing Angkor: Presenting Sacred City, presented at the Asian Civilisations Khmer civilisation to the world Museum, Singapore, from 8 April to 22 July 2018. Stephen A. Murphy 34 The exhibition was organised by the Asian Civilisations Museum in partnership with From the quest for a collection Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet, to the birth of a museum in Paris. Pierre Baptiste 52 Copyright 2018 by the Asian Civilisations Catalogue 1–85 Museum, Singapore, www.acm.org.sg All rights reserved 134 PRINCIPAL SUPPORTER Pre-Angkorian cities: ISBN 978-981-11-6830-7 Ishanapura and Mahendraparvata Piphal Heng and Paul A. Lavy EXHIBITION CURATORS: OFFICIAL HOTEL 156 8 Theresa McCullough, Stephen A. Murphy, Forewords The Angkorian city: Pierre Baptiste, Thierry Zéphir Asian Civilisations Museum From Hariharalaya to Yashodharapura Guimet Museum Miriam Stark, Alison Carter, Piphal Heng, PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Richard Lingner Rachna Chhay, Damian Evans 304 Endnotes OFFICIAL PRINTER COPYEDITING, PROOFREADING: Bibliography Richard Lingner, Joy Qi Yi Ho, Diane Chee Image credits Author biographies 1 78 Catalogue 86–115 218 The temples of Cambodia: Index Cosmic harmony DESIGNED BY OFFICIAL AIRLINE Theresa McCullough qu’est-ce que c’est design 2 38 PAPER Khmer sculpture: Naturalis, Absolute White Matt, 330gsm A brief introduction Maple Snow, 150gsm Thierry Zéphir SUPPORTED BY TYPOGRAPHY 252 Reconfiguring kingdoms: The end Atlas Grotesk of Angkor and the emergence of PRINTED IN SINGAPORE BY Early Modern period Cambodia Dominie Press Martin Polkinghorne 272 Cover, detail of Cat. 33 Catalogue 116–141 Introducing Angkor: Presenting Khmer civilisation to the world STEPHEN A. MURPHY The diary of Henri Mouhot (1826–1861), a little known French naturalist, and an examination of how much the images, tropes, and exoticising was published posthumously in 1863. Serialised in Le Tour du Monde, stereotypes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are still a popular French magazine devoted to expeditions abroad, it had been being perpetuated. rewritten by a ghostwriter and illustrated with engravings based on Mouhot’s own drawings (Cat. 1).1 It quickly caused a sensation, not for its descriptions of the flora and fauna of Southeast Asia, but for its tales of a lost civilisation hidden in the tropical jungles of Cambodia. THE HISTORICAL BACKDROP: THE CREATION OF FRENCH INDOCHINA Often credited with “discovering” Angkor, Mouhot was in fact just one in a long line of visitors to the site. The French missionary Charles-Émile As with many European powers, initial French involvement in Southeast Bouillevaux (1823–1913) had visited in 1850, and the Portuguese had Asia was based around trade and to a lesser extent missionary activity. The written accounts of their visits in the sixteenth century. Zhou Daguan first French Jesuit mission to Vietnam took place in the early seventeenth (1266–1346), a Chinese envoy, left an account of the city from his eleven- century. However, unlike the Dutch in Indonesia or the British in Myanmar month stay in 1296–97. More important, the Khmer kings had never and Malaya, as late as the 1850s, France still did not have a major presence forgotten their former capital, and Buddhist monks still worshipped at the in the region. Around that time it began to assert its power in the only areas site. The difference, however, lay in Mouhot’s presentation. His evocative left open to it, namely Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. French forces made writing style and haunting images captured the imagination of the French a number of military incursions, usually under the pretext of protecting public, and Angkor soon became one of the most celebrated sites of the Catholic missionaries. The most notable attack took place at Da Nang ancient world. An English translation of his work was published in London in 1858. This was unsuccessful but they then managed to capture Saigon in 1864, further enhancing Angkor’s international repute. 2 (present-day Ho Chi Minh City).5 By 1862 they had forced the Vietnamese emperor Tu Duc (reigned 1847–83) to cede three treaty ports and all of That the publication ever reached the printing press at all is a story in itself. Cochinchina, which was declared a French colony in 1864. By 1865, they Unable to get support in France for his endeavours, Mouhot was instead had taken control of the Mekong Delta. In 1882 they launched a military sponsored by the Royal Geographic Society and the Zoological Society of campaign against Hanoi, and the ensuing treaty effectively ceded complete London. In 1858 he set sail for Bangkok, from where he undertook four control of what remained of the Vietnamese Empire to France.6 3 expeditions in total into Siam, Cambodia, and Laos. It was in 1860 during the second expedition that he reached Angkor by accident, having been In Cambodia they took a somewhat different tack. Sandwiched between guided there by a missionary. In November 1861, while on his fourth the kingdoms of Vietnam and Siam (present-day Thailand), Cambodia had expedition exploring the jungles of Laos, he caught malaria and died soon by the seventeenth century been reduced to vassal status, paying tribute after near Luang Prabang, the capital of the Lan Xang kingdom. He was to both parties. In an attempt to safeguard itself from becoming fully buried on the banks of the Nam Khan River by his servants (fig. 1), one of incorporated into either one of its neighbours, Cambodia sought assistance whom then brought all of Mouhot’s journals and specimens back to Bangkok. as offered by France. Therefore, in 1863 it became a French protectorate From there they were shipped to Europe and subsequently published. at the request of King Norodom I (reigned 1860–1904). Siam only agreed 4 to relinquish suzerainty over Cambodia in 1887, but still retained control 1 Grave of Henri Mouhot, and a recent concrete sculpture of him near the banks of the Nam Khan River outside Luang Prabang, Laos. 16 Mouhot’s publications set the tone for how France, and the Western of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces. This meant that Angkor stayed world in general, would view and imagine Angkor. They initiated the ways within Siam’s political control until 1906, when these provinces were in which Angkor has been presented to the world over the past century returned to Cambodia. and a half, with the lure of the exotic orient and enduring fantasies of discovering “lost civilisations” taking centre stage. This essay looks at On 17 October 1887, French Indochina was formed, consisting of what to what extent these perceptions remain today and how much they have is today all of modern Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia. Laos was changed. It does so by exploring the paintings, photographs, architectural added in 1893 after being ceded by Siam (fig. 2). It lasted until 21 July 1954, drawings, museum displays, and colonial expositions dedicated to the when it finally crumbled after the decisive defeat of French forces by troops topic, and by contextualising those against the colonial mindset of the time, loyal to Ho Chi Minh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam was which framed the West’s understanding and representation of Angkor. divided into north and south, while Cambodia and Laos became It concludes with a look at Angkor in post-independence Cambodia, independent nations. Introducing Angkor Murphy 17 For just over ninety years, therefore, France had at first indirect, then direct control over the territories in which Angkor lay. During this period, they developed a considerable body of scholarship on the ancient Khmer civilisation. They also mapped and restored many of the monuments. Museums were set up early on in Cambodia, and in France (with sculptures taken from sites in Cambodia), and Angkor became the poster child for many a colonial exposition that took place from the nineteenth century onwards (Cats. 49–85).7 In fact, Angkor became so deeply embedded in the French psyche that they began to see themselves as the saviours, protectors, and even, to a certain extent, the inheritors of the Khmer civilisation. This in turn, under the rubric of their mission civilisatrice (civilising mission—the idea that it was their mission to bring civilisation to non-Western countries), played a role in justifying their colonial possessions. From today’s standpoint, these views can appear deeply problematic. At the time, ideas like this were commonplace amongst most, if not all, colonial powers. These views in turn had a direct impact on how Angkor was represented in both scholarly and popular literature, drawings and paintings, as well as museum displays. Proponents of post-colonial discourse—de rigueur in most if not all liberal arts humanities campuses in the western world at present—will find ample ammunition from even the most cursory glances at such material, and many excellent works have been published in this regard. 8 This essay, however, focuses less on the demerits of colonialism and more on how the historical contexts at play throughout the last one hundred and fifty years have shaped, coloured, represented, and at times misrepresented how Angkor and the Khmer civilisation have been presented to the world. THE FRENCH EXPEDITION OF 1866 Six years after Mouhot’s visit to Angkor another French expedition arrived at the site, led by Captain Ernest Doudard de Lagrée (1823–1868). As was the case with Mouhot, this mission’s primary goal was not to study the archaeological ruins of Angkor. Known as the French Mekong Exploration Commission, it was charged with mapping the course of the river with the aim of finding a navigable route into south-western China. Being aware of the now-famed temples of Angkor, however, they decided to take a quick detour to visit them before starting out on their trip proper.9 Setting out from Saigon on a gunboat, they sailed up the Tonle Sap Lake and reached the site two days later. Accompanying Doudard de Lagrée were six other French explorers: Louis-Marie de Carné (1844–1871), from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr Clovis Thorel (1833–1911), a botanist; Dr Lucien Joubert (1832–1893), a geologist and mineralogist; Émile Gsell (1838–1879), 2 Map of French Indochina. 18 Introducing Angkor Murphy 19 mission. Garnier went on to publish a three-volume work on the expedition 3 The five surviving members of the French Mekong Exploration Commission with their troops, 1868. Drawing by Émile Bayard after a photograph. in 1873.16 Garnier’s text was supplemented by numerous illustrations, many of which were based upon photographs taken during the expedition by Gsell, and sketches and drawings done by Delaporte. These in particular were an integral part of the publication’s success. Garnier, however, did not live long enough to enjoy much acclaim either. He was killed in 1873 during a skirmish with the Vietnamese on the Red River north of Hanoi.17 Of all the members of the expedition, these initial encounters with Angkor had the most profound effect on Louis Delaporte. He spent the rest of his life painting, mapping, researching, and promoting the art and culture of Angkor. He pioneered the idea of making plaster casts of Khmer architecture (Cats. 41–48), opened the first museum of Khmer art in France (see Baptiste essay; Cats. 49–52), and published a number of works on the subject.18 It was Delaporte, therefore, more than Mouhot or any other individual, who set the tone, atmosphere, and character of how Angkor was first presented to the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. a photographer based in Saigon; Louis Delaporte (1842–1925), an artist; Lieutenant Francis Garnier (1839–1873), a surveyor and hydrologist.10 The latter two individuals, and Delaporte in particular, would leave lasting LOUIS DELAPORTE—THE PICTURESQUE, legacies on how the history and archaeology of Angkor was first presented AND THE ÉCOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS to the Western world. This group was aided by three translators, four French soldiers, two Filipino soldiers, and seven Vietnamese militiamen At the time of the 1866 expedition, Louis Delaporte was a young naval (fig. 3, see also Cat. 2). officer on his first tour of duty in Southeast Asia. Then only twenty-four, 11 he was assigned as the draftsman and artist for the mission, his primary Doudard de Lagrée had initially planned to only stop at Angkor for a few function being to draw up maps, sketches, and paintings of what was days. However, upon his arrival he was alarmed to hear that he had been discovered during the journey. beaten there by the Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837–1921).12 Thomson was based in Bangkok at the time (he had previously run a Though not a professional painter by training, his style was clearly studio in Singapore from 1862–65). He made, and subsequently published influenced by the prevailing tastes of the day, and in particular the the following year, the first photographs at Angkor. It appears Doudard aesthetic ideal of the picturesque. This was a trend of landscape painting de Lagrée may have perceived Thomson’s presence as a direct threat to in vogue at that time, and many of his works bear its influence. In Western French interests at Angkor—despite the fact that the province was still literature at this time, the Romantic Movement was also influencing under Siamese control—and this may have been one of the motivations for both arts and science. Romanticism as an intellectual movement was in him to extend his trip and stay for a full week in order to more thoroughly part a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. It reached its peak in the late document the site. This included photographs taken by Gsell as well as eighteenth through mid-nineteenth century, and glorified nature and past sketches, paintings, and plans drawn up by Delaporte (see Cats. 1–40). societies, and encouraged the admiration of ruins. 13 14 It was during this mission too that moulds of Angkor architectural features were first made (from which plaster casts were made back in Paris). These, These preoccupations can be seen in much of the travel literature on along with maps, photo albums, and books, were shipped back to Paris, Southeast Asia of the time, which was dominated by ideas regarding the where some of the material was displayed in the colonial section of the appreciation of tropical nature, landscape, and scenery.19 These in turn 1867 Paris Universal Exposition.15 were contrasted with the landscapes of Europe, where it was perceived that nature had been tamed, and signs of human civilisation abounded. 20 20 Doudard de Lagrée never lived to see the fruits of his labour. He died in The picturesque style and the ideas underpinning the Western Romantic Yunnan province, China, during the expedition. Command then fell to Movement thus become particularly prevalent in Western accounts Francis Garnier, a young naval officer, who subsequently completed the of Southeast Asia in the nineteenth century. 21 These viewpoints are, Introducing Angkor Murphy 21 unsurprisingly, readily apparent in the writings of Francis Garnier and 4 Ruins of Wat Pra Keo, Vientiane, Laos. Louis Delaporte, watercolour on paper, 57×45 cm. Guimet Museum [MG 26670]. the accompanying illustrations of Louis Delaporte. The picturesque aesthetic can be seen in drawings and paintings from the mid-eighteenth century onwards. It had its origins in the landscape paintings of the seventeenth century, in particular in the work of artists such as Claude Gellée, known as Claude Lorrain (around 1600–1682), Salvator Rosa (1615–1673), and Gaspard Dughet, called Gaspard Poussin, (1615–1675). 22 It was characterised by a move away from the smoothness of earlier classical works, and an embracing of ruggedness and irregularity, particularly in the forms of hills and buildings. The landscapes are usually not completely devoid of human presence, however. A peasant working the fields, a solitary traveller, or, in the case of Southeast Asia, a member of the local populace, was often included to humanise and add charm to the scene. Ruins were an indispensable aspect of the picturesque. There developed at the time an entire intellectual movement, almost a mania, surrounding the concept of contemplating pleasurable ruins. 23 The main proponent was Irishman Edmund Burke (1730–1797), who outlined his thoughts in a 1757 essay, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. 24 For Burke, ruins had an innately sublime nature and the power to inspire wonderment. Works such as Les Ruines ou Méditation sur les Révolutions des Empires, by Constantin-François Chassebœuf de La Giraudais, comte Volney, known as C. F. Volney, (1757–1820), which focuses on Palmyra in Syria, are also emblematic, and were highly influential. Travel was a key component, and as Giles Tillotson points out, “Foreign topography became part of the stock-in-trade of the picturesque.”26 On encountering Angkor, Delaporte had, in many ways, stumbled across the ruin par excellence. In keeping with the zeitgeist of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Added to all this was a further layer of translation away from accurate artists also saw themselves as contributing to the discovery of knowledge. documentation. As the paintings or drawings themselves could not be This is something that comes across keenly in the works of Delaporte. published due to the limits of technology at the time, they were instead However, the stylistic conventions of the picturesque undermined this transformed into woodcuts or lithographs by an artist back in Europe, claim to varying degrees. Fidelity to what was actually visible was not the who had never actually seen the landscapes and ruins they were depicting. main concern. On the contrary, artists altered and edited the landscape as These printmakers frequently made alterations to the original image. Some they saw fit, so that it would conform more pleasingly to the tastes of the were practical, resizing a scene to accommodate page layouts. Others time. 27 Ironically, while a fascination with the exotic was a key aspect of the were of a far more stylistic nature and further modified the image to fit picturesque, it was at the same time this very otherness that clashed the within the conventions of the picturesque. This could include either adding most with conventions, and was most in need of tempering. Nature, it was or removing figures from the scene, redrawing vegetation or trees to look deemed, should never be allowed to completely overpower ruins or human more like European varieties, or adding shading to emphasise mood and endeavours. Instead it should be carefully edited, pruned, trimmed back, compensate for the fact that the lithographs where in general produced in or even parts omitted if necessary. This is particularly true in Southeast black and white as opposed to colour. Asia, where, for the Western nineteenth-century viewer, the wild jungles needed to be brought to heel, all in the service of European taste and The romanticised views of Angkor produced by Mouhot, Delaporte, and sensibilities (fig. 4). others (Cats. 19–21, 29–30, 32) fired the imagination of the French public. They showed an enticing civilisation in ruins, abandoned and (apparently) 22 Introducing Angkor Murphy 23 it was a genuine fascination and drive for understanding, which resulted in him dedicating the rest of his life to the study of Khmer art and culture. Delaporte also produced a large body of architectural plans and drawings, many of which were made on his second mission to Angkor in 1873 (Cats. 22, 23, 25, 33–39). They formed the basis for his 1880 publication, Voyage au Cambodge: l’architecture khmer, and were done in collaboration with among others, Henri Deverin (1846–1921), an architect from Paris. 29 As with Delaporte’s paintings, his architectural plans were executed to adhere to a specific template, the style of the École des Beaux-Arts, of which Deverin was a member.30 The Beaux-Arts was the dominant architecture (and art) school at the time, and its training placed a strong emphasis on drawings based on ancient European monuments, usually those of classical Greece and Rome. Students were required to present a drawing of a complete restoration of an ancient (ruined) building as they conceived it had once been.31 Essentially they were taught to fill in the blanks. The influence of the École des Beaux-Arts is clearly apparent in many of Delaporte’s drawings of Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple, where he has at times reconstructed the monuments themselves, or elements of them, wholesale (Cats. 33–36). Today, it is easy to criticise these works for their obviously conjectural nature. However, it should be noted that not only was Delaporte conforming to the norms of the time, he was doing so based on very incomplete knowledge. It would be many years before systematic archaeological excavations revealed the secrets of Khmer engineering 5 Khmer ruins at Angkor Thom. Lucien Fournereau. Paris, 1899. Watercolour. École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. all but forgotten by the local populace and their leaders (fig. 5). Delaporte’s techniques and before restoration programmes cleared back the forests depictions of Khmer culture (Cat. 20), and Cambodia in general, are to reveal the full extent of the monuments. Seen from this perspective, framed by his colonial preconceptions and the stylistic conventions of the Delaporte’s plans are impressively close to the mark, and in many ways picturesque. Consequently, his works set the tone for how Angkor would stand the test of time. be depicted for many decades to come. As with his paintings, his plans, with their veneer of objectivity, had While on one level, these works celebrated romantic and seemingly considerable impact on the visual frame of reference in which French, benign notions of discovery and travel, there was also an implicit political and Western audiences in general, perceived Angkor. undercurrent at play. These images fanned the flames of the mission civilisatrice, which in turn was used as one of the justifications for the French colonial enterprise in the region. This was a strategy commonly employed by many European colonial powers at the time. For instance, REBUILDING AND “RE-HINDUISING” ANGKOR writing on Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) in Java, Sarah Tiffin argues that, “The gathering of information on the candi and the resulting images are “To restore a building is not to maintain it, to repair it, or remake it, but considered within the context of the interconnectedness of knowledge to re-establish it in a state of completeness that can never have existed and power, for Raffles apparently considered the gaining of a thorough at a given moment”, so wrote Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879).32 understanding of subjected peoples, including their histories and their cultural traditions, to be an important strategy in the promotion of British While Delaporte reconstructed the monuments of Angkor only with pen interests within the region.”28 and paper, his visions began to find concrete form with the arrival of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO—French School of the Far East) While Raffles may have had clear political aims, since he was Governor of in Cambodia. Founded in 1898, this institute was dedicated to the study Java at that time, Delaporte’s situation was somewhat different. For him, of Asia, with particular focus on religions, history, conservation of ancient monuments, indigenous arts and traditions, and archaeology.33 In 1907, 24 Introducing Angkor Murphy 25 under considerable military pressure from the French, Siam ceded the The French viewpoint was also at odds with Khmer conceptions of Angkor. provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap back to Cambodia. This gave Historically their kings, whether Buddhist or Hindu, had always made the French authorities something they had longed for since Doudard de dedications to their gods there. Even in the sixteenth century, long after Lagrée’s visit in 1866—direct control over Angkor. The site was formally Angkor had ceased to be the capital, and the religion of Cambodia had placed under the supervision of the EFEO, which wasted no time in setting switched to Theravada Buddhism, King Ang Chan I (reigned 1516–66) out to restore the monuments now under their care. returned to complete some of the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat.38 The temple subsequently became a centre of Theravada pilgrimage.39 One of the first actions taken, under the direction of Jean Commaille (1868–1916), who in 1908 became the first curator of the site, was to clear In tandem with this “de-Buddhising” of Angkor, the first systematic away the encroaching jungle and the many Buddhist statues that had been clearance and restoration of the monuments began in 1910 under added to the site in later periods. The first French explorers had presumed Commaille’s direction. The first step was removal of the overgrown that the monuments of Angkor were Buddhist. This was in large part due vegetation and foliage. This, and the restoration efforts themselves, were to the presence of Buddha images and monks at the site, as well as the hard labour, and coolies were conscripted from the local workforce to fact that the majority of Cambodians were by that time Buddhist. But by do the job. This put considerable strain on the local communities, and the early twentieth century, scholars had discovered that the majority of may have led to increased tensions between Commaille and the local temples were actually dedicated to Hindu deities. It was only from the populace.40 Things came to a head in 1916 when Commaille was murdered fourteenth or fifteenth century onwards that Theravada Buddhism became while on his way to deliver the weekly wages to his workers.41 This tragic the dominant religion. event was portrayed by the French authorities as an outright case of 34 banditry. But it is hard not to speculate that Commaille’s desecration of the The worship of Buddhism at Angkor appeared out of place to the French Buddha image at Angkor and his use of forced labour may have, in some savants who wished to restore the temples to their former glory. They way, contributed to an atmosphere conducive to such acts. therefore began to remove and store Buddha images away from the temples that had originally been built to Hindu gods.35 From today’s Commaille was buried nearby the Bayon Temple, where a small memorial vantage point, it may appear that Commaille and the French showed a stands to this day. He was succeeded by Henri Marchal (1876–1970), certain lack of sensitivity to local beliefs in the removal of Buddhist worship who dedicated the best part of his life to conserving and restoring the from the site. But these views were very much in line with those of Western monuments of Angkor. He too passed away in Cambodia, but under scholars of Eastern religions at that time. Coming from the monotheistic happier circumstances, in 1970 at the age of 94. perspective of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, these academics brought their own prejudices to bear on the study of Hinduism and Buddhism. For In 1920 the Angkor Park was created, encompassing the main sites of them, the two religions were separate, just as with Christianity and Islam Angkor. Its primary function was to promote tourism at the site, and a —or Catholicism and Protestantism, for that matter—it was only possible steady trickle of high-level visitors and Westerners on their “Grand Tours” to adhere to one or the other. 36 But unbeknownst to them, at that period, visited. Its creation reflects one more step in the transformation of the in Southeast Asia and India, as later scholarship has shown, kings had, at site from a religious and (former) political centre of the Khmer, to that of times, supported both Hinduism and Buddhism simultaneously. Followers a carefully managed and manicured precinct in which the French mission of one religion often placated a god from the other religion. Even to this civilisatrice was in full swing. In this bid to entice Western tourists, they in day it is a common practice in Cambodia for Buddhists to sometimes pray many ways were recreating the picturesque, romanticised ideal portrayed to Hindu deities. Hindu rituals employing Brahmins have also long been be Delaporte some fifty years before (figs. 6, 7). Today’s visitor levels— used in court ceremonies and coronations of Buddhist kings throughout in 2016 topping almost 2.2 million and generating a revenue of 62 million Southeast Asia. USD—most likely far surpass anything the founders of Angkor Park could have ever dreamed of.42 The Park, with its restored and re-Hinduised It has been argued by Penny Edwards that this “re-Hinduising” of Angkor monuments, still profoundly affects how the average visitor and academic also had a political aspect.37 Commaille tearing down of the main Buddha alike views and understands Khmer civilisation. image from the southern gateway of Angkor Wat on first appearance may seem to be an overly aggressive action against the religion. However, The careers of Louis Delaporte and Jean Commaille, and the work of the this image had been a gift of the king of Siam, and, seen in this light, its members of the EFEO appear to have been, first and foremost, genuinely destruction could be thought of as part of the process of severing Siam’s devoted to the study and preservation of Khmer art and culture. They influence over the site and over Cambodia in general. While this may be were, however, men of their time, and their orientalist views and at times the case, it was still an act of extreme religious insensitivity on his part. 26 Introducing Angkor Murphy 27 disparaging opinions of the local Khmer populace strike us as very much out of step with today’s norms and mores. From the perspective of postcolonial studies, these men were key actors in the process of appropriating the culture and traditions of the colonised. At the same time, though, for Delaporte and Commaille, their utter devotion to Khmer art and culture always came before any political motives. ANGKOR AS COLONIAL PROPAGANDA: THE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONS Unlike with Delaporte and Commaille, and the EFEO, when it comes to the international expositions of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, their propagandistic, political motives are plain to see. These expositions were highly orchestrated events aimed at instilling a sense of pride and ownership in the French public in regard to their colonial possessions. At the same time, they also had another equally important audience in mind—France’s international rivals: primarily the British Empire, but also 6 French poster, 1911. other colonial powers such as the Dutch and the Germans. The genesis of these expositions can be seen in the 1851 “Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations” held in London. This exhibition, famed for the Crystal Palace built to house it, celebrated a spirit of internationalism that was prevalent in Britain at the time, and it became the template for all those that followed.43 Four years after this, the first international exposition was organised in France. To date there have been over three hundred expositions and world’s fairs worldwide.44 The Shanghai Expo in 2010 (officially known as Expo 2010 Shanghai China) was the largest, with 246 countries participating and receiving a staggering 73 million visitors in total.45 It promoted Shanghai as the next great world city and celebrated China’s re-emergence on the world stage. The modus operandi of French colonial expositions was to contrast the cosmopolitan modernity of Paris against the “backward” colonies of the Empire.46 They created a theme-park version of colonial life, with any hint of the actual hardships of such an existence, tellingly absent. In regard to Southeast Asia, they promoted the concept of “Indochine” as something alluring, in an attempt to promote their colonial possessions and the financial and human resources needed to maintain them.47 It is into this theatre of colonial ambition that Angkor was thrust. From 1889 onwards, there were increasingly more complex attempts to reconstruct either Angkor Wat, the Bayon, or variations of them, at the various expositions in France (Cats. 61, 64–74). This reached its peak at the 1931 Colonial Exposition in Paris, where an almost-life-size version of 7 Poster from the Office of Indochinese Tourism 1931. 28 Introducing Angkor Angkor Wat was created (fig. 8; Cats. 75–84). While its exterior was an ode to the past glories of the Khmer, its interior contained galleries with Murphy 29 Then from 1960 to 2003 it was the National Museum of the Arts of Africa and Oceania (Musée national des arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie). In 2007, it was re-designated again, this time as the National Museum for the History of Immigration (Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration), highlighting another largely unreconciled legacy of colonialism. Today the building itself stands as a monument to modernity that somehow feels lost in the past. Located at the centre of the Grand Avenue of the French Colonies, the reconstructed Angkor Wat dominated the colonial section of the exposition. It was so popular that access had to be restricted on weekends.50 Oft times bathed in blue, white, and red, with the French flag flying from its uppermost spire, Angkor Wat became a symbol of the restorative powers of colonial 9 Permanent Museum of Colonies, today’s Museum for the History of Immigration. rule.51 The seven decades of research, from the 1860s to 1931, carried out by French scholars had apparently “restored” the history that the Cambodians had supposedly “lost”. Giving it centre-stage at the 1931 Colonial Exposition, France proudly proclaimed herself as the legitimate saviour and protector of the temples of Angkor. RECLAIMING ANGKOR: FROM THE FALL OF INDOCHINA TO TODAY 8 Replica of Angkor Wat, with the adobe-brick walls of the West Africa Pavilion in the foreground. Mixing cultures at the 1931 Colonial Exposition in Paris. displays on ethnographic material and the economic resources of Cambodia, a symbol of its colonial present. The 1931 exposition was It took only twenty-two years for France’s act of grandiose cultural the largest of its kind ever held in France. It represented the highpoint of appropriation to come crashing down. Riding a wave of post-world war At the same time, anti-colonial sentiments, on 9 November 1953, Cambodia achieved full French imperial modernity and colonial propaganda. 48 it signalled the beginning of the end of the French Empire, and took place independence from France. Angkor now became the symbol of a new against the backdrop of growing unrest both within France and its colonies. sovereign nation, most clearly seen in its inclusion on the national flag. The exposition, held in Bois de Vincennes Park on the eastern outskirts of It’s new leader, Norodom Sihanouk (1922–2012)—who had abdicated Paris, was divided into three main pavilions spread out over 40 hectares: the throne to become prime minister—dreamed of returning Cambodia the City of Information (Cité des Informations); the Palace of the Metropolitan to its days of bygone glory. As part of this process, he adopted the suffix Section (Palais de la Section Métropolitaine); and the Permanent Museum “varman” to his name, after the Angkorian kings of old, styling himself of Colonies (Musée Permanent des Colonies), all of which were designed in as the descendent of this grand lineage and by extension, heir to the the art deco style, the height of 1930s modernity. The park was also divided temples of Angkor.52 In an act of lavish political theatre to commemorate into three sections, a general area, a colonial section, and an international the fifteenth anniversary of Independence in 1968, an actor dressed as one. They were all connected by a circular railroad. Jayavarman VII rode into the national stadium in Phnom Penh on a chariot 10 Bas-reliefs of Cambodia on the façade of the former Permanent Museum of Colonies. in front of 70,000 spectators. He in turn was followed by portable papier The Permanent Museum of Colonies was the only permanent structure mâché versions of the Bayon face-towers.53 built for the exposition and truly encapsulated the twin poles of the French 30 Empire, merging art deco architecture with scenes of colonial life (fig. 9).49 Sihanouk’s escapades as a modern day god-king soon came to an end, The low-relief decoration of the facades, with their myriad characters, in however. In March 1970 he was deposed by a US-backed coup under many ways echo the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat (fig. 10). It was considered General Lon Nol (1913–1985), an act that only served to destabilise the one of the chefs-d’oeuvre of the exposition, the other being the Angkor country further. As the US war in Vietnam wound down and the Khmer Wat reconstruction. After the exposition ended, it became the Museum Rouge began to gain territory in the provinces, it wasn’t long before of France Overseas (Musée de la France d’Outre-Mer) in 1935. another strongman laid claim to Angkor. Introducing Angkor Murphy 31 In 1952 someone calling himself “The Original Khmer” (Kmae-daem) wrote an article in a Khmer-language newspaper. It told how the blood of Angkor’s builders flowed through the veins of this humble son of the soil. NOTES 54 This writer was revealed to be Saloth Sar (1925–1998), better known by another one of his pseudonyms, Pol Pot. In 1975 he swept into power and subsequently “reclaimed” Angkor for the Khmer Rouge. A poster from the period shows Pol Pot with a group of Khmer Rouge leaders standing on 1. Edwards 2007, p. 20. 15. Falser 2012, pp. 51–57. 2. Mouhot 1864. The English language version was a much more detailed account than the French serialised version of the previous year. It took four more years for the French language version to be published, in 1868, see Dagens 1995, p. 36. 16. Garnier 1873. the causeway in front of Angkor.55 The Khmer Rouge’s brutal reign was short-lived, but it took another ten to fifteen years before a semblance of normality returned to Cambodian politics and society. After it did, Angkor was once again the centre of attention, this time as the subject of a UNESCO World Heritage bid. In 1992 it was officially inscribed, initiating yet another transformation. It now (supposedly) transcends national boundaries and has become part of the shared patrimony of humanity. 38. Edwards 2007, p. 128. 17. Ricklefs et al. 2012, p. 181. 18. Delaporte 1880, 1924. 39. See Polkinghorne essay, this volume. 19. Savage 1984, pp. 188–89. 40. Edwards 2007, p. 135. 20. Savage 1984, p. 218. 41. Edwards 2007, p. 142. 21. Savage 1984, p. 242. 42. http://apsaraauthority gov.kh/imgs documents/885/ International_Tourists_ number_and_Income_ 2016_en.pdf [accessed 19 December 2017] 22. Tillotson 1990, p. 182. 3. Dagens 1995, p. 36. 4. Dagens 1995, p. 39. 5. Ricklefs et al. 2012, p. 181. 23. Tiffin 2016, p. 45. 24. Burke 1759. CONCLUSION 6. In 1995 the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA) was created to manage the Angkor 11 Cambodian travel poster, with illustration by Nhek Dim (Cambodian, 1934–1978), showing Cambodian tourists outside the ruins of Angkor Wat, 1950s. Park. Since then tourism has increased exponentially, hitting a record 2.2 7. See Baptiste’s essay this volume, and Cats. 49–55. 8. For a general critique of Western orientalising views of the East, see Said 1978. For works specific to Cambodia, see Edwards 2007, Falser 2012, 2015, Norindr 1996. million visitors in 2016. An international airport, nestled close to the banks of the West Baray, has made access easier. Golf courses, health spas, its environs to service the steady stream of international tourists. All this may seem a far cry from the romanticised, picturesque views of Delaporte and the early French explorers. However, in many ways their vision lingers on in the exoticised images slavishly produced in tourism brochures and Representations, depictions, and meanings of Angkor have shifted many times over the past one hundred and fifty years. From an object of exotic fantasy and orientalist discovery to an icon of a new nation, it has caught the imagination of most if not all who have beheld it (fig. 12). Today it remains as an enduring symbol of Khmer civilisation, one that will most likely continue to be defined and redefined many times over in the one hundred and fifty years to come. 25. Volney 1791; Tiffin 2016, p. 115. 9. Garnier 1873. 10. Gsell was only brought on board to photograph Angkor, after which he returned to Saigon. 11. Osborne 1996, pp. 51–52. Garnier 1873. 43. Geppert 2013, p. 7. 44. Geppert 2013, p. 7. 26. Tillotson 1990, p. 182. 29. Delaporte 1880. 45. https://web.archive. org web/201110151046 13/http://english.east day.com/e/111001/ u1a6133087.html [accessed 19 December 2017] 30. Paris 2013, pp. 241–42. 46. Morton 2000, p. 5. 31. Brown 2013, pp. 125–26. 47. Norindr 1996, pp. 5–20. 32. Viollet-le-Duc 1866, cited in Edwards 2007, p. 125. 48. Geppert 2013, p. 179. 33. Clémentin-Ojha and Manguin 2007, p. 18. Originally named Mission archéologique d’Indo-Chine, the name was change to École française d’ExtrêmeOrient in 1900. 50. Geppert 2013, p. 191. 27. Tillotson 1990, pp. 146, 211. 28. Tiffin 2016, p. 15. restaurants, and a new museum have all sprung up at Siem Reap and websites, revealing the persistence of orientalist memes (fig. 11). Ricklefs et al. 2012, p. 182. 37. Edwards 2007, pp. 134–35. 49. Geppert 2013, p. 189. 51. Deyasi 2015, p. 123; Edwards 2007, p. 29. 52. Falser 2015, pp. 308–11. 53. Falser 2015, p. 314. 12. Falser 2012, p. 53. 13. Thomson 1867; also see Piemmattawat 2015, pp. 121–29. 34. See Polkinghorne essay, this volume. 35. Edwards 2007, p. 135. 54. Edwards 2007, pp. 1–2, citing Khemara Niset (Khmer student), no. 14, August 1952. 12 A light show in front of Angkor Wat to celebrate its 25 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, December 2017. 32 14. Falser 2012, p. 53. Introducing Angkor Murphy 36. Schopen 1997, pp. 1–22. 55. See Falser 2015, fig. 23, p. 324. 33