The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
An imposing sculpture of a winged Hindu demigod (possibly a 'yaksha') dominates the Main Gallery of the National Museum of Cambodia as light streams through an open shutter, the inside panels of which are decorated with scenes from the 'Reamkei' (the Khmer version of the Hindu epic 'Ramayana') and other traditional Khmer stories. The Museum, designed by the French archaeologist George Groslier to reflect the wide range of traditional Khmer architectural elements, was built in Phnom Penh in 1918 just north of the Royal Palace, and originally named Musee Albert Sarraut in honor of the French governor-general of Indochina. Not obvious in this photograph is the years of neglect suffered during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, when most of the 90 French trained conservators and curators were murdered, the museum looted and records destroyed. A joint venture between the Museum and the Australian National Gallery (ANG, and now National Gallery of Australia) in 1992, at the start of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) mission resulted in the ANG hosting the exhibition 'Age of Angkor' while ANG conservator Catherine Millikan managed an Australian Government funded conservation project designed to train the Cambodian staff in museum practices, maintenance and cleaning.
Australian journalist Marje Prior 'interviews' a bust of one of the Khmer kings at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. The Museum had suffered years of neglect during the genocidal Khmer Ro
Meas Khim (left), an employee of the National Museum of Cambodia, with Catherine Millikan, a conservator from Australian National Gallery (ANG, and now National Gallery of Australia) in front of an ea
Piles of wood, building materials, a hand drawn cart and two large bells (possibly collection items) crowd the rear courtyard of Cambodia's National Museum in Phnom Penh. Designed by the French archae
Piles of wood, building materials, a hand drawn cart and two large bells (possibly collection items) crowd the rear courtyard of Cambodia's National Museum in Phnom Penh. Designed by the French archae
A statue of the Buddha sits under a decorated pagoda in the central courtyard of the National Museum of Cambodia. Designed by the French archaeologist George Groslier to reflect the wide range of trad
The central spires of the National Museum of Cambodia tower 38 metres above one of the four ornamental, lotus filled ponds that make up the building's inner courtyard. Designed by the French archaeolo
