| Accession Number | P03258.449 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Colour - Film original transparency (positive) other |
| Maker |
Smith, Heide |
| Place made | Cambodia |
| Date made | 1993 |
| Conflict |
Period 1990-1999 Cambodia (UNTAC), 1992-1993 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
|
One of the inner courtyard galleries of the Angkor Wat temple complex, showing some of the ...
Description
One of the inner courtyard galleries of the Angkor Wat temple complex, showing some of the completed restoration and cleaning work, with some in progress. The small dark, discoloured building in the centre of the photograph is one of four ancient libraries that stand on the site, while a grouping of dissembled sandstone blocks lies awaiting attention in the top corner of the courtyard. Recent neglect during the Khmer Rouge regime of the mid 1970s, followed by 10 years of Vietnamese occupation and continuing civil war saw the entire Angkor complex overgrown, many of its carvings sold to finance weapons purchases and damage caused by reckless target practice. With the arrival of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), restoration projects were restarted with much of the work funded internationally by UNESCO and countries including Australia, Japan and India.