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Global Heritage Fund to Restore and Preserve Cambodia's Treasure in Multi-Year Conservation and Community Development Initiative

July 10, 2008

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Global Heritage Fund to Restore and Preserve Cambodia’s Treasure in Multi-Year Conservation and Community Development Initiative

Former Khmer Kingdom City and Temples Will Restore and Unveil Famous Bas Reliefs Showing Rich History of Khmer Civilization

Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia – July 10, 2008 - Led by one of the world’s most experienced architectural conservators, John Sanday (FSA OBE), Global Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the Royal Government of Cambodia recently held an opening ceremony to inaugurate a major new initiative for the conservation and responsible development of the Banteay Chhmar temple complex in northern Cambodia. Banteay Chhmar is one of the country’s leading nominations for UNESCO’s World Heritage listing and is famous for its exquisitely sculptured bas relief enclosure wall, which is over one kilometer in length and details the history of the Khmer Kingdom of Jayavarman VII and his battles. The temple complex is surrounded by an impressive moat associated with an advanced hydraulic system connected to a massive baray, or man-made reservoir. The site has recently been cleared of civil war land mines, as the region was previously a center of operations for the Khmer Rouge. A new major highway under construction from Siem Reap and the world-renowned Angkor complex will soon open Banteay Chhmar up to international tourism, and GHF is working with the local communities surrounding the site to upgrade site protection, urban planning and to develop the local capacity for controlling and directly benefiting from the anticipated influx of tourists. “GHF is the first international conservation group to undertake scientific conservation at Banteay Chhmar,” said Jeff Morgan. “In partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, we are dedicated to the site’s protection and interpretation, using scientific techniques for preservation, safety of visitors, together with sensitive and sustainable development and training while working closely with the local communities.” “The Government of Cambodia is committed to the scientific conservation and sensitive community development of Banteay Chhmar temples and the entire site, which spans over 12 square kilometers,” says His Excellency Chuch Phoeurn Secretary of State for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. “The Global Heritage Fund Project under the guidance of John Sanday brings extensive experience in restoring ancient temples and archaeological sites in Cambodia at Angkor and throughout Southeast Asia, whilst bringing a community-based approach to responsible development. We look forward to a successful private-public partnership with GHF and the successful conservation and long-term protection of Banteay Chhmar.” “To be given the challenge of bringing back to life one of the great Khmer Empire sites crowns all my previous experiences in Angkor,” said John Sanday, GHF Banteay Chmar Project Director and GHF Field Director of Asia and Pacific. “With eighteen years’ experience working in the historic city of Angkor, my team and I are confident that we can develop an exciting new experience for visitors to Cambodia. In addition to restoring the site and its famous bas reliefs, GHF’s involvement will enable the training of a new cadre of conservation professionals and craftsmen who will form the backbone of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts’ team of skilled professionals to look after other major historic sites throughout northern Cambodia.” About Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia The Buddhist monastic complex known as Banteay Chhmar (The Citadel of the Cats) is one of several remote temple complexes belonging to the ancient Angkorian Empire, which was one of the most dominant empires between the 8th and the 15th centuries A.D. This vast monastic complex lies 165 km northwest of the Historic City of Angkor, which was built at the end of the 12th Century by King Jayavarman VII and is doubtless one of the great architectural masterpieces of the Angkorian Period, and follows typically the layout of the Khmer Buddhist monastic complexes he was creating in Angkor during the same period. One of its surprising common features is an enclosing gallery of sculpted bas-reliefs similar to those found in the Bayon Temple Complex. The vast temple complex of Banteay Chhmar, which formerly covered an area of 12.5 square kilometers including the adjacent reservoir (Baray), is located in the northwest of Cambodia near the present border with Thailand. Banteay Chhmar has suffered from the action of looters and also a lack of maintenance. The Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Oriente (EFEO) carried out only minimal propping to the temple structure in the middle of the last century. Lacking any major conservation efforts, coupled with threats from trees and the jungle, structural failure and looting, there is a pressing need for an urgent and appropriate site-specific conservation programme at Banteay Chhmar especially as it will doubtless become a major tourist destination once the roads from Siem Reap and from the Thai border to Banteay Mencheay have been upgraded. Although ostensibly a Buddhist temple, different shrines and complexes within Banteay Chhmar were simultaneously dedicated to Hindu divinities and to the practice of ancestor worship, following a pattern common at that time in the historic city of Angkor. Unlike elsewhere in the Khmer Kingdom where iconoclasm became rife following the death of king Jayavarman VII, Hinduism returned to the empire as the state religion, and the images, sculptures and statues of the Buddha in Banteay Chhmar were never destroyed. About The Ministry Of Culture And Fine Arts The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts was formally established by decree in October 1997 and is charged with overall responsibility for the development of culture and fine arts in Cambodia. It implements policies for protecting, preserving and heightening the values of the national cultural heritage and other cultural properties of the Kingdom of Cambodia by managing archaeological and historical sites, and by funding the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA). The Ministry undertakes the training of artists, musicians, architects, archaeologists and other culturally related experts in co-operation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. GHF works in close association with His Excellency Chuch Phoeurn, Secretary of State and with His Excellency Ok Sophon, Director General of the Department of Cultural Heritage. In the field, GHF works closely with Director Yang Chantha from the Department of Safeguarding and Preservation of Monuments. About John Sanday John Sanday joined Global Heritage Fund (GHF) at the beginning of 2007 as GHF’s Field Director in Asia and Pacific. John brings with him many years of experience working on some of the major historic sites in Asia. As one of his first tasks for GHF John has, in collaboration with the Royal Government of Cambodia, set up a major conservation and training program at the temple complex of Banteay Chhmar in the north of Cambodia. John Sanday is a British architect who has spent the last 35 years living and working in Asia. As one of the region’s leading architectural conservators, he has travelled and worked all over the sub-continent on a wide and varied assortment of archaeological sites, historic buildings, monasteries in the high Himalaya, palaces in India, and, since 1989, in the Angkor complex in Cambodia. John’s base is in Nepal, where he has worked on many of the major historic sites in the Kathmandu Valley including the Hanuman Dhoka Royal Palace, Kathmandu, and the Buddhist Stupa of Swayambhu. In the high Himalaya John has worked on several Buddhist monasteries in the Forbidden Kingdom of Mustang, where for the last 10 years he has led a team conserving a group of 15th century Buddhist monasteries. John is chairman of a multi-disciplinary architectural practice, John Sanday Associates, which also specialises in the conservation of historic monuments. For his long term dedication to architectural conservation and training in Asia, John was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the honours list of 2006. About Global Heritage Fund Global Heritage Fund is an international conservancy preserving endangered world heritage sites in developing countries. Deploying its proven Preservation by Design methodology, GHF provides timely funding and technical expertise to 1) develop comprehensive master conservation plans, 2) enable sustained preservation through local community involvement, 3) ensure excellence in conservation, and 4) secure complementary funding and long-term partnerships. Global Heritage Fund is a registered non-profit international conservancy based in Palo Alto, California. In 2007, GHF established an office in the United Kingdom – GHF UK. Web site: http://www.globalheritagefund.org.