Monday, May 26, 2008

Inside Angkor National Museum

The folks from Angkor National Museum paid me another visit today and gave me a disc with some of their publicity photos from inside the museum, which I post here, as cameras are not allowed in the various rooms and if you are caught taking pictures, you'll be escorted out. Be warned. I must return to visit the museum as they tell me its been vastly improved since my last visit at the start of the year. At that time it was clear the site had been hastily-opened two months before to coincide with the official opening by Hun Sen. Now they've had six months to bed-in and are working hard to get it up to a suitable standard, especially for the price of the entry ticket you pay to get in. There's nothing that would give me greater pleasure to see ANM become a world-class museum, showing off its treasures to the hordes of tourists before they visit Angkor. Fingers-crossed that they will eventually achieve their aim. Note: All photos courtesy of Angkor National Museum.
This is the stunning Gallery of 1,000 Buddhas
This is Gallery G which concentrates on Ancient Costumes, particularly the Apsara and Devatas
These gorgeous Nagas can be found in Gallery B, Religion & Beliefs
This collection of Lintels can be found in Gallery C, The Great Khmer Kings
An outside view of the Museum and particularly the new Cultural Mall

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look at this! seems the nouveau-riche buildings Chinese are raising everywhere in China and, what is worst, in Tibet... full of mirrors, golds, massive columns, harsh lighting, disproportionate volume... A complete lack of taste and character. Were I not a fanatic Khmer art lover, I wd never set foot on Angkor National Museum. What a difference with the National Museum in Phnom Penh!!!
Anyway, better that than leaving Khmer art at the mercy of vandals, traffickers, art dealers and museum curators. Wish you succes.
from MAD BITCH GLOBETROTTER, Sheila

May 27, 2008 3:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, Sheila
I thought you were exaggerating a little bit, until I came accross your nickname!
Well, these people are recovering from one of the worst nightmares in human history and should be given a chance.
Best, Stu

May 27, 2008 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

THE ENORMOUS TRAGEDY OF THE DREAM OVER THE PEASANTS'BENT SHOULDERS
***********************************
i do not think the people who built the Angkor National Museum and the chain of deluxe hotels at Siem Reap need to be given a chance. must be the same who are selling Cambodia to foreign speculators. what an irony! half of the country is being sold, the other half heavily-mined. at least, the KR had an utopian and egalitarian drive behind it, no matter the outcome.
***********************************
Posted by Louis-Phillipe Lebrun
PS - i had already posted this comment as an anon, but for some reason it didn't show up

May 27, 2008 10:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sheila - have you been to the ANM before or are you judging only on the basis of the pics posted? (quite misleading sometimes)
Andy - do they charge the same absurd ticket-prices at the ANM for Cambodian nationals too? --- Ieu Sophal - San Francisco CA

May 28, 2008 2:15 AM  
Blogger Andy Brouwer said...

hi Sophal,
the ANM charges $3 for Khmers to visit the Museum, $12 for foreigners.
Children whose height is less than 1.20 metres will obtain a 50% discount.
You can get a multi-language tour guide via headset for $3, and a photo pass allows you to snap away in the outside galleries only for $2.
Obviously the cost of the museum has caused a bit of a stir over here. Especially when you compare it to the $3 entry for foreigners to the museum in PPenh, which effectively has all the best pieces in it!

May 28, 2008 11:46 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home