Sacred Treasures From Angkor

WHEN Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh goes to Paris, one of his favourite places to visit is the Guimet Museum, known for its large collection of Asian art and antiques. It is fitting then that Professor Koh should open the Asian Civilisations Museum's (ACM) latest show on Cambodian art, a collaboration with the Guimet Museum.

Titled Angkor: Exploring Cambodia's Sacred City. Masterpieces of the Musee national des art asiatiques-Guimet, it features more than 140 sculptures, artworks and historic memorabilia of Cambodia's ancient temple city of Angkor Wat, with some pieces dating as far back as the 6th century. The first part of the show is structured in a way that recalls how the international community first discovered Angkor in the late 19th century - that is, through the eyes of the French missions of 1866 and 1873.

One of the missions' members, Louis Delaporte, made numerous watercolours, drawings, rubbings and mouldings of temple facades, many of which are featured in this exhibition. Notably, not all of Delaporte's drawings are accurate: where parts of the complex were ruined by Mother Nature or conflict, Delaporte used guesswork and imagination to recreate its glory. Nevertheless, his beautiful images successfully evoke the splendour of the temples.